This morning, new reporting emerged detailing 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.
Commentary
Brian Slodysko, AP: “Republicans’ chief impeachment investigator, James Comer, has intensely focused on Hunter Biden’s use of shell companies, as well as his shadowy business associates. @AP found he has his own shell company and complicated friends.” [@BrianSlodysko, X, 12/14/23]
House Judiciary Dems: “The Republican leading the probe of Hunter Biden has his own shell company and complicated friends” [@HouseJudiciary, X, 12/14/23]
Rep. Robert Garcia: “James Comer, who is obsessed with President Biden and impeaching him to appease Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene, has no ethical standards himself. What a joke.” [@RobertGarcia, X, 12/14/23]
Rep. Adam Kinzinger: “Well well. Republican leading Hunter Biden probe has his own shell company | AP News” [@AdamKinzinger, X, 12/14/23]
Jacqueline Alemany, Washington Post: “‘The AP found that Farm Team Properties functions in a similarly opaque way as the companies used by the Bidens, masking his stake in the land that he co-owns with the donor from being revealed on his financial disclosure forms.’” [@JaxAlemany, X, 12/14/23]
Seung Min Kim, AP: “James Comer, the Republican leading the probe of Hunter Biden, has his own shell company and complicated friends (from @AP)” [@seungminkim, X, 12/14/23]
Eugene Scott, Axios: “Rep. James Comer — the Republican leading the probe of Hunter Biden — has his own shell company and complicated friends” [@Eugene_Scott, X, 12/14/23]
Kyle Griffin, MSNBC: “The Republican leading the probe of Hunter Biden has his own shell company and complicated friends…” [@kylegriffin1, X, 12/14/23]
Arthur Delaney, Huff Post: “New AP investigation of James Comer’s shell company finds it similar to the ones Comer says Hunter Biden used for crimes and corruption” [@ArthurDelaneyHP, X, 12/14/23]
Reese Gorman, Washington Examiner: “James Comer, the Republican leading the probe of Hunter Biden has his own shell company and complicated friends Via @BrianSlodysko” [@reesejgorman, X, 12/14/23]
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]
Raw Story: Bombshell report accuses James Comer of same business practices central to Biden inquiry. “The Kentucky Republican who’s leading the impeachment inquiry into the president co-owns six acres of land with a longtime campaign contributor. The Associated Press reported he transferred ownership of that property that he bought in 2015 to Farm Team Properties, a shell company he co-owns with his wife that has exploded in value. ‘The AP found that Farm Team Properties functions in a similarly opaque way as the companies used by the Bidens, masking his stake in the land that he co-owns with the donor from being revealed on his financial disclosure forms,’ wrote national political reporter Bryan Slodysko. ‘Those records describe Farm Team Properties as his wife’s ‘land management and real estate speculation’ company without providing further details.’” [Raw Story, 12/14/23]
Alternet: James Comer’s own business dealings ‘risk undercutting’ Biden impeachment push: report. “In an article published on December 14, meanwhile, the Associated Press’ Brian Slodysko stresses that Comer’s own business activities have been scrutinized. ‘Rep. James Comer, a multimillionaire farmer, boasts of being one of the largest landholders near his rural Kentucky hometown, and he has meticulously documented nearly all of his landholdings on congressional financial disclosure documents — roughly 1600 acres in all,’ Slodysko explains. ‘But there are six acres 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.’” [Alternet, 12/14/23]
PoliticusUSA: James Comer Hit With Bombshell Investigation of His Own Shell Companies. “The AP found that Farm Team Properties functions in a similarly opaque way as the companies used by the Bidens, masking his stake in the land that he co-owns with the donor from being revealed on his financial disclosure forms. Those records describe Farm Team Properties as his wife’s ‘land management and real estate speculation’ company without providing further details. It’s not clear why Comer decided to put those six acres in a shell company, or what other assets Farm Team Properties may hold. On his most recent financial disclosure forms, Comer lists its value as being as much as $1 million, a substantial sum but a fraction of his overall wealth.” [PoliticusUSA, 12/14/23]