House Republicans’ Impeachment Holdout

The decorations in Rep. Ken Buck’s Capitol Hill office say everything about the Colorado Republican’s conservative credentials. Walk in the front door—past a sign reading “BACK THE BLUE”—and you’ll see a “Come and Take It” flag, a symbol of American defiance adopted by all sorts of right-wing activists. To the right of Buck’s desk hangs an AR-15 rifle painted with the stars and stripes of the American flag. On the top shelf of a curio behind his chair sits a red “Make America Great Again” hat.

It’s been surprising, then, to see Buck pop up on MSNBC and CNN in recent weeks to criticize his fellow Republican colleagues for pushing to impeach President Joe Biden over the business dealings of his son Hunter. He’s argued that relying on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene as any kind of impeachment authority is “absurd.” He’s blasted GOP lawmakers for engaging in “impeachment theater.” And he’s dismissed impeachment as a “shiny object” that distracts Republicans in Congress from more important issues.

Why? In an interview with The Dispatch in his office on Wednesday, Buck methodically made the case that none of the relevant GOP-led House committees have, at least thus far, unearthed clear evidence implicating the president himself in any wrongdoing. “They are looking at, did any money go from Hunter Biden to Joe Biden?” he said. “There’s no evidence. There’s no bank record. There’s no large cash withdrawal.”