The White House on Wednesday attacked the credibility of House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer ahead of proceedings to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress over an investigation into the family’s financial dealings Biden.
“In just a few short months, Comer and his fellow MAGA Republicans in Congress have torpedoed their credibility by repeatedly failing to act on high-profile allegations,” the White House said in a memo. “Their factless wild goose chase continues to be a waste of taxpayer resources when House Republicans should instead focus on the real issues that matter to American families.”
Mr. Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, demanded that Mr. Wray hand over a document that allegedly outlines an allegation that President Biden took a bribe as vice president during the Obama administration.
The FBI insisted it had cooperated with Mr. Comer, noting that officials briefed him and ranking Rep. Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland, on Monday and gave them the opportunity to review the document.
Mr Comer argued that was not enough and on Wednesday passed a resolution to scorn Mr Wray for not fully complying with a subpoena.
The White House came out swinging in the memo, which outlines what it says are three examples of Mr. Comer failing to live up to his promises after promising to reveal the illegal activities of Mr. Biden and his family. .
“This repetitive tactic of whitewashing thin innuendo has proven his utter lack of credibility – and lays bare why his baseless or debunked claims deserve derision,” wrote Ian Sams, White House spokesman for oversight and the surveys.
Mr Sams accused Mr Comer of going on a fishing expedition just to make appearances on right-wing TV stations ‘so he could just say ‘Biden’ and ‘corruption’ over and over again in the same sentence.”
He also said in the memo that The Washington Post reported the corruption allegation was unsupported by facts, and NBC called the allegation unsubstantiated and CNN reported that the FBI and prosecutors could not substantiate the allegations. But former Attorney General William Barr this week discredited those reports, saying the case had been referred to a federal prosecutor for further investigation under the Trump administration.
Mr. Sams derided the House inquiry as a sham aimed solely at damaging the president’s poll results. He said Mr Comer’s playbook was predictable: “Over-promise, then under-deliver”.
“Instead of devoting their time and energy to working on the issues that matter most to the American people, such as cutting costs, creating jobs or strengthening health care, Congressional Republicans, led by … Comer and his committee spent six months wasting taxpayer resources. to stage politically motivated stunts disguised as ‘investigations’,” Mr. Sams wrote.