James Comer Blames FBI for Legitimizing the Russian Intelligence-Linked Witness in Biden Impeachment Inquiry
Hunter Biden will appear for his deposition before investigators on Tuesday.
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House impeachment investigators are promising to push on in their effort to impeach President Biden despite a critical witness now admitting that his allegations that the president and his son received a $10 million bribe was actually a story first told to him by high-ranking Russian intelligence officials.
The chairman of the Oversight Committee, Congressman James Comer, says that the committee still has plenty of witnesses left to help prove their case that the president was involved in Hunter Biden’s business dealings.
The big setback for that case, however, was the indictment of former FBI source Alexander Smirnov, who in 2020 made allegations in an FBI 1023 form that the Bidens received $10 million as part of the first son’s work for the Ukrainian energy company Burisma.
“All we knew about Smirnov was the 1023 allegation,” Mr. Comer said during an appearance on Fox News on Sunday. “We knew from FBI sources that the FBI never investigated it, and all we knew was what Christopher Wray told us: that this informant was one of their most-trusted and highest-paid in the bureau and he had been in that position for over ten years. That’s all we knew about him.”
Mr. Comer also downplayed the importance of Mr. Smirnov’s bribery allegations, which has long been touted by impeachment investigators as a smoking gun in the corruption case against the Bidens. “He wasn’t an important part of the case, but it was a tip that we should investigate. We’re not going to leave any stone unturned. We’re going to investigate every allegation.”
The chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Congressman James Jordan, previously said Mr. Smirnov’s allegation was “the most corroborating evidence we have.”
Mr. Comer also told the outlet that his staff is still combing through the transcript from his recent interview with the president’s brother, James Biden, who for decades made millions off of his connections to the commander-in-chief. In his interview, he confirmed that some of his foreign income made as a result of his last name was later used to repay the president after he had loaned his brother money.
Mr. Biden said at the time that the loans he received from his brother were “loans that I received from Joe when he was a private citizen” that were repaid “within weeks.”
“He had no information at all about the source of the funds I used to repay him. The complete explanation is that Joe lent me money, and I repaid him as soon as I had the funds to do so,” the president’s brother said.
Next on the docket for impeachment investigators is the first son, who will sit for a deposition on Tuesday.
Messrs. Comer and Jordan’s investigation has relied heavily on the notion that the president was an investment for foreign business partners. The elder Mr. Biden, when he was vice president and when he was a private citizen, met or spoke with nearly two dozen business partners who were working with his son and brother.
Mr. Jordan emphasized those facts during his and Mr. Comer’s joint Sunday interview with Fox News, saying that when — or if — the impeachment resolutions against the president come to the floor, their argument will rely heavily on Mr. Biden’s connections to family business associates.
“They were paying for the brand — access to the brand — and the brand was Joe Biden,” Mr. Jordan said of the Bidens’ business partners. “We know that from Devon Archer, who was Hunter Biden’s business partner.”
“Everyone knows it was access to ‘the brand,’” Mr. Jordan continued. “Best example is Hunter Biden’s business partners working with CEFC — these eight individuals from China — they’re trying to close this deal. It doesn’t get finalized, the agreement doesn’t get done until they’re at the Four Seasons restaurant and Joe Biden does a drop in.”