Representative James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, admitted on Sunday that his party had lost track of a crucial witness in an investigation concerning the alleged involvement of the Biden family in a bribery scheme.
The admission comes as House Oversight Committee Republicans released a 36-page memo accusing members of the Biden family of accumulating millions of dollars during Joe Biden’s tenure as vice president under the Obama administration. The memo claims that the funds originated from Chinese and Romanian companies perceived as potential threats to the United States.
A copy of the memo obtained by Newsweek contains redacted images of transactions involving several bank accounts supposedly linked to the Biden family. The document outlines a web of clandestine bank accounts connected not only to Hunter Biden, but also to other family members. Comer, the chairman of the committee, accused these individuals of leveraging Joe Biden’s position to gain favor with foreign governments and exert influence on U.S. foreign policy.
Chairman Comer just told Fox’s Maria Bartiromo that they are still trying to track down the informant on the alleged bribery scandal. It is unlikely that the media will be assisting in that search. https://t.co/m2U3WAF4Lu— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) May 14, 2023
However, the released documents failed to provide any evidence of President Biden’s direct involvement in the alleged schemes or the impact of the payments on U.S. policy. Despite this, Comer expressed his belief that records from the FBI could shed light on whether President Biden received bribes from foreign companies. He based his allegation on information obtained from an anonymous whistleblower and suggested that convincing the whistleblower to testify before Congress could be an alternative to obtaining the FBI document.
In a letter sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Comer and Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa emphasized that they had received “legally protected and highly credible unclassified” information from the whistleblower. They called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI to assess the accuracy and credibility of the information presented in the document.
During an interview on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures, host Maria Bartiromo questioned Comer about the whereabouts of the informant. Comer responded by expressing his hope that the informant was still available, highlighting the credibility of the whistleblower who was acquainted with the informant. He criticized the FBI’s investigation efforts before admitting the difficulty in tracking down informants who operate in the “spy business” and tend to maintain a low profile.
“Well, unfortunately, we can’t track down the informant. We’re hopeful that the informant is still there. The whistleblower knows the informant. The whistleblower is very credible.” Comer said.
Comer further stated that out of the ten identified individuals with pertinent knowledge about the Bidens, nine were either in court, in jail, or missing. He stressed the urgency for the FBI to collaborate with the committee, as potential witnesses were willing to come forward but feared for their lives.
“The nine of the 10 people that we’ve identified have very good knowledge with respect to the Bidens. They’re one of three things, Maria, they’re either currently in court, they’re currently in jail, or they’re currently missing. So it’s of the utmost importance that the FBI work with us to be able to try to identify what research they’ve done, what investigations they’ve done, because we have people that want to come forward, but honestly, they fear for their lives.” Comer responded.
The White House promptly denied the accusations, with Ian Sams, the White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations, dismissing them as baseless politically motivated attacks. Sams pointed out the absence of evidence to support the claims and highlighted the Republicans’ tendency to rely on innuendo.
