Impeachment inquiry against Biden could hurt his candidacy, says former judge Napolitano

Andrew Napolitano, a former New Jersey Superior Court judge, explained that the impeachment process against President Joe Biden could undermine his candidacy for 2024. He stressed that, if the Democrat is convicted, he would not be able to run for federal office.

"He can't be removed from office as president, but the second penalty for impeachment, if he's convicted in the Senate — a big if, of course — is invalidation from seeking federal office. So, if he is impeached by the House and convicted in the Senate, he would be barred from running for reelection," Napolitano told Newsmax.

In addition, he pointed out that the intention of the Republicans with the beginning of the impeachment investigation is to demonstrate the bad behavior of President Biden. "What purpose would be served? Well, from the Republican perspective, two purposes. One, the revelation of evidence of very tawdry behavior on the part of then-Vice President Biden. Even if it's criminal, he's fortunate. It's more than five years, so the statute of limitations has expired, but he can be impeached," Napolitano said.

"Culture of corruption"

The former judge argued that the situation would cause "a storm," because, the two leading candidates are reportedly facing legal problems. "What a perfect storm! The incumbent Democrat has an impeachment pending, the likely Republican nominee has four indictments pending and the American public is saying, 'We're going to go through this again?'"

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy this week announced an impeachment inquiry against Joe Biden. During a press conference, the speaker said that Republicans in the House have more than enough evidence to justify the process.

The Republican said that the decision was due to the fact that in recent months they received very serious accusations about the conduct of the president, what he described as a "culture of corruption." "Over the past several months, House Republicans have uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden’s conduct—a culture of corruption," McCarthy said on X (formerly Twitter).