It’s been another month of epic failures for House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, who is failing miserably in his desperate attempt to impeach President Biden. Witness after witness has testified that President Biden had no involvement in his family’s businesses. Even Fox News and Newsmax hosts and commentators and his own GOP colleagues have admitted impeachment is a failure and it’s time to move on.
Steve Benen, MSNBC: Struggling With Failure, GOP’s Comer Pushes ‘Deep State’ Theory.
- “In the wake of his latest failed hearing, and confronting intensifying criticisms from his own GOP colleagues, the question isn’t whether House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer will continue with his impeachment crusade fiasco. Rather, the question is what the Kentucky Republican intends to do now that the fiasco has failed.”
Gregory Wallance, The Hill: The Cosmic Ineptitude Of House Republicans’ Biden Impeachment Inquiry.
- “In their first hearing of their impeachment inquiry of Joe Biden, which Republicans claimed involved ‘the biggest corruption scandal’ in a century, the majority called constitutional law expert Professor Jonathan Turley. Turley testified that he did ‘not believe that the current evidence’ justified impeachment, which led committee member Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) to call him a ‘crappy witness.’”
- The Oversight Committee needs a face-saving exit ramp because there aren’t enough House Republican votes to impeach. But this mess cannot be face-saved. Some Republicans have talked up a criminal referral of Biden to the Department of Justice, but if the hearings have proven anything, it is that there are no crimes to refer.”
Vanity Fair: James Comer’s Impeachment Push Is Ending With a Whimper.
- “The evidence he and Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan have talked up in the right-wing media failed to materialize, the GOP majority is hanging by a thread, and its members seem too busy jabbing at one another to land a punch on the president.”
The New Republic: James Comer Finally Admits Defeat in His Biden Impeachment Crusade.
- “After more than a year of insisting that the president and his family are guilty of corruption, Republicans have yet to produce any evidence of Biden’s wrongdoing. Many GOP lawmakers are starting to back away from the impeachment effort, admitting that they likely don’t have the votes to pass articles of impeachment.”
- This is a far cry from his originally stated goal, which was to impeach and ultimately remove Biden from office. But with his probe going up in flames around him, Comer is getting desperate for an ‘exit strategy,’ a congressional Republican anonymously told ABC earlier this month.”
The Washington Post: James Comer Sums Up His ‘Evidence’ Of Biden Crimes. It’s Scant.
- “In an interview Monday with conservative talk radio host Jimmy Failla, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, provided an unusually succinct description of his case against President Biden. House Republicans appear to have abandoned their impeachment drive against the president, which Comer has led, and instead may go straight to the Justice Department with criminal referrals.”
The Washington Post: James Comer Makes His Final Anti-Biden Push … To Prospective Donors.
- “Comer certainly tried to build a case that Biden had been involved in his son’s and brother’s business partnerships, perhaps even taking official action as vice president or even president to aid those deals, but months of interviews and digging through documents yielded only a flimsy circumstantial case in which, for example, Biden calling his son was framed as an act of historical insidiousness. Comer simply didn’t have the goods.”
- This, then, is how Comer’s crusade ends. Not with a bang of a gavel as a raucous House throws Biden out on his ear but with a whimpering request that Republicans contribute $50 to his reelection — and maybe consider making it a recurring donation? If there is a pantheon to which this endeavor might be added, it’s one celebrating those who overpromise and underdeliver.”
Steve Benen, MSNBC: As Impeachment Inquiry Flails, Is Comer Waving The White Flag?
- “As House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer’s impeachment crusade has unfolded over the last year, the Kentucky Republican has become something of a punch-line to an unfortunate joke. Following months of humiliating failures, Politico recently reported that behind the scenes, GOP officials were quietly admitting that Comer’s campaign against President Joe Biden has been ‘hobbled by embarrassing setbacks.’ Punchbowl News, meanwhile, quoted a House GOP leadership aide who said Comer and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan were ‘becoming the chairmen who cried wolf.’”
- If the Oversight Committee chairman couldn’t clear a modest threshold while trying to make his case to his own Republican colleagues, what makes him think he’ll clear a higher threshold while making a pitch to federal prosecutors — who are required to actually have and present real evidence in a courtroom while complying with legal standards?”
Mediaite: Comer Spins Bizarre Theory About Why News Outlets Keep Saying ‘There’s No Evidence’ Against Biden.
- “Chairman of the House Oversight Committee Rep. James Comer (R-KY) spun the wild conspiracy that Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Deep State are coordinating with the media to ‘indoctrinate’ people into thinking there’s ‘no evidence’ to impeach President Joe Biden by reporting that they have no evidence against Biden. Last week, the House Oversight Committee held another hearing in an impeachment inquiry that is widely seen as faltering, even among conservative-leaning media outlets and Republicans.”
- All along, Comer’s probe has been dogged by headline after headline featuring journalists, news anchors, legal experts, Newsmax hosts, Mediaite founders, and even a parade of his fellow Republicans pointing out there has been ‘no evidence’ of crimes or misconduct by the president.”
The Daily Beast: James Comer Creates New LLC While Blasting Biden LLCs.
- “As the impeachment inquiry into the Biden family’s business dealings came crashing down around his ears, House Oversight chair James Comer—who for months has made overblown claims about the Bidens’ limited liability companies—was launching an opaque new LLC of his own.”
- Previously, Comer’s repeated misleading claims about the Biden family’s LLCs drew accusations of hypocrisy after The Daily Beast revealed that Comer had a shell company of his own. But even though Comer has bristled publicly at reports about his LLC’s activities—which have raised ethical questions—he appears to have forged ahead with this second entity. But given the bar that Comer himself set with months of hyperbolic broadsides against the Bidens, this new company raises similar questions, particularly in light of new previously unreported changes to Comer’s other LLC. In fact, Gamaliel Stargazer is registered at an address co-owned by that other LLC—’Farm Team Properties LLC’—on a piece of real estate that Comer acquired from his brother as part of a land swap in 2019.”
Politico Playbook: “Did James Comer Just Call It Quits On A Biden Impeachment — In A Fundraising Email?”
- “What we’re watching … Did JAMES COMER just call it quits on a Biden impeachment — in a fundraising email? ‘It’s clear Demoocrats will choose their party over their country and the truth at every turn,’ the House Oversight chair wrote to prospective donors yesterday. ‘That’s why I am preparing criminal referrals as the culmination of my investigation,’ adding that ‘new leadership at the DOJ’ under Trump would ‘prosecute the Biden Crime Family and deliver swift justice.’ The declaration isn’t quite an official surrender, but with the GOP majority shrinking and Comer’s probe faltering, it might as well be.”
NBC News: Top Republican Hints At An Off-Ramp From Impeaching Biden.
- “House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, one of the leaders of the Republican impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, is increasingly suggesting a potential off-ramp from pursuing articles of impeachment. As GOP leaders struggle to convince their members that Biden should be impeached, Comer, R-Ky., is telling supporters it may be futile because Democrats would thwart the effort anyway. Some Republicans say they haven’t seen enough evidence to impeach the president.”
The Hill: Criminal Referrals Create New Headaches For GOP Impeachment Investigators.
- “The GOP probe has been facing growing skepticism within the party, with some Republican lawmakers voicing concerns that they have yet to see investigators answer the nagging question of whether there was illegal conduct. Others have expressed doubts the matter will ever come to a vote given that key GOP members remain unconvinced.”
- Criminal referrals would require making a case to what could be an even more skeptical audience than House Republicans — a team of seasoned attorneys who would weigh whether such charges could be proven in court.”
The New Republic: James Comer Pushes Unbelievable Conspiracy on Biden Impeachment Flop.
- “Despite what Comer says, the ‘deep state’ doesn’t need to convince people that there’s no evidence of Biden’s wrongdoing. There simply is no evidence of Biden’s wrongdoing. Almost all of the Republicans’ supposed star witnesses have said that Biden was not involved in his son Hunter’s business dealings.”
- Slowly, Republican lawmakers have begun to back away from the impeachment inquiry, grudgingly admitting that there is no proof to their claims.”
Steve Benen, MSNBC: Needing A Win, GOP’s Comer Produced Yet Another Impeachment Dud.
- “It’s reached the point at which even conservative media anchors are finding it difficult to keep up appearances. A Newsmax host told Jordan shortly before the hearing, ‘It kind of seems like you’re chasing your tail at this point.’ Fox News’ Dana Perino added, “It just feels like they keep doing the same hearing over and over again.’”