BY THE NUMBERS: James Comer Repeatedly Touted Star Witness In Bogus Biden Impeachment Effort Who Was Just Arrested For Lying About the Bidens to the FBI

For almost a year, James Comer has touted Alexander Smirnov as a ‘credible’ star witness in his baseless impeachment investigation into President Biden. To no one’s surprise, Smirnov is one of the least-credible witnesses, since he has officially been arrested for lying in his statements about President Biden and his son. And this is not even the first of Comer’s so-called bombshell witnesses who has been indicted since this investigation began. Smirnov’s claims have been the lynchpin to Comer and House Republicans’ investigation into President Biden. This investigation – evidence-free despite over a year of investigations – is based on a criminal lie. It’s time to end this farce for good. 

Below are 19 examples over the past nine months where James Comer perpetuated this debunked criminal lie in interviews with right wing media.

James Comer

1. JANUARY 2024: Comer Said Smirnov Was The FBI’s “Most Respected” Informant.  “James Comer: We know the FBI never even bothered to look into the crimes even when their most respected and highest paid informants said that both Joe Biden as well as his family were taking bribes.” [Lou Dobbs Tonight, 1/11/24] 
2. AUGUST 2023: Comer Asserted That The FBI Believed What Smirnov Told Them Because He Was A Trusted Informant. “Sean Hannity: Let me ask you this, that 1023 form that the FBI desperately tried to keep from you, the one that used an FBI informant, and that informant was trusted by the FBI. They had paid him hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past, right? So they believed in what he brought up, correct? James Comer: Yes, sir.”  [“Hannity,” Fox News, 8/17/23]
3. AUGUST 2023: Comer Called Smirnov “A Credible Human Informant.”  “James Comer: The two most damaging things for the IRS investigation have been revealed in the last two weeks by the Oversight Committee. First of all, we learned that the FBI and the U.S. Attorney did not share with the IRS investigators that there was a form alleging Biden took a bribe from Ukraine, when they knew the IRS was investigating suspicious wires from Ukraine going into Biden bank accounts. They knew that, but they didn’t share that form 1023 from a credible human informant.”  [“Ingraham Angle,” Fox News, 8/1/23]
4. JULY 2023:Comer: Smirnov Is “One Of Their Most Trusted, Most Effective Informants In The Entire Bureau.” “James Comer: They said that this FBI informant was one of their most trusted, most effective informants in the entire Bureau, and that they had successfully used his testimony in previous cases.” [Sean Hannity Radio, 7/26/23]
5. JULY 2023: Comer: “This Is From The FBI’s Most Trusted, Most Credible, One Of Their Highest Paid Informants.” “Elizabeth MacDonald:  You and Senator Grassley released that FBI document from a whistleblower from the veteran FBI informant the FBI paid thousands or tens — hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past, what does it say? James Comer: Well, this is from the FBI’s most trusted, most credible, one of their highest paid informants in the whole bureau and what the informant alleges to the FBI is that he was told by the Burisma CEO that they paid two bribes, one to Joe Biden and one to Hunter Biden for $5 million each, in exchange for certain policy decisions, and we all know the policy decision was to fire the prosecutor who was investigating Burisma for corruption.” [“Evening Edit,” Fox Business, 7/20/23]
6. JULY 2023: Comer: Smirnov Is “The Most Credible Human Informant.”  “James Comer:  You have a credible human informant, the most credible human informant, according to the FBI, in the whole Bureau, that said he spoke with this Ukrainian oligarch who said he had bribed the Bidens.” [The Benny Show, 7/18/23]
7. JUNE 2023: Comer: Smirnov Is “The Most Trusted, HIghest Paid FBI Informant.” “James Comer: Well, the Justice Department simply has turned a blind eye to Hunter Biden. They were told to stand down. That’s what our FBI whistleblower told us. When we learned of the discovery of the 1023 form that alleged Joe Biden took a bribery from the most trusted, highest paid FBI informant, they were told to stand down. When we brought in the general counsel for the National Archives, when they were trying to write a story on their website about Joe Biden mishandling classified documents, they were told by the Department of Justice to stand down. “ [“Jesse Waters Primetime,” Fox News, 6/22/23]
8. JUNE 2023: Comer: Smirnov Was “Credible” When He Told The FBI That Joe Biden Took Bribes. “James Comer: Now we know about this form 1023 that alleges bribery. What we know from our informants and from our sources in the FBI is that the FBI never investigated this. They never investigated this one, even though they will tell you and you heard in the testimony when Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley grilled the deputy FBI director as to why they wouldn’t release the form 1023. They said, ‘Well, we don’t want to endanger the life of our paid informant who is one of our most trusted, highest paid, most credible FBI informants.’  So if this is the case, and the FBI informant is that credible, and the FBI informant tells the FBI that the vice president of the United States took a bribe from a foreign national in exchange for foreign policy and foreign aid, then why did the FBI not investigate it? “ [“Life Liberty & Levin,” Fox News, 6/18/23]
9. JUNE 2023:  Comer: Allegations Against Biden Are “Based On A Trusted Informant’s Conversations.”  “Democrats continue to lie about the FBI’s Biden bribery record. The record didn’t originate with Rudy Giuliani. It’s based on a trusted informant’s conversations with the foreign national who claimed to have bribed then-VP Biden. The record isn’t closed. It was sent to the U.S. Attorney in Delaware for further investigation.”  [@GOPOversight, 6/16/23]
10. JUNE 2023: Comer Said Smirnov Was “One Of Our Highest Paid, Most Trusted, Most Respected, Most Effective FBI Informants In The Whole Bureau.” “Maria Bartiromo: These are very serious allegations, obviously, so we want to get right to it. What did these 17 tapes tell us? James Comer: Well, according to what the oligarch told the FBI informant was that they had 17 recordings, two of President Joe Biden, the others of his son accepting bribes and talking about the terms of the bride. This is a very serious allegation. And one thing that I know for sure, Maria, is the FBI never did one single thing to investigate this, even though you’ve heard in the testimony that you just showed with with Hawley and Cruz where the FBI told them exactly what they told me, “We can’t release these documents or tell you anything about potential tapes, because it could endanger the life of this FBI informant.” And this is one of our highest paid, most trusted, most respected, most effective FBI informants in the whole Bureau. So if that’s the case, then why didn’t the FBI ever investigate any of these bribery claims with Joe Biden?” [“Mornings With Maria,” Fox Business, 6/15/23]
    • • Comer Claimed Smirnov Was Also Working For The CIA And Was “A Very Valuable Person To The FBI.” “Maria Bartiromo: Well, I think this is a really important point, because that’s what I’ve been told from many people that, in fact, this whistleblower, this informant, rather, is the best informant that this government has ever seen. Tell me about this informant and why this person is so important. James Comerr: Well, I’ll tell you what I think I can tell you, and that is that this informant has been paid over $200,000 from the FBI. We believe this informant may also work for potentially the CIA, and this informant has been around since the Obama administration. They have used this informant’s testimony in other cases that they have been involved in around the world, so this is a very valuable person to the FBI, which begs the question, why didn’t the FBI investigate these allegations?”  [“Mornings With Maria,” Fox Business, 6/15/23]
      • Comer: This Document Is From “A Credible Informant.” “James Comer: Well, the document, again, is from a credible informant. It says that Joe Biden was taking a bribe. Now let’s look at what this document also says. It said from the oligarch that the investigators will never be able to find this or it will take them over 10 years to find this because of the way we funneled the money through various different banks. The oligarch also referred to Joe Biden as the ‘big guy.’ Now, Maria, this is years before anyone else knew about the term ‘big guy.’ And this is years before my committee unveiled the fact that the Bidens had all these shell companies and were laundering money through six different American banks. So this is information no one would have known about, but the informant tells the FBI.”  [“Mornings With Maria,” Fox Business, 6/15/23]
11. JUNE 2023:  Comer:  “A Highly Credible Informant At The FBI” Accused Joe Biden Of Bribery.  “There is a two-tier system of justice in this country. Now we know a highly credible informant at the FBI has indicated that then-VP Joe Biden engaged in a criminal bribery scheme. The FBI says this investigation has been going on for YEARS. Americans deserve answers.” [@RepJamesComer, 6/9/23]
12. JUNE 2023: Comer: Smirnov Is “One Of The Most Highest Paid, Most Respected, Most Trusted, Most Effective Human Informants.”  “James Comer: I can tell you that the FBI has had this since 2017. This particular 1023 that I was able to grant access for my entire committee today, it’s dated June 30th of 2020. But what — you go back through the document and their footnotes that reference two prior years. So they were communicating with this paid informant for years and according to the FBI, this is one of the most highest paid, most respected, most trusted, most effective human informants. So what we learned is what the whistleblowers told Senator Grassley all along. The FBI never investigated this.” [“Hannity,” Fox News, 6/8/23]
    • • Comer: Smirnov Is The “Most Trusted Credible Source.” “James Comer: No. Look, Joe Biden has mishandled classified documents in a much more severe manner than Donald Trump ever mishandled classified documents. What we’ve learned about this form 1023, again, the FBI never investigated it, but there’s — this is a pattern of the FBI not investigating anything with respect to Biden. Look at what they had with the Steele dossier, which was no credible source, compared to what they have with this 1023 on Joe Biden, from their most trusted credible source.” [“Hannity,” Fox News, 6/8/23]
13. JUNE 2023:  Comer: This Allegation Is From “One Of The Most Credible Paid Informants In The Whole System.” “James Comer:  Well, the human informant, according to the FBI, is one of the most trusted, most accomplished paid informants in the entire Bureau. He’s one of the highest paid informants in the Bureau. He’s been with the Bureau for 13 years, dating back to the Obama administration, still currently with the Bureau. So the fact that this particular human source is one of the most valuable agents to the FBI shows that the allegation should be pretty credible.  But here’s what’s credible to me, Rob, is the fact that this form that we’re requesting was written in June of 2020. It alleges bribery of significant payment to Joe Biden, and that the payee informed the human source that nobody would ever find it, because the way the Bidens wanted the money was to be sent through multiple banks and multiple, essentially, shell companies before it got to the Biden family. So that sounds very familiar to what we found in Romania. there is a pattern here of the Bidens doing this while Joe Biden was Vice President. That’s why I believe that this allegation from – according to the FBI – what one of the most credible paid informants in the whole system. That’s why I think this is a credible allegation.” [“Rob Schmitt Tonight,” Newsmax, 6/6/23]
14. JUNE 2023:  Comer:  Allegations Against Biden Are From “A Credible Informant With Years Of Experience.” “The White House is confused about the facts. The FBI confirmed the serious allegations against then-VP Biden were from a credible informant with years of experience. No amount of spin from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue can change this. I will hold the FBI accountable.”  [@RepJamesComer, 6/5/23]
15. JUNE 2023: Comer:  The FBI Confirmed The Bribery Allegation Is From “A Highly Credible Informant.”  “🚨🚨🚨 The FBI confirmed the unclassified record alleging then-VP Biden engaged in a $5 million bribery scheme is from a highly credible informant & being used in an ongoing investigation.  The FBI refused to hand over the doc. I will hold Director Wray in contempt of Congress.” [@RepJamesComer, 6/5/23]
16. MAY 2023:  Comer Called Smirnovs Allegations “Credible.”  “Sean Hannity: I want to be very clear. You believe in the credibility of this whistleblower. You believe that the allegation that Joe Biden, as Vice President, received money for his family, or family enterprise, in exchange for specific acts that he took as the vice president of our country? You believe that that is a credible charge, and allegation made by a credible witness?  James Comer: Well,it’s so hard to believe, Sean, I wouldn’t have believed it had I not seen the bank records, had I not seen the shell companies that the Biden family created to launder money that was being received from foreign nationals after Joe Biden left the country with foreign aid checks. So there’s a pattern here that would suggest this is a credible allegation.” [“Hannity,” Fox News, 5/31/23]
17. MAY 2023:  Comer Said The Allegations In The FBI Form 1023 Were From A “Credible Whistleblower.”  “James Comer: So with respect to the document, we’re confident the document exists. I’ll put it like that, and that’s all I’m gonna say about that. What we want to know is what exactly did the FBI do to investigate this accusation? Because this is an accusation that the vice president of the United States sold influence to a foreign national, to an enemy, an adversary of the United States. This is a very serious accusation from a credible whistleblower. What did our Federal Bureau of Investigation do with respect to investigating that?” [Joe Pags Show, 5/17/23]
18. MAY 2023:  Comer Called Smirnov’s Allegations “Pretty Credible.”  “James Comer: And here’s why I think it’s credible.  What the informant alleged that Joe Biden did and how they had the payment is consistent with what we found in Romania, and China, and other countries that I haven’t disclosed yet. Now, that informant disclosed this over three years ago. No one knew about this web of LLCs until about a month ago when I started talking about it on TV. So this informant laid out a picture long before anyone knew about the web of LLCs and the influence peddling in these other countries. So to me, it fits a pattern that no one else would have known about and it’s pretty credible.” [Fox Across America With Jimmy Failla, 5/15/23]
19. MAY 2023:  Comer Called Allegations From The FBI Informant “Credible Whistleblower Disclosures.”  “🚨I have reviewed credible whistleblower disclosures that then-VP Joe Biden allegedly engaged in a bribery scheme with a foreign national. Given the severity of these allegations, we acted swiftly. I sent a subpoena to the FBI.  Transparency brings accountability.”  [@RepJamesComer, 5/4/23]