The lower house of the US Congress voted to open an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. The reason is his son Hunter Biden's international deals, which according to House of Representatives deputies are questionable.

Republicans, who dominate the chamber, have yet to provide evidence of wrongdoing by the president. And the White House specifies that there are no such cases even for his son, only allegations that he took advantage of his family name in transactions with Ukraine and China. However, the cited cases are from a period before Joe Biden became its president.

The vote was strictly along party lines, with 221 Republicans voting in favor and 212 Democrats voting against. Biden himself denounced this procedure as a "groundless" stunt. And the upper house - the Senate, which is dominated by Democrat Biden's supporters - would hardly allow the procedure to progress. Regardless, it gives Republicans a platform to attack Biden during next year's re-election campaign, as well as distract from criminal trials against his near-certain Republican rival and former President Donald Trump, AFP said.

Last week, the US Department of Justice filed new charges against US President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden.

Biden was charged in federal court in Los Angeles with participating in a four-year scheme to avoid paying taxes worth about .4 million, the Justice Department said.

Hunter Biden was charged with a total of nine counts -- three tax crimes and six tax violations -- and if convicted, could face a maximum sentence of 17 years in prison. These are tax evasion, non-payment of taxes and filing false tax returns between 2016 and 2019.

In October, Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to charges that he lied about not using drugs while buying a gun.