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Rep. Comer's anti-Biden crusade is a big bowl of nothing, and even Fox News knows it [1]
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Date: 2023-05-11
A Wednesday press conference in which Comer trundled out his big, gleaming wheelbarrow of bupkis was the “biggest public swing” Republicans have taken since assuming control of the House, wrote Politico. By all accounts, it was a big whiff.
But the highly anticipated press conference also raised fresh questions about their ability to ultimately capture their white whale: the president himself. And Comer’s already faced plenty of doubt, including from some within his own party, that he can back up his promises to show Biden’s connection to family business dealings. No link has publicly emerged, and that didn’t change at Wednesday’s press conference. Asked if he would ultimately be able to prove his central thesis, Comer sidestepped: “I don’t think anyone in America … would think that it’s just a coincidence that nine Biden family members have received money.”
The New York Times was even more dismissive in the lede of its story about this travesty:
After four months of investigation, House Republicans who promised to use their new majority to unearth evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden acknowledged on Wednesday that they had yet to uncover incriminating material about him, despite their frequent insinuations that he and his family have been involved in criminal conduct and corruption.
Of course, if Comer really wants to probe improper foreign influence of a president, he doesn’t have to look far. Trump’s former Washington hotel, located just blocks from the White House, was a veritable revolving door of graft. And it happened totally out in the open. Of course, if you’re a Democrat or independent, you’re justifiably outraged by this. If you’re a MAGA Republican, you dimly wonder what it has to do with pics of Hunter Biden’s wiener.
Ah, but maybe Politico is one of those “fake news” outlets Trump regularly squeals about as his scullery maid loofahs the Funyun dust from his oleaginous bosom.
Wait: Fox News’ Steve Doocy doesn't seem to be buying it either.
x Wow! Steve Doocy to James Comer this morning: "You don't actually have any facts to that point. You've got some circumstantial evidence. And the other thing is, of all those names, the one person who didn't profit -- there's no evidence that Joe Biden did anything illegally." pic.twitter.com/Ad8L3NSXWE — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 11, 2023
Transcript!
STEVE DOOCY: “I know that Republicans said that the smoking gun were these financial records that you were able to subpoena and got your hands on. It showed that some of the president’s relatives were paid more than $10 million from foreign sources between 2015 and 2017, and your party, the Republican investigators, say that that’s proof of influence-peddling by Hunter and James [Biden]. But that’s just your suggestion. You don’t actually have any facts to that point. You’ve got some circumstantial evidence, and the other thing is, of all those names, the one person who didn’t profit is, there’s no evidence that Joe Biden did anything illegally.”
Of course, after Doocy rightly pointed out that Comer is hanging his hat on nothing but innuendo, Comer responded with still more innuendo.
COMER: “Well, if you look at the laptop and the emails between the president’s son and his associates, they went to great lengths to hide Joe’s involvement. They even gave him nicknames. They called him ‘the Celtic’ and ‘the Big Guy.’ But make no mistake, Joe Biden was involved. All these countries that the Bidens were receiving money from were countries that Joe Biden was actively visiting in. Many of these countries were receiving foreign aid that Joe Biden volunteered with the Obama administration to be in charge of. We look now at the Biden presidency, many of the decisions he’s made with respect to China that I would argue put China first and America last, would leave most Americans scratching their heads. Why would any president do this? So we know that the complexity of the way the Bidens set these shell companies up were made to try to disguise not only the money they were receiving, but also Joe’s involvement. So we’re at the very beginning stages of this, but in talking with the informants that we have, some of the former Biden associates that nobody’s heard from yet, we know that Joe Biden was actively involved and we’re still looking for more bank records that we believe will implicate Joe Biden’s active participation in this at the end of the day.”
Wow, that’s a lot of words just to say you’ve found nothing that implicates the president so you’ve decided to throw ketchup against the wall until the room looks like a crime scene. And how surprised would you really be if Comer’s informants turned out to be John Barron and David Dennison?
Oh, and did he mention shell companies?
This piece from The Washington Post’s Philip Bump also mentions shell companies—Trump’s shell companies. Or as Bump describes them, the “the cascade of companies that made up Trump’s personal web of pass-throughs and tax-avoidance structures.”
Bump also suggests that perhaps Comer & Crew are investigating the wrong president.
That they have found evidence of payments flowing from foreign nationals to Hunter Biden-linked LLCs and then (allegedly) to a number of members of Biden’s extended family is used by the Republicans as rhetorical evidence that Joe Biden must somehow be involved. But the opposite argument seems more valid: After all this searching, no concrete link showing money going to the president has turned up. This seems exculpatory more than incriminating. Then, of course, there’s the question of Trump and his family. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington estimates that Trump’s various business interests pulled in as much as $160 million when he was president, cash mostly flowing in through overseas properties. But there was also foreign money coming in domestically, as when Saudi interests repeatedly booked large blocks of rooms at his hotels. The House Oversight Committee itself found that foreign interests spent $750,000 at Trump’s D.C. hotel during his presidency — a report produced when Democrats still held the majority.
Of course, none of Biden’s accusers seem to have the faintest idea whether the president is involved in anything untoward. In an interview with Greta Van Susteren—who’s migrated from CNN to Fox News and now to Newsmax (her ultimate career goal is to be named Penthouse Forum’s ombudsman, apparently)—Sen. Chuck Grassley admitted Republicans still don’t have a scintilla of real evidence against Biden. Which kind of makes you wonder why they’re all going on television insisting he must be guilty.
Prompted by Van Susteren to weigh in further on the seriousness of the allegations against Biden, Grassley said, “It is a very serious allegation. I wish I could say that I knew it was true or untrue.”
RELATED STORY: Republicans trying to drum up new anti-Biden conspiracy
Okay then! Well, maybe next time finish reading the book before ad-libbing your book report in front of the whole class. (Spoiler alert: He eventually eats all the green eggs. And most of the ham, if I recall correctly.)
Meanwhile, Comer seems to think “the mainstream media” need to do the heavy lifting that his committee spent four months spectacularly failing to do.
x James Comer on Fox Business criticizes the media for not investigating his half-baked conspiracy theories. Maybe he should try to come up with the goods himself? pic.twitter.com/N9CSInuGLj — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 11, 2023
And minutes later, when Fox’s own Maria Bartiromo is ready to amplify House Republicans’ big plan to take down Biden? Comer’s got nothin’ … again.
x House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer on Biden family investigation: “We’re gonna move forward with plan B.”
Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo: “What’s plan B?”
Comer: “Stay tuned.” pic.twitter.com/w9bzHZr4Rb — The Recount (@therecount) May 11, 2023
It should be clear by now that this Republican House has no interest in governing or making America a better place for regular Americans. Whether you’re talking about the economy, COVID-19, or democracy itself, the GOP is only interested in sowing chaos. Why? So they can grease the skids for the most chaotic (and corrupt) POTUS our nation has ever seen.
Pretty weird, huh? Unless all they’ve ever really been interested in is power.
Markos and Kerry are joined by Aaron Rupar today to discuss what he is seeing in the right-wing media landscape. Rupar is an independent journalist whose Public Notice Substack is a must-read for those who want to know how truly outrageous the conservative movement is. We are addicted to his Twitter account, with its never-ending stream of Republican lunacy all captured on video.
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Check out Aldous J. Pennyfarthing’s four-volume Trump-trashing compendium, including the finale, Goodbye, Asshat: 101 Farewell Letters to Donald Trump, at this link. Or, if you prefer a test drive, you can download the epilogue to Goodbye, Asshat for the low, low price of FREE.
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