On Thursday afternoon, Sen. Mitt Romney announced that he is retiring from the U.S. Senate, forgoing a re-election bid in 2024. He wasn't content to go quietly, though. 

While being questioned by the press following the news, the Utah senator handed Joe Biden a massive gift in regard to the newly opened impeachment inquiry targeting the current president. According to Romney, he hasn't heard any allegation that would rise to the level of a high crime or misdemeanor. 

Romney, who voted to remove Donald Trump from office over a phone call where he asked Zelenskyy a question about Biden's corruption, says on the Biden impeachment inquiry "I haven't heard any allegation that would rise to the level of a high crime and misdemeanor." pic.twitter.com/31a0FK03Gr

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) September 13, 2023

ROMNEY: You know, I hear the House is beginning an impeachment inquiry. I haven't heard any allegation of something that would rise to the level of a high crime and misdemeanor. I think it'd be very unusual to actually see a referral of impeachment. I don't expect that. 

Usually, it's better to say nothing at all if you have nothing of value to say, and that applies here. Romney is telling the press what they want to hear while ignoring what the actual allegations are and what the current level of evidence is. 

First of all, the primary allegation is bribery. Not being a constitutional scholar, I'm still fairly certain that bribery rises to the level of a high crime and misdemeanor. How do I know that? Because bribery is actually listed in the impeachment provision written in Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution. So the idea that no "allegation" currently rises to the level of a high crime and misdemeanor is blatantly ridiculous. 

Of course, arguing evidence is another matter, but plenty of that exists as well. Joe Biden hosted his son's business partners on the phone and in person multiple times. In one case, a Russian oligarch who paid the Biden family millions of dollars not only got a sit-down dinner, but she was then suspiciously left off the sanctions list after Russia invaded Ukraine. Never mind the litany of emails and text messages from Hunter Biden that directly implicate his father, including allegations of money changing hands. 

The idea that there's not enough smoke to justify an impeachment inquiry is laughable. Recall that Donald Trump's impeachment inquiry was opened on the word of a single whistleblower. Yet, we are being told that multiple whistleblowers and multiple established connections just aren't enough. No one who is intellectually honest should actually believe that. 

Regardless, the worst part of Romney's comment is that he's pre-judging the matter before it's even been fully investigated. How does he know it would be "very unusual" to make an impeachment referral? Has he seen all the documents that will eventually be subpoenaed? Does he have deep insight into Joe Biden's finances? This is, again, why just not commenting would be the prudent move. Even if Romney is skeptical, he has no authority to suggest what the outcome of the inquiry should be or will be. 

In the end, Romney's move to defend Biden is one of the reasons he's not popular among Republican voters. It continues a long pattern of going to bat for Democrats at the expense of his own party.