The House Oversight Committee requests draft of speech Biden gave in Ukraine for the impeachment investigation, but the White House refuses to provide it

The impeachment investigation against Joe Biden continues in the House of Representatives. The current president is under scrutiny for his time as Barack Obama’s vice president, during which he is accused of making money abroad in exchange for political favors. However, the White House refuses to hand over documents that would be important to the process.

The House Oversight Committee is searching for a speech the Democrat gave during a trip to Ukraine in 2015. Although they requested it five months ago, the White House refuses to authorize its delivery via the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

According to a statement released on Wednesday, Biden took advantage of that speech to call for “the dismissal of Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin, the Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating the Ukrainian energy company of which Hunter Biden was part of the board of directors.”

“According to public reporting, then-Vice President Biden ‘called an audible’ and changed U.S. policy toward Ukraine to benefit his son on the plane ride to Ukraine. President Biden later bragged about withholding a U.S. loan guarantee if Ukraine did not fire the prosecutor,” the letter added.

Although NARA previously indicated that it was able to find complete drafts of the requested speech, federal law dictates that White House approval is required to officially release the documents.

The situation prompted a meeting between Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY), Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R- MO).

The three again asked the White House to facilitate the investigation against Biden and to deliver the requested documents.

“For more than five months the White House has declined to authorize the production of these draft speeches to the Oversight Committee or to assert a valid privilege over them. Such a lengthy delay in processing a discrete and limited category of documents is unacceptable and appears to represent an attempt to obstruct the Committees’ legitimate investigation. These dilatory tactics must cease, and the White House must permit NARA to release these documents forthwith … If the White House does not permit the production of these documents, the Oversight Committee will consider the use of compulsory process to require the White House’s production of the speeches,” they wrote to White House counsel, Edward Siskel.