WASHINGTON — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s decision to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden will put a new spotlight on the Biden family’s business dealings. It will also put a new spotlight on Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., who will play a leading role in the investigation.

As chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Comer has been a key player in the months-long effort by House Republicans to question the business dealings of the president’s son, Hunter Biden, and whether the president benefitted from them.

McCarthy said that Comer, along with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith of Missouri, will take point on the impeachment inquiry.

Comer, who is in his fourth term representing a solidly Republican district in Kentucky, is welcoming this next step that builds on his committee work.

“I’m very happy that we have the impeachment inquiry,” Comer said. “Because what I said in the very beginning, we’re going to follow the money and we’re at the point now it’s getting harder to obtain the bank records that we need.”

McCarthy said the inquiry will give the committee leads the power they need to “gather all the facts.”

“I think we’ve proven a lot of things that I think no one knew when we started this investigation,” Comer said.

Critics point out that Comer has yet to provide any clear evidence of wrongdoing by the president.

“It’s clear that they’ve gotten, as the members of the Oversight Committee outlined on Monday, tens of thousands of pages of financial records,” White House spokesperson Ian Sams told Spectrum News. “Over and over again, they turned up no link to the president.”

McCarthy authorized the impeachment inquiry without bringing it to a full House vote.

“Clearly, McCarthy doesn’t have the votes now,” said Matt Dallek, professor of political management at George Washington University. “Comer, for all his work, has not been able to persuade the large majority or basically every Republican member that they need to open an impeachment inquiry.”

Comer and Jordan met with Senate Republicans behind closed doors on Wednesday, Sept. 13 to discuss the inquiry.

The Kentucky congressional representative said he plans to hold another hearing on the Biden family’s business dealings before the end of the month.