WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The U.S. midterm elections are some 10 months away, but President Joe Biden’s administration and allies already foresee a possible scenario in which Republicans take the House of Representatives, the Senate, or both, and launch a series of investigations and attempts to impeach the president.
Lawmakers, congressional staffers and strategists predict a slew of investigations targeting the Biden administration, particularly if Republicans loyal to former President Donald Trump gain important committee seats in Congress.
Those seeking to pursue investigations include House Republicans Matt Gaetz, who pledged in a podcast to target the Department of Justice until “sphincters tighten,” Bob Gibbs, who has been pushing to impeach Biden since September over the Afghanistan pullout, and James Comer, a hopeful to become head of the House Oversight Committee.
Comer’s targets include the president’s son Hunter Biden, the administration’s handling of supply chain issues and vaccine mandates, and its removal of Trump military academy appointees, his office said.
The White House has already taken small steps that will help shield the administration from aggressive probes.
It hired a special advisor, former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, to oversee implementation of the $1 trillion infrastructure law, which Republicans would likely scrutinize in search of fraud.
The White House also bolstered the legal counsel’s office with a longtime Democratic communications official to help with fallout from the chaotic U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan last year.
Biden’s transition team after his 2020 election win formed the White House counsel’s office in anticipation of Republicans winning the Senate and pursuing investigations, one team member said.
The January 2021 runoff elections in Georgia left control of the body to Democrats instead but the counsel’s office still has that legal firepower.
“We had every reason to believe that it was going to be a Republican Senate,” said Andy Wright, director of legal policy for the transition team. “That was built in to the original planning.”
That planning included having Jonathan Su, who has experience handling investigations in the Obama White House years, serve as Biden’s deputy counsel.
The Biden White House may hire new researchers, lawyers and communications officials to focus on the probes, strategists said.
Ben LaBolt, a former Obama spokesman, said the Clinton and Obama White Houses assembled teams of roughly the same size and expertise as congressional committees pursuing investigations.
“You need to have a parallel structure at the White House that’s capable of anticipating those attacks, responding to those attacks,” he said.
Biden plans to travel to states with key political races this year, an adviser said, and the White House hopes Democrats will maintain…
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