Comer: More key witnesses to come in Biden family influence peddling probe
A top Republican says that there will be additional key witnesses called in the House Oversight Committee’s sweeping inquiry into alleged influence peddling by the Biden family.
Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) over the weekend accused the “the deep state bureaucracies” of turning a “blind eye” to Biden family business dealings and contended that his panel had made headway despite resistance from federal agencies under the current Democratic administration.
“Our job in the House Oversight Committee is to follow the money. And we have more bank records coming in. We’re gonna start bringing in key figures in the Biden family influence-peddling schemes for depositions,” Comer told Fox News’ “Life, Liberty & Levin.”
Comer has spearheaded the GOP’s inquiry into the Biden family since the Republican takeover of the House in January. He has reportedly already conferred with some witnesses.
“I think we’ve done as much as we could do with the obstacles we’ve had to overcome,” Comer said. “No one thought I would get bank records. No one thought we would get access to the Treasury, Cabinet’s suspicious activity reports, but we would not take no for an answer.”
Earlier this month, the FBI caved to subpoena demands from Comer and agreed to allow members of his panel to read the FD-1023 informant file that is believed to have alleged President Biden participated in a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme during his vice presidency.
For weeks, the bureau had resisted his demands, publicly warning that the informant file contained “unverified reporting by a confidential human source.” Comer and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) claimed they were tipped off about its existence by a whistleblower.
Republicans who have seen the file claim that it outlines two $5 million transactions — including one to Biden and another to his son Hunter from Mykola Zlochevsky, the owner of the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holdings.
The payment was purportedly made in an alleged scheme to pressure Ukraine to remove a prosecutor who was investigating the natural gas giant. Hunter sat on Burisma’s board.
Comer contended that the FBI’s excuses added credence to the informant’s allegations about the Bidens.
“If this is the case — and the FBI informant [is] credible and the FBI informant tells the FBI that the vice president of the United States took a bribe from a foreign national in exchange for foreign policy and foreign aid — then why did the FBI not investigate it?” Comer said.
Comer has long blasted the FBI for not being more aggressive in combing through the Biden family dealings.
The White House has shrugged off Comer’s allegations against the Biden family.
“The James Comer playbook is simple,” administration spokesman Ian Sams tweeted earlier this month. “Make sweeping claims and promise bombshells to try to get media attention, then fail to deliver the goods. Don’t fall for it. His repeated pattern of laundering thin innuendo without evidence has cost him his credibility.”
Last month, Comer held a press conference unfurling allegations that the president’s family and associates accrued more than “$10 million” from businesses owned by foreign nations, including while President Biden was serving as vice president.
Comer further alleged that the Biden family had crafted a “web” of limited liability companies or LLCs as a ruse to “hide sources of money, direct China cash, influence peddling in Romania.”
