Jim Jordan in denial about brutal collapse of Biden impeachment 'fiasco': columnist

Efforts by House Republicans to impeach President Joe Biden ran into a brick wall when informant Alexander Smirnov was arrested for allegedly lying to the FBI.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) touted Smirnov as the "star witness" who would show that Biden and his son Hunter Biden committed corrupt or illegal acts in Ukraine. But Smirnov's arrest, according to Democrats, seriously hurts both Comer's and Jordan's credibility in the matter.

In a MaddowBlog column published on Thursday, MSNBC producer Steve Benen slammed Jordan for acting like House Republicans' case for impeaching President Biden hasn't already collapsed.

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"The House Republicans' impeachment crusade against President Joe Biden was already a fiasco, though it managed to get worse last week: The GOP's star witness — the man at the heart of the party's case — was arrested for lying to the FBI about the Bidens," Benen wrote.

"This week, the bottom fell out completely: The same witness Alexander Smirnov, according to a Trump-appointed prosecutor, peddled false claims he received from foreign intelligence officials."

Benen added, "In fact, according to the latest court filing, Smirnov 'admitted that officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved in passing a story about' Hunter Biden."

But Jordan, the MSNBC columnist wrote, is in total denial about the Smirnov debacle.

"Jordan might still believe baseless claims that were thoroughly discredited five years," Benen explained. "But as things currently stand, proponents of the Biden impeachment inquiry no longer have any facts. Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking member on the Oversight panel, told reporters that the entire impeachment investigation 'essentially ended' in response to this week's revelations."

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Steve Benen's full MSNBC column is available at this link

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