US House Republicans say Biden committed impeachable offenses

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. House of Representatives Republicans issued a report on Monday alleging Democratic President Joe Biden committed impeachable offenses, but it was unclear whether they would push for a vote following a probe the White House has long dismissed as politically motivated.

A 291-page report by three House committees alleged that Biden profited from an influence-peddling scheme to enrich himself and members of his family through foreign business dealings beginning in 2014, when Biden was vice president.

"The committees present this information to the House of Representatives for its evaluation and consideration of appropriate next steps," the report said.

It was not clear if Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson would schedule a vote to impeach Biden in the weeks leading up to the Nov. 5 election, in which Republican Donald Trump is locked in a tight battle with Vice President Kamala Harris.

Even if the Republican-controlled House were to pass such a measure, it would be unlikely to remove Biden from office, given that he would need to be convicted by a Senate controlled 51-49 by his own Democratic Party. Biden, who withdrew his own reelection bid last month, is due to leave office when his successor is sworn in on Jan. 20.

Democrats have disparaged the effort as retribution for Trump, who was impeached twice by a Democratic-controlled House and acquitted each time by the Senate. The first impeachment alleged that Trump pressured Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to help smear Biden in return for U.S. aid.

A House impeachment against Biden's top border official, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, was put to a swift end by the Senate in April.

Johnson, in a statement, commended the committees' work and said House Republicans "encourage all Americans to read this report."

The House investigators say that Biden used his influence to benefit the business dealings of his son, Hunter Biden, with partners from Ukraine, China, Russia and other countries.

Hunter Biden has been convicted on charges that he lied about his illegal drug use to buy a gun and is awaiting trial on charges of tax evasion, including an allegation that he accepted payments from a Romanian businessman who sought to influence U.S. government agencies in connection with a criminal probe in Romania.

The impeachment inquiry, which lawmakers formally authorized last December and has been carried out by the House Oversight, Judiciary and Ways & Means Committees, has been criticized by members of both parties for failing to produce hard evidence of wrongdoing by Biden.

(Reporting by David Morgan; additional writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Alison Williams)