US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced Tuesday that he has directed House committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

“Over the past several months, House Republicans have uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden’s conduct — a culture of corruption,” McCarthy said in a statement released via his professional Twitter/X account. 

The allegations stem from widely reported accounts of the foreign business dealings of Hunter Biden, the president’s son. In July, a bipartisan group representing the US House Committee on Oversight and Accountability questioned a former business associate of Hunter Biden’s, with questions ranging from the president’s involvement in his son’s daily life to his son’s highly publicized struggles with addiction.

“Through our investigations we have found that President Biden did lie to the American people about his own knowledge of his family’s foreign business dealings,” the speaker said.

Three US presidents have been impeached by the House: Andrew Johnson in 1868, Bill Clinton in 1998, and Donald Trump twice, in 2019 and 2021. None of the three presidents were convicted by the Senate and removed from office. Johnson was impeached for violating the Tenure of Office Act, which prohibited him from removing his secretary of war without the consent of the Senate. He was acquitted by the Senate by a single vote. Clinton was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice related to his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. He was acquitted by the Senate on both charges. Trump was impeached for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress related to his efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rivals. He was acquitted by the Senate on both charges.