This week, Congressional Integrity Project sent a letter to the Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office calling for them to investigate Representative James Comer’s involvement in obtaining and distributing leaked emails and, if there is sufficient evidence, take criminal action against Comer. The letter followed Comer admitting to potential wrongdoing in an article published by the New York Times.
Congressional Integrity Project also hosted a press briefing with former Ambassador Norm Eisen, noted legal scholar and counsel in the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump, Public Policy Polling Analyst Jim Williams, Navigator Research Lead Pollster Bryan Bennett, and Congressional Integrity Project Senior Advisor Leslie Dach.
The virtual press conference followed this weekend’s news surrounding a possible criminal indictment of Donald Trump and the release of a new poll commissioned by the Congressional Integrity Project and conducted by Public Policy Polling. Watch the full briefing here.
Congressional Integrity Project also launched a billboard in Frankfort, Kentucky in Rep. James Comer’s district. The billboard highlights new reporting from the New York Times in which he is accused of being “angry and vindictive” and reveals he attempted to smear a woman who accused him of hitting her.
Similarly, CIP launched poster displays around Washington D.C. and handed out flyers to Republican members of Congress’ offices and outside hearing rooms, all to remind Jim Jordan that his weaponization of the federal government subcommittee so far has been a total dud.
CIP also launched a mobile billboard featuring a video by the January 6th Select Committee that was played during the summer hearings and depicts the violence on January 6th. The CIP mobile billboard is displayed outside of the DC jail while Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene leads a cohort of Trump’s closest election-denying MAGA allies in the House to visit the January 6th defendants and insurrectionists.
This week, CIP sent out 14 rapid-response products, including statements, fact sheets, and roundups.
- “Hell on Earth”: Oversight Republicans Attempt To Threaten & Intimidate Prosecutors Over Trump Indictment
- Congressional Integrity Project Holds Press Briefing on Trump Indictment News and the MAGA House Republicans’ Failed Investigations
- STATEMENT: MAGA House GOP Continues To Weaponize Investigations By Interfering With The Work Of The Manhattan District Attorney To Protect Trump
- STATEMENT: Shocking New Allegations Against James Comer Must Be Investigated
- James Comer NYT Profile: “Angry and Vindictive” and “Willing To Go To Great Lengths To Crush His Adversaries”
- ICYMI: Shocking New Information About James Comer
- MEDIA ADVISORY: Congressional Integrity Project Launches Billboard in Frankfort, Kentucky Highlighting the Real James Comer
- FACT SHEET: MAGA “Parental Rights” Hearing Features Right-Wing Extremists, Book Banners, and Hate Group
- FACT SHEET: House Republicans Select Partisan Advocates and Fringe Insiders to Testify At Gun Control Hearing
- MEDIA ADVISORY: Congressional Integrity Project Welcomes Jim Jordan Back to Capitol Hill With His ‘Weaponization’ Subcommittee Failures
- Congressional Integrity Project Calls on Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office to Launch a Criminal Investigation of James Comer
- STATEMENT: MAGA Republicans’ Visit to Jailed January 6th Rioters Is Shameful
- MEDIA ADVISORY: Congressional Integrity Project Launches Mobile Billboard During House Republicans’ Visit to DC Jail to Meet With January 6 Defendants and Insurrectionists
- ROUNDUP: Another Toxic Week for James Comer
Finally, CIP was mentioned or quoted in the following articles or news appearances.
WKYT (CBS) – Lexington, KY: “There are now calls from a group, the Congressional Integrity Project, for a House Ethics Committee to investigate.” [WKYT, 3/21/23]
Salon: Experts: Trump is trying to “foment civil unrest” — and Republicans are adding “fuel to the fire”. “‘Rather than condemning [Trump’s] words, speaker McCarthy added fuel to the fire,’ Leslie Dach, a senior adviser at the Congressional Integrity Project, said during a Monday press briefing. ‘McCarthy chose to use his power as speaker in an attempt to stop justice from taking place rather than supporting justice and he threatened and intimidated law enforcement and those investigators. This is all part of a larger attack on the rule of law, law enforcement by Speaker McCarthy and the MAGA majority, and it’s time for that to end.’” [Salon, 3/20/23]
The Independent: Nancy Pelosi and Democrats condemn Trump’s ‘reckless’ statement as he stokes unrest over indictment. “A statement from the senior adviser Brad Woodhouse with the Congressional Integrity Project said Mr McCarthy is using his role as House Speaker to ‘stop justice from taking place, threatening and intimidating those investigating Trump’s alleged wrongdoings with investigations of their own.’ ‘Kevin McCarthy has turned his speakership over to Trump, election deniers, white nationalist sympathizers and the cult of MAGA and he has lost the moral high ground to lead,’ he added.” [The Independent, 3/20/23]
Washington Times: Trump hush money a case unyielding DA can’t resist. “Norman Eisen, a lawyer and former diplomat, called Mr. Bragg’s potential prosecution against the former president ‘an open-and-shut case.’ During a press conference Monday hosted by the liberal Congressional Integrity Project, Mr. Eisen said prosecutors could successfully elevate the case to a felony. ‘The hush money case is a serious one. This is a powerful open-and-shut case,’ he said, and Mr. Bragg has ‘good arguments’ to convict the former president.” [Washington Times, 3/20/23]
Washington Post: Trump campaign prepares for ‘new normal’: Running under indictment. “‘The hypocrisy of House Republicans rushing to Trump’s defense for possible crimes his own former attorney went to jail for while they investigate every QAnon conspiracy theory about Joe Biden is gobsmacking. These folks have no credibility and apparently no shame,’ said Brad Woodhouse, a Democratic strategist and senior adviser to the Congressional Integrity Project. ‘But the reality is that the indictment of a former president is a story that will tell itself.’” [Washington Post, 3/21/23]
Louisville Courier Journal: Abuse allegations, leaked emails and how Jamie Comer undid his own bid for governor. “The Congressional Integrity Project, a Democratic group pushing back against the Biden investigations, called for an ethics investigation into Comer’s past. ‘James Comer admitted to stealing a server, hacking emails, and leaking them in a brazen attempt to intimidate a former girlfriend who credibly accused him of abuse and a blogger making her accusations public,’ the group said in a statement. ‘Comer has no credibility or moral authority to investigate others,’ the group said.” [Louisville Courier Journal, 3/22/23]
Louisville Courier Journal: Group urges James Comer investigation over remarks about 2015 email leak. “A Democrat-aligned organization has asked a Kentucky prosecutor to investigate U.S. Rep. James Comer over his possible involvement in the leak of a law firm’s emails during his 2015 race for governor, stemming from an admission in a recent New York Times profile of the congressman. The Congressional Integrity Project — a 501(c)(4) that is pushing back against U.S. House Republicans’ investigations of President Joe Biden’s son and administration — wrote a letter Wednesday to Fayette Commonwealth Attorney Kimberly Baird, asking her office for a ‘formal and thorough investigation’ into Comer’s ‘involvement in unlawfully obtaining and/or receiving stolen emails from a computer server’of the law firm. ‘No one should be above the law, and information revealed yesterday in an article published in the New York Times provides strong reason to believe that Representative Comer committed at least one, and perhaps multiple, felony offenses during his failed attempt to secure the Republican nomination for governor in 2015,’ wrote Kyle Herrig, the group’s executive director.” [Louisville Courier Journal, 3/23/23]
WPSD Local 6: Group calls on Kentucky prosecutor to investigate Rep. James Comer over allegations that he leaked stolen emails. “The group, a 501(c)(4) organization called the Congressional Integrity Project, is asking Fayette County Commonwealth’s Attorney Kimberly Henderson Baird to investigate the allegation that Comer unlawfully obtained and then leaked emails stolen from the computer server of a law firm during his unsuccessful bid for governor in 2015.” [WPSD Local 6, 3/23/23]
US News & World Report: Building the Trump Template. “‘It depends on the behavior of Republicans. Will they accept this as a country of laws and let the legal system do its job?’ Leslie Dach, senior adviser at the Congressional Integrity Project, said in a recent online panel discussion on the Trump cases. ‘I believe this country is ready to follow this case down the legal path unless they are goaded by MAGA Republicans to do the opposite,’ he says.” [US News & World Report, 3/24/23]