House Speaker Johnson says White House doesn’t ‘call the shots’ on when impeachment is over

House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News on Friday that the White House does not get to ‘call the shots’ on when the President Biden impeachment inquiry ends after he received a letter this morning from a White House lawyer arguing that it’s ‘over.’ 

White House Counsel Ed Siskel, in his message to the Louisiana Republican, said ‘it’s obviously time to move on, Mr. Speaker.’ 

‘This impeachment is over,’ Siskel declared. ‘There is too much important work to be done for the American people to continue wasting time on this charade.’ 

But Johnson told Fox News’ Chad Pergram on Capitol Hill Friday that ‘They don’t call the shots on it’ and ‘we’ll deliberate over that when the investigation is complete.’ 

‘We’re allowing the process to play out as the Constitution anticipates. Our committees of jurisdiction have done their duty,’ Johnson added. ‘They’ve done an extraordinary job. They’ve revealed some alarming information.’ 

In his letter, Siskel said ‘The House Majority ought to work with the President on our economy, national security, and other important priorities on behalf of the American people, not continue to waste time on political stunts like this.’ 

‘The House Majority has reportedly collected more than 100,000 pages of records, interviewed dozens of witnesses, and held multiple public hearings—but none of the evidence has demonstrated that the President did anything wrong,’ Siskel also said, noting that ‘Hunter Biden testified that he never involved his father in his business dealings’ and ‘Several witnesses have testified debunking claims related to President Biden’s handling of classified documents.’ 

‘Instead of admitting the truth that the President did nothing wrong, the Majority is wasting even more time on abusive steps like trying to re-interview witnesses who already testified — perhaps hoping the facts will be different the second time around,’ Siskel continued. ‘This is just the latest abusive tactic in this investigation. It has targeted the President’s children, grandchildren, siblings, and in-laws for no reason. It has intruded into private citizens’ personal records on everything from medical visits to birthday presents. Enough is enough.’ 

Siskel sent the letter two days after Hunter Biden’s lawyer said his client would not attend a House Oversight Committee hearing next week regarding alleged influence peddling and the Biden family’s business dealings, calling it a ‘carnival side show.’ 

Fox News’ Patrick Ward contributed to this report.