The White House is rejecting a longstanding Republican effort to impeach President Joe Biden

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Monday rejected a long-running effort by House Republicans to have President Joe Biden testify before lawmakers in the stalled GOP impeachment inquiry.

In a letter to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, the White House rejected the subpoena sent to Biden last month, calling it “partisan gerrymandering” in the impeachment inquiry, which found no evidence of any wrongdoing in public office. House Republicans are seeking information on the Biden family's business dealings in what the GOP describes as an alleged influence-peddling scheme.

“Your committee's 'impeachment inquiry' has succeeded only in finding overwhelming evidence that the president has done nothing wrong,” Richard Sauber, the president's special counsel, wrote in a letter to Comer on Monday.

Sauber added: “The fact that you insist on peddling these false and unsubstantiated allegations, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, makes one thing clear about your investigation: facts don't matter to you.”

Sauber himself will leave the White House early next month, another sign that House Republicans' efforts to impeach Biden are largely over, from the administration's perspective. The attorney was appointed in 2022 to oversee the White House's response to the congressional investigation as Democrats prepare to lose their majority on Capitol Hill in late November.

The White House will promote his deputy, Rachel Cotton, to replace Sauber. Sauber returns to the private sector.

In a filing with the White House, Comer asked Biden to “explain under oath” his involvement in the Biden family business.

The committee alleged last year that Joe Biden was vice president or not in office and that Hunter traded in the name of the Biden family in an attempt to connect several phone calls or dinner meetings between Biden and his business associates. .

But despite devoting countless resources and interviewing dozens of witnesses, including the president's son Hunter Biden and the president's brother James Biden, Republicans have produced no evidence that Joe Biden directly participated in or benefited from the family business while in public office.

__

Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.

Farnoosh Amiri, Associated Press