James Comer’s 'exaggerated' Biden corruption allegations have 'shriveled under scrutiny': watchdog

11 September 2023

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Kentucky) is among the Republicans who has been pushing for an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

Comer's probe of Biden and his son Hunter Biden excites right-wing media figures, although it could work against House Republicans in swing districts who are seeking reelection in 2024.

According to a Congressional Integrity Project report, Comer's probe has hyped bribery allegations against Biden but without producing any hard evidence.

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"The report offers an anatomy of a fake scandal, detailing a series of exaggerated assertions that have shriveled under scrutiny," The Guardian's David Smith reports. "They include Comer saying, at his first press conference, that he had evidence of 'federal crimes committed,' relentlessly invoking 'Deep State' conspiracy theories and claiming that his whistleblowers 'fear for their lives.'"

According to the Congressional Integrity Project, sources Comer hyped as "whistleblowers" didn't really fit that description.

"In early May," Smith explains, "Comer and Sen. Chuck Grassley (of Iowa), investigating Hunter (Biden)'s work for the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, published an open letter to the FBI announcing subpoenas for an unclassified document supposedly describing an alleged 'criminal scheme involving then-Vice-President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions.' But when Comer and Grassley obtained the document, Form FD-1023, and publicly released a redacted version — against the advice of intelligence officials who feared it would 'unnecessarily risks the safety of a confidential source' — it turned out to be an uncorroborated FBI tip."

The Guardian's full report is available at this link.

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