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"Baseless, Did Nothing Wrong": White House On Biden Impeachment Inquiry

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'Baseless, Did Nothing Wrong': White House On Biden Impeachment Inquiry

The 80-year-old Democrat Joe Biden remained silent on impeachment inquiry so far.

Washington:

The White House on Wednesday rejected “baseless” allegations of wrongdoing against US President Joe Biden after Republican lawmakers launched an impeachment inquiry against him.

While the 80-year-old Democrat remained silent when asked by reporters about the probe, his spokeswoman pushed back against the investigation by his political foes.

“They have spent all year investigating the president… and have turned up with no evidence, none, that he did anything wrong,” Biden’s Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

“That’s because the president didn’t do anything wrong.”

Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy bowed to intense pressure from his party’s hard right and authorized the launch on Tuesday of an impeachment investigation.

Republican House members accuse Biden, a Democrat, of having “lied” to the American people about his son Hunter’s controversial business dealings abroad.

But Jean-Pierre said Republicans did not even have enough support for a vote in the House to approve an impeachment probe.

“Even House Republicans have said the evidence does not exist,” she said. “This is a political stunt.”

The probe comes as Biden faces low poll ratings ahead of a likely rematch with former president Donald Trump in next year’s presidential election.

Biden ignored impeachment questions from reporters at the White House while leading a meeting of his “Cancer Cabinet” which aims to eradicate the disease, part of a recent effort by the administration to put the focus back on his domestic agenda.

– ‘Good things’ –

Cancer is personal for Biden, whose eldest son Beau died from brain cancer aged 46 in 2015. Biden had a cancerous skin lesion removed in February while doctors removed two from First Lady Jill Biden a month before.

Biden has stood resolutely by his sole surviving son, Hunter, 53.

The younger Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine and China while his father was vice president under Barack Obama have been a constant target of Republicans.

Hunter Biden, a recovering drug addict, is currently under investigation by a Justice Department special counsel for possible tax evasion and is expected to be charged by the end of this month on a firearms violation.

However, he has not been charged with crimes related to his foreign business dealings, and no credible evidence has emerged so far that the president was involved in anything illegal.

The probe however threatens to distract the White House and give Republicans fresh material for attacks ahead of the November 2024 election.

Biden holds a slim one-percent lead over Trump — 47 percent to 46 — in a hypothetical match-up, according to a new national poll by Quinnipiac University.

Half of voters thought Joe Biden was involved in Hunter’s business dealings with China and Ukraine, while 35 percent thought the president did something illegal, the poll found.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

AP Skill Development Corp established by flouting rules, says CID; Chandrababu Naidu named A1

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Investigation has led to the conclusion, prime facie, that the then TDP government’s head and highest executive of the regime, Chandrababu Naidu had orchestrated the entire scheme, he said.

Published Date – 11:29 PM, Wed – 13 September 23

AP Skill Development Corp established by flouting rules, says CID; Chandrababu Naidu named A1

Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department on Wednesday said as many as 13 signatures of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu were found in various documents pertaining to the Skill Development Corporation, which was set up by flouting the rules.

Speaking to reporters here, AP CID chief N Sanjay said owing to the alleged role played by Naidu in the ‘scam’, he was arraigned as accused one (A1) in the case. Initially, he was named as A37.

Due procedure was not followed when the corporation was established, and funds were channeled to private parties through the government entity.

Investigation has led to the conclusion, prime facie, that the then TDP government’s head and highest executive of the regime, Chandrababu Naidu had orchestrated the entire scheme, he said.

To set up a corporation, it is mandatory to obtain the Cabinet’s approval, which was not followed, the official pointed out.

“In the wake of widespread speculation over the Skill Development Corporation scam in various fora such as media houses, political parties and the general public, it is pertinent to set the record straight,” he said, noting that Naidu was the chief architect of this scam.

The skill development case pertains to setting up of clusters of centres of excellence (CoE) in the southern state with the total estimate of the project valued at Rs 3,300 crore but allegedly ended up causing a loss in excess of Rs 300 crore to the state exchequer.

Before the private entities, Siemens Industrial Software India and Design Tech System, involved in this project could spend any money, the state government released an advance of Rs 371 crore, which is 10 percent of the government’s commitment.

Citing reasons for naming the TDP chief as A1, he said Naidu set up the Corporation without getting the Cabinet nod and delegated key responsibilities to private individuals like Ganta Subba Rao by appointing him the head of the corproration.

Further, Sanjay noted that Naidu had personally sanctioned Rs 371 crore in a Finance department note.
The Skill Development Corporation was set up by a government order (GO), which mentioned that funding would be in the ratio of 90:10. But when the actual agreement was observed, there was no mention of the 90 percent component.

Further, the value of Siemens Industrial Software India’s software, which was bought by the Corporation for just Rs 58.8 crore was falsely mentioned in the account books as Rs 2,700 crore.

Sanjay added that Rs 241 crore funds are proceeds of crime in the case, which were routed through several layers to around 30 companies by involving private persons.

Naidu was arrested in connection with the fraud case involving siphoning off of funds from the Skill Development Corporation, leading to a loss of over Rs 300 crore to the state government.