The looming impeachment has a grander purpose
Republicans have openly admitted that their efforts to impeach President Joe Biden — which will begin in earnest this week as House members return to DC from summer break — are in bad faith. They don’t just want to tarnish Biden. They want to tarnish the impeachment process itself.
As the GOP has become increasingly authoritarian and anti-democracy, Republicans have become increasingly committed to undermining and mocking forms of democratic accountability. A nakedly partisan and clownish impeachment is useful because it signals to voters that all impeachments are clown shows, and all impeachments are partisan. That exculpates former President Donald Trump and delegitimizes resistance to him should he win the presidency again.
It’s absolutely the case that they are doing this for Trump because he has demanded it. That goes without saying. But since they are all bent on destroying democracy and the constitutional order, de-legitimizing the impeachment process is a no brainer. If they have the power (meaning a 2/3 Senate majority) they will remove any Democratic president for whatever trumped up charges they come up with. If they don’t have the power they will use it as yet another of their patented performance art projects. Impeachment will be devalued so that even if Democrats have the evidence and the power to remove, it will be seen as illegitimate. Win win for the bad guys.