Yesterday, new bombshell reporting detailed how House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer has repeatedly engaged in questionable dealings with shady characters and lawbreakers. From shadowy shell companies to business deals with a donor, the new revelations build on earlier reporting that Comer paid his brother hundreds of thousands in off-the-books land swaps. As House Republicans move into a baseless impeachment inquiry against President Biden without having uncovered a single shred of evidence of wrongdoing by the President, it is clear that the only person House Republicans should be investigating for hiding assets, deals with donors, and ethics violations is James Comer himself. In addition to the slew of stories yesterday about Comer’s corruption, we’ve compiled more media outlets talking about Comer’s corruption.
Stories
Associated Press: The Republican Leading The Probe Of Hunter Biden Has His Own Shell Company And Complicated Friends. “Interviews and records reviewed by The Associated Press provide new insights into the financial deal, which risks undercutting the force of some of Comer’s central arguments in his impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden. […] [A]s Comer works to “deliver the transparency and accountability that the American people demand” through the GOP’s investigation, his own finances and relationships have begun to draw notice, too, including his ties to prominent local figures who have complicated pasts not all that dissimilar to some of those caught up in his Biden probe.” [Associated Press, 12/14/23]
Salon: James Comer’s Shady Shell Company Makes Clear That Republicans’ Biden Crusade Is Pure GOP Projection. “ A few weeks ago, Roger Sollenberger of the Daily Beast broke a story about some shady dealings by House Oversight Chair James Comer that resembles some of the crimes he’s accusing Biden of committing. In a new report this week, the AP unearthed new details that make it pretty clear that Comer’s crusade is a clear example of GOP projection. Comer has been yammering about “the Biden family” shell companies, which Joe Biden had nothing to do with and were actually completely legitimate companies with real purposes, for months. He even once told Fox Business, ‘nobody creates shell companies.’ Actually, some people do. In fact, Comer himself has a shell company which grew from $50,000 and $100,000 at the time of purchase to between $500,001 and $1 million today. Evidently, he’s conveniently forgotten to report the assets within it which goes against House rules which require members to disclose assets held by companies worth more than $1,000. Oh, and this shell company was formed from a transfer of a piece of land co-owned with one of his major campaign donors and nobody can figure out what the purpose of it was or why he has gone to such lengths to obscure it.” [Salon, 12/15/23]
The New Republic: We Now Have Even More Details About James Comer’s Shady Shell Company. “In a scathing new report, the Associated Press found that a shell company held by the chair of the House Oversight Committee James Comer functioned “in a similarly opaque way” as the Biden family’s own companies… But a series of interviews and records searches conducted by the AP showed that the Kentucky Republican did something remarkably similar, transferring a six-acre parcel of land co-owned with one of his major campaign donors, Darren Cleary, to a shell company he created in 2017 with his wife.” [The New Republic, 12/14/23
Newsweek: James Comer Slammed Over Reported ‘Shady’ Dealings. “However according to multiple reports, in 2017 Comer, a multimillionaire farmer, transferred his ownership of 6 acres of land in Kentucky, which he bought in 2015 and co-owns with a campaign donor, to a shell company called Farm Team Properties he co-owns with his wife. Comer has denied wrongdoing in establishing a shell company… But writing on X, formerly Twitter, commentators criticized the Republican, with one calling him ‘a hypocrite.’” [Newsweek, 12/15/23]
The Washington Post: Here’s How Dishonest James Comer’s Biden Allegations Are. “On Thursday morning, the Associated Press reported that Comer himself used a ‘shell company’ for real estate purposes — something that some of the ‘shell companies’ involved in his investigation also did. (Bartiromo asked him about it; Comer claimed that it was an example of the reporter’s ‘financial illiteracy.’)” [The Washington Post, 12/15/23]
NPR: Lawmaker Leading Hunter Biden House Investigation Accused Of Owning Shell Company. “Hunter Biden is accused of operating a shell company and trading on his family name. Now, the lawmaker leading the House investigation into Biden faces accusations of the same misconduct.” [LISTEN, NPR, 12/15/23]
Mediaite: AP Report Dives Into James Comer’s ‘Opaque’ Business Practices – Similar to What He’s Accusing the Bidens Of. “The AP’s Brian Slodysko reported on the similarities in how Biden and Comer set up their personal finances, which Comer has claimed is evidence of illegality on the Biden family’s part. ‘There are 6 acres (2.4 hectares) that he bought in 2015 and co-owns with a longtime campaign contributor that he has treated differently, transferring his ownership to Farm Team Properties, a shell company he co-owns with his wife,’ Slodysko revealed in the report, not so subtly implying hypocrisy on Comer’s part.” [Mediaite, 12/14/23]
Times Now: James Comer’s ‘Shady’ Shell Company Comes To Light As He Leads Probe Against Hunter Biden. “As per a report by The Associated Press, Comer is involved with a shell company, in a “similarly opaque way” as the Biden family companies. Comer has always boasted about being a multimillionaire farmer and one of Kentucky’s largest landholders. However, in his financial holdings, around six acres of land he bought in 2015 have been attributed to a shell company called Farm Team Properties, which he co-owns with his wife.” [Times Now News, 12/15/23]