Joe Biden impeachment; why are people calling for impeachment inquiry as Hunter Biden’s plea deal collapses?

There are growing calls from Republican supporters for the impeachment of US President Joe Biden, specifically with regard to the treatment of his son, American attorney Hunter Biden after the latter’s plea deal in a Delaware federal courtroom suddenly changed to a “not guilty” plea.

During the court proceedings, US district judge Maryellen Noreika expressed concern about her role in enforcing the terms of the plea agreement and questioned whether she should simply rubber-stamp it. Prosecutors and Hunter Biden's attorneys also clashed over whether the agreement would protect him from future charges, as the investigation into the younger Biden continues.

Had the deal gone ahead it would have resulted in two years of probation for the tax violations Hunter Biden is being charged with and a gun charge being dropped if certain conditions were met. However, Judge Noreika was sceptical about some of the terms of what Republicans have called a "sweetheart deal," leading to the about-turn and not-guilty plea.

The White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, stated that Hunter Biden's case is a personal matter for him as a private citizen, and the president and first lady support him as he rebuilds his life, but Republicans welcomed the complication in the case and called on the judge to reject the plea deal entirely, vowing to continue examining Hunter Biden and his business dealings.

That’s led to calls from Republicans to start filing impeachment proceedings again the Democratic POTUS, with those within the GOP believing an impeachment inquiry would allow them to obtain more information and potentially bring articles of impeachment. 

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, delivered what is considered the strongest comment regarding the ongoing controversy surrounding the Biden family’s financial dealings, acknowledging that the House’s probes have not proven any wrongdoing, but an impeachment inquiry “allows Congress to get the information to be able to know the truth.”

The White House has dismissed the impeachment proceedings as a political diversion, and Biden has repeatedly denied any involvement in his son's overseas business dealings. Hunter Biden has long been a target of Republican supporters, in part due to his controversial past, but with a specific obsession regarding his dealings with Ukraine and a laptop, which Donald Trump used as a means to demonstrate corruption within the Joe Biden campaign.