'Watching a snake eat its own tail': Analysis torches Comer’s double standard in Trump classified docs case

31 January 2023

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A new analysis is criticizing Rep. James Comer's (R-KY) blatant double standard regarding former President Donald Trump's classified documents.

Like many Republican lawmakers, Comer has had difficulty seeing Trump and President Joe Biden's situations through an unbiased lens. However, MSNBC's Steven Benen is explaining how the two cases differ vastly.

"There are obviously a handful of ongoing controversies surrounding national officeholders and alleged mishandling of classified materials, but by any sensible measure, the controversy surrounding Donald Trump is qualitatively different," Benen wrote.

He continued:

After all, the former president, unlike President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence, ignored requests to return the relevant documents, and failed to comply with a federal subpoena," he explained. "And stands accused of obstructing the retrieval process. And reportedly proposed a possible trade in which he said he’d consider returning materials, but only if officials gave him something else in return. And launched a months-long crusade against federal law enforcement, literally equating the FBI with 'the Gestapo.'

Despite Trump’s track record of misconduct, Benen notes that the House Oversight Committee, chaired by Comer, does not appear to have any interest in investigating the former president.. Expounding on the issue, Benen wrote, "The Republican chairman of the panel, Rep. James Comer of Kentucky has not only defended the former president’s actions, he’s also dismissed the scandal’s importance."

"Comer is, however, deeply interested in pursuing the Biden story, despite the fact that it appears far less serious. How does the GOP chairman explain the double standard? He’s still working on that," Benen wrote.

Referencing Comer's Sunday night discussion with CNN’s Pamela Brown, Benen noted that the Republican lawmaker was asked one compelling question: "Does he have evidence of influence peddling surrounding Biden and classified documents?"

Comer responded saying, “We don’t know. We want to look.”

To that answer, Benen offered a critical assessment, writing, "It was like watching a snake eat its own tail."

Following that interview with CNN's Brown, Comer appeared the National Press Club while in Washington, D.C. where he explained his reason for not putting energy into the Trump classified documents investigation.

“Well, there’s a special counsel,” Comer explained. “There’s a special counsel and I am confident that that special counsel is looking into everything.”

However, Benen has pushed back with a detailed argument explaining why Comer's explanation falls flat. "It was not a good point," Comer noted.

"As the chairman of the House Oversight Committee really ought to know, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to scrutinize the Biden matter, too," Benen wrote. "If the existence of a special counsel investigating Trump leads Comer to believe he should focus his attention elsewhere, then the existence of a special counsel investigating the Biden story should lead him to the same conclusion."

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