The Republican House Oversight Committee recently unveiled a membership roster composed of election deniers, insurrectionist allies, conspiracy theorists, and subpoena dodgers—all led by Rep. James Comer (R-KY). Despite this committee’s unserious and untrustworthy agenda, some have deluded themselves into believing Comer is a balanced moderate and serious legislator working to rein-in his MAGA colleagues. Nothing could be further from the truth.
In reality, James Comer is a Trump loyalist through and through, and his investigations are purely partisan games. He is a hypocritical, extreme MAGA Republican who hand-picked many of the extremists on his committee, like Marjorie Taylor Greene. The real James Comer is a conspiratorial, partisan acolyte with no interest in governing or prioritizing the real issues affecting Americans.
James Comer’s Investigations Are All About Politics
James Comer Has Openly Admitted Political Intent Behind Investigating Hunter Biden. In October, Rep. Comer told Fox News, “There are a lot of factors that are going to prevent Joe Biden from running. His age, the results of the midterm elections in two weeks. But also his son. Look, this Biden family investigation’s only going to ramp up in a Republican majority.”
Comer Believes Investigations Will Give Him More Power and Influence. Comer is using his leadership role on the House Oversight Committee to increase his power. Not only has Comer openly admitted that his investigations are politically motivated, he explicitly aims to expand his influence in the GOP House with them. During a recent interview, Comer declared: “I truly think being Chairman of this committee—other than Speaker of the House—is going to be the most important job in Congress come January.”
Straub: Rep. Comer More Interested in “Embarrassing Democrats Rather Than Coming to Grips with the Truth.” Northern Kentucky Tribune columnist Bill Straub wrote last year how Rep. Comer seemed more interested in “embarrassing Democrats rather than coming to grips with the truth.” He called Comer a “a Trump acolyte or, if you prefer, a Trump tool” and said, “Fair play obviously is not Comer’s style, as we’ll find if he wields the committee hammer.”
James Comer: Hypocrite-in-Chief
James Comer Calls Documents Found In A Biden Storage Facility A “National Security Issue” After Making Excuses For Donald Trump’s Lawless Behavior. James Comer has exhibited glaring hypocrisy on investigations related to Donald Trump’s lawless mishandling of sensitive government documents. When the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago for classified documents after nine months of obstruction by Donald Trump, James Comer claimed that the documents “may or may not be classified” and “didn’t amount to a hill of beans.” He blamed the FBI search on rogue “government bureaucracies” and denounced the federal investigation into Trump’s wrongdoing. Yet when President Biden’s attorney turned over documents discovered in a secure facility, Comer immediately vowed to hold hearings and accused the President of dishonesty: “Joe Biden hasn’t been honest with the American people about the classified documents, the list goes on and on and on. That’s why we need to investigate this.” Comer’s overt, gobsmacking hypocrisy exposes him as a partisan hack whose loyalty lies with Trump and his MAGA allies, not the American people or the rule-of-law.
Comer Is Hypocritically Investigating President Biden’s Family Finances After Turning A Blind Eye The Trump Family’s Blatant Corruption For Years. James Comer has made President Biden and his family a centerpiece of the MAGA House Oversight Committee’s investigative agenda. But where was Comer during the Trump administration? At every turn, Comer looked the other way when corruption took place from inside the White House. Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric Trump profited off their dad’s presidency with lucrative real estate deals with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, trademark deals with China, and hundreds of millions in overseas business earnings. In November 2022, Comer declared: “The president’s participation in enriching his family is, in a word, abuse of the highest order.” Apparently, this only applies to his political enemies. In spite of mounting evidence of corruption and political influence in the Trump White House, Comer and House Republicans opposed issuing subpoenas, voted against obtaining documents, and shot down public testimony for those connected to the former president. Comer was a key figure hindering legitimate oversight of the Trump family’s corruption, yet he has jumped at the opportunity to investigate fringe conspiracies about President Biden’s family.
Rep. Comer Has Already Been Caught Lying About Hunter Biden. James Comer has already been called out by independent fact checkers for misleading Americans over claims about Hunter Biden. An investigative reporter wrote that Comer “needs to get his facts straight” after making numerous false and/or unsubstantiated claims about foreign business dealings.
Comer Is A Trump Loyalist Through and Through
James Comer Attempted to Block Subpoenas for Testimony Surrounding the Approval of Security Clearances for Top White House Officials with Questionable Backgrounds. Rep. Comer and Republicans on the House Oversight Committee tried to block subpoenas being issued to the Trump administration over the process of approving security clearances for staff members of the Trump White House.
Comer Defended Donald Trump’s Attempts to Shut Down An Investigation Into A Trump White House Advisor. After former President Trump tried to shut down former FBI Director James Comey’s investigation into Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, Rep. Comer claimed that Trump, “may have been joking” and refused to investigate the move.
Rep. Comer Ridiculously Claimed Trump’s Possible Obstruction of Justice Was Only a Joke; Said Trump’s Pressuring of FBI Director Comey to Drop Federal Criminal Charges Against Michael Flynn Was Just an Example of Trump’s “Kidding.” Rep. Comer stated in 2017 that President Trump’s attempt to pressure FBI Director James Comey into dropping the criminal investigation into Trump’s former National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, was merely an example of Trump’s “kidding” and not an attempt to obstruct justice.
MAGA and Extreme
James Comer Is A MAGA Champion. Comer personally approved a slate of overwhelmingly pro-Trump, MAGA Republicans on the House Oversight committee, with James Comer leading the pack. James Comer was personally involved in selecting extremists like Marjorie Taylor Greene—who have shared QAnon conspiracy theories and spoken at white nationalist conferences—to serve on his committee. Even before the 2022 election, Comer told reporters “we look forward to the Steering Committee adding new GOP members to the committee like Rep. Greene with energy and a strong interest in partnering with us in our efforts.” Under his leadership, members of the far-right Freedom Caucus hold 38% of the GOP seats on the Oversight Committee. All but four of the 25 Republicans on his committee defended Trump’s election lies and 80% of incumbent Republicans on the committee voted against certifying the 2020 election results.
Comer Is A Fringe Conspiracy Theorist. Comer has a record of supporting fringe, right-wing conspiracy theories as a member of Congress. As a Washington Post columnist noted, according to Comer, “Hunter Biden controls cobalt in Congo, fentanyl in Mexico, coronavirus in Wuhan and war in Ukraine. It is just a matter of time until Republicans find a Hunter Biden angle in Jeffrey Epstein’s demise and UFOs off the coast of California.” Comer has claimed that Hunter Biden has influenced the Biden-Harris administration on issues like COVID-19, fentanyl, the Paris Climate Accords, cobalt mining, and even foreign relations with China. He claimed that Hunter Biden personally “orchestrated” the deal, though multiple people involved in it confirmed that Hunter Biden was not involved – some didn’t even know he was connected to the investment firm.
Rep. Comer Believes the Deep State is “Alive and Real” & Said He Didn’t Trust the U.S. Intelligence Community. Comer has expressed belief in the conspiracy of a “deep state” which was targeting Trump and said he did not trust the U.S. intelligence community: “It doesn’t matter what … the pundits say, what the political correct [sic] crowd in Washington says, what the swamp says, or what leadership says, we’re fed up with this deep state. [Former Rep.] Devin Nunes was right all along. The deep state is alive and real, and it’s going to be left up to Republicans, hopefully in a majority, starting in January to try to end this and get us back on the path to where we have confidence in our intelligence communities.”