ABC News’ Jonathan Karl pushed back on comments by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) after she claimed without evidence that President Joe Biden was bribed.
On Sunday’s edition of “This Week,” Mace declared that the “facts are everywhere” after the host asked whether it was “premature” to go all the way with an impeachment inquiry, a move that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) directed House committees to pursue last week.
“I don’t believe so,” Mace said of the GOP-led effort.
“There are text messages, there are emails, there are witnesses, there are whistleblowers, there are meetings, there are phone calls, there are dinners,” she added. “And you can’t say, ‘Hey, there’s a little bit of smoke, we’re not going to follow the fire.’ ... We’re talking about a significant sum of money. We are talking about bribery.”
Karl, in response to Mace, checked the congresswoman in real time.
“There’s no evidence of bribery,” Karl noted.
“There are witnesses, a 1023 form. There is evidence, you can’t say that there’s no evidence when there is evidence,” continued Mace, who cited an unverified tip and did not provide any evidence.
“There’s no evidence connected to Biden,” Karl responded.
The impeachment inquiry, which has prompted criticism from Democrats, has come under fire as Republicans have failed to produce any direct evidence connecting Biden to his son’s business dealings.
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) noted on Sunday that Republicans “don’t have the evidence now” on the bribery claims but may find it later while Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), in an opinion piece featured in The Washington Post, wrote that the GOP is relying on part of “an imagined history” and “fictitious version of events.”
Mace continued by going after media outlets for denying “evidence,” adding that it’s “everywhere.”
“And the bank records will prove it,” she said.
“All right, we will see,” Karl replied, “I haven’t seen much yet.”