The entire basis for the impeachment inquiry into President Biden has been nothing but lies and conspiracy theories. During his opening statement at today’s first impeachment hearing, we heard the same lies he’s been spouting for months.
The facts you won’t hear from Comer’s mouth? Nine months of MAGA Republican investigations have turned up not a single shred of evidence that President Biden has committed any wrongdoing whatsoever. Today’s Republican witnesses are partisan hacks without firsthand knowledge – there are no fact witnesses. And this entire charade was pushed by Donald Trump in order to distract from his own 91 felony counts and four indictments.
James Comer’s Lies
Lie #1: The House Oversight Committee Has Uncovered Evidence of Wrongdoing
Claim: In his opening statement, Comer claimed: “Since assuming our Republican majority in January, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee has uncovered a mountain of evidence.”
The Facts: Despite nine months of Congressional investigations, 12,000 pages of documents reviewed, 2,000 pages of Suspicious Activity Reports, interviews with Hunter Biden’s business associates, an interview with President Biden’s bookkeeper, interviews with federal agents assigned to the Hunter Biden investigation, and every subpoena answered, House Republicans have failed to produce evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden. A wide range of House Republicans from House Freedom Caucus Member Ken Buck to Biden district Republicans Mike Lawler and Don Bacon agree there is not enough evidence to move forward with impeachment.
Lie #2: President Biden Was Involved In Hunter Biden’s Foreign Business Dealings
Claim: In his opening statement, Comer claimed: “Evidence reveals that then Vice President Joe Biden spoke, dined, and developed relationships with his family’s foreign business targets. These Business targets include foreign oligarchs who sent millions of dollars to his family. It also includes a Chinese national who wired a quarter of a million dollars to his son.”
The Facts: Republicans’ own witness, Hunter Biden’s business associate Devon Archer, did NOT testify that President Biden was directly involved in business discussions – only that he held casual conversations about “the weather” and “fishing.” Witness testimony referred to approximately 20 instances over the span of a decade in which Hunter indicated Joe Biden was merely present.
Lie #3: Chinese Nationals Wired Money to President Biden’s Home Address.
Claim: In his opening statement, Comer claimed: “Just this week, we uncovered two additional wires sent to Hunter Biden that originated in Beijing from Chinese nationals. This happened when Joe Biden was running for President of the United States and Joe Biden’s home is listed as the beneficiary address.”
The Facts: The wire transfer in question was a documented loan directly deposited into a bank account solely belonging to Hunter Biden – wire transfers are not delivered to physical addresses. Some wire transfers require a listed physical address for the recipient, and at the time, Hunter Biden’s personal driver’s license listed his father’s Delaware address – a known fact that had been reported on for months before Comer’s supposed bombshell revelation.
Lie #4: President Biden Laundered $20 Million Through Illegitimate Shell Companies
Claim: In his opening statement, Comer claimed: “To date, the House Oversight Committee has uncovered how the Bidens and their associates created over 20 shell companies, most of which were created when Joe Biden was Vice President, and raked in over $20 million between 2014 and 2019.”
The Facts: According to the Washington Post, “A close reading of the memos, however, finds that only about $7 million can be directly attributed to Biden family members, mostly Hunter, while the rest went to ‘associates,’ according to the memos. […] No money has been traced to Joe Biden.”
In May, House Republicans released a report about several of the companies in question – but their own report found no evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden. Independent fact-checkers further concluded: “that claim is undercut by the list of 21 companies that appear in the second staff memo. Virtually all of the companies (many of which now are defunct) had legitimate business interests. Others had clearly identified business investments. Digging through the records, we find only three whose business purpose remains vague; one (Rosemont Seneca Global Risk Services, LLC) may not even be related to Hunter Biden, according to an email found in Hunter Biden’s laptop. The memos do not list any payments that flowed through these three companies.”