Watch: James Comer calls FBI 'suspicious' and untrustworthy after star witness indicted

27 February 2024

Rep. James Comer (R-Kentucky), who chairs the House Oversight Committee, unleashed on federal law enforcement after the FBI indicted the source of his investigation into President Joe Biden and son Hunter Biden.

During a recent interview on Fox Business, Comer cast aspersions on the FBI following the indictment of confidential informant Alexander Smirnov, who was behind the report that claimed the Bidens solicited $10 million in bribes from Ukrainian energy company Burisma. The FBI later indicted Smirnov for lying to investigators specifically regarding the bribery claim. He was eventually re-arrested last week, possibly for trying to flee the country. He has since been remanded to jail pending trial.

"I don't know anything about Smirnov, but the circumstances around his indictment and his re-arrest, and the changing of the original indictment by [Department of Justice special counsel David] Weiss is concerning because everything that I've had to do with the FBI has been very suspicious throughout this investigation," Comer told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo. "The trust level I have with the FBI is zero."

In 2023, the FBI provided Congress with the 1023 report (meaning it came from a confidential informant) containing Smirnov's allegations, but cautioned lawmakers that the information in the report couldn't be verified. Nevertheless, Republicans in both the House of Representatives and the US Senate used the report's unverified claims as a rallying cry to declare President Biden was corrupt and to justify their subsequent investigations.

Following Smirnov's initial indictment, a subsequent filing revealed that the former informant maintained contact with "high-ranking" officials in Russian intelligence agencies, and that the debunked allegations may have been an attempt by a foreign adversary to interfere in the 2024 election by planting misinformation.

Following the 1023 report's release, dozens of former American spies co-signed a letter warning that the allegations in the report had "all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation."

"While I would love to gloat, the important issue remains the same — foreign interference in American democracy, and unethical, cynical and faithless behavior by members of Congress entrusted to provide oversight of our important institutions," retired CIA operative John Sipher told NBC News.

Watch Comer's segment below, or by clicking this link.

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