It is an irony that Pugh is positioned as a criminal suspect among the hard-line conservatives in the far-right group that caused so many of McCarthy’s headaches.

In an interview last Sunday, Buck suggested that “there is not a strong connection at this point between the evidence on Hunter Biden and any evidence linking the president.”

He appeared to have changed his mind on Tuesday when he called the investigation a “good move.”

But in an interview with Jake Tapper on CNN on Thursday, he returned to his earlier stance: “I want to make sure that we don’t destroy this company because of one layoff. If there was proof, Jake, I would absolutely vote for impeachment. I have not found the evidence at this time.

Buck’s Washington Post doubled down on that argument, revealing his understanding of the evidence against Hunter Biden and his father.

He said Republicans are “relying on a fabricated history,” calling the facts cited by Republicans “fictional” and stressing the seriousness of an impeachment inquiry.

“The House is back in session, and Americans are taking a closer look at Washington’s dysfunction. We’re struggling toward a government shutdown without making progress on reducing our out-of-control spending. Yet Republican leadership has decided to turn attention to the impeachment inquiry against President Biden,” Buck wrote.