WASHINGTON -- The House impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden pressed ahead Wednesday as Republican Rep. James Comer pushed for the senior Biden to testify in regard to the activities of his son Hunter Biden.
"We need to hear from the president himself," Comer, R-Ky., said at the close of the nearly eight-hour hearing.
The White House told Republicans to "move on" and focus on "real issues" Americans want addressed.
"This is a sad stunt at the end of a dead impeachment," spokesman Ian Sams said. "Call it a day, pal."
Having produced no hard evidence of presidential wrongdoing, the lengthy GOP impeachment inquiry is all but coming to a close. Seeking testimony from the president is a possible final act. Rather than drawing up articles of impeachment against Biden, Comer is eyeing potential criminal referrals of the family to the Justice Department, a largely symbolic move.
The committee's top Democrat, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, said the Republicans have turned the investigation into a "laughingstock" and that the "comedy of errors" of the Biden impeachment inquiry is finally "crashing to an end."
Republicans launched their early investigations into the president after taking control of the House last year, eager to hold Biden to the high bar of impeachment. The House, under a Democratic majority, had twice impeached Republican Donald Trump during his presidency.
As Trump and Biden face another likely rematch this November, the probe is grinding on, drilling into Hunter Biden's often complicated business dealings and troubled personal life, particularly during the years before Joe Biden became president.
The committee asserts that the Bidens traded on the family name, an alleged influence-peddling scheme to which Republicans are trying to link a handful of phone calls or dinner meetings between Joe Biden, when he was vice president or out of office, and Hunter Biden and his business associates.
Hunter Biden, who is facing firearm and tax charges in separate matters, testified behind closed doors last month in a deposition that filled more than 200 pages but left Comer's committee without evidence rising to "high crimes and misdemeanors" that would be expected to impeach a president.
"My father's never been involved with my business," Hunter Biden testified.
It would be rare but not unprecedented for a president to appear before Congress. Abraham Lincoln spoke privately to the House Judiciary Committee about a leaked speech, and Gerald Ford appeared about his pardon of former president Richard M. Nixon, among others.
Aboard Air Force One as Biden flew Wednesday from Arizona to Texas, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, "Republicans need to drop this stunt and join the president in focusing on real issues that matter to the American people."
Wednesday's testimony came from a cast of unusual witnesses, some with complicated backgrounds.
Jason Galanis is serving a lengthy federal prison sentence in Alabama for fraud schemes and appeared remotely before lawmakers. Tony Bobulinski, a onetime business associate of Hunter Biden, took his claims against the family public during the first Trump-Biden presidential debate in 2020.
The Democrats called Lev Parnas to testify, relying on the convicted businessman who was central to Trump's first impeachment as a Rudy Giuliani associate working to dig up political dirt on Joe Biden before the 2020 election. Parnas has since played a key role in dispelling the House GOP's main claim of bribery against the Bidens.
Information for this article was contributed by Farnoush Amiri, Darlene Superville and Zeke Miller of The Associated Press.
Tony Bobulinski testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Tony Bobulinski left, and Lev Parnas testify before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Tony Bobulinski left, and Lev Parnas testify before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. An empty chair center, reserved for Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden's son, who did not show for the hearing. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Lev Parnas testify before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Tony Bobulinski left, and Lev Parnas testify before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Lev Parnas testify before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, speaks during the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Lev Parnas arrives to testify before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Tony Bobulinski left, and Lev Parnas are sworn in before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. An empty chair center, reserved for Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden's son, who did not show for the hearing. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)