Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), currently serving as the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, is seeking a formal and public rebuke from Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) of recent actions by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). Comer is the current chairman of the oversight panel, where Greene is also a member, and during recent proceedings, she displayed adult photographs of Hunter Biden, a son of the current president.
Hunter Biden has often figured into conspiracy theories from Republicans about ostensible corruption involving the president’s family. Greene has defended her display of the images. “If Rep. Greene’s completely gratuitous and irrelevant display of pornographic images at our televised hearing does not violate the Congressional rules of decorum, then we have no rules of Congressional decorum,” Raskin argued in his letter to Comer.
“I therefore urge you to publicly reprimand Rep. Greene by issuing a statement condemning her actions as an affront to the dignity, propriety, and decorum of the Committee,” the Maryland Democrat continued this week. “I also ask that you declare that explicit pornographic images of people engaging in sex acts like the ones displayed on Wednesday will not be allowed to be displayed in future Committee proceedings absent clear legislative relevance, prior approval from both the Majority and Minority, and written consent from any individual featured in the exhibit and that you remind all Committee Members of their responsibility to adhere to the rules of decorum and to conduct official business in a manner that is befitting of the United States House of Representatives.”
Greene has argued that the images she displayed were ostensibly relevant evidence that implicated the president’s son. The hearing where she made that display was used by Republicans to argue both that the Bidens had engaged in or were connected to serious criminal activity and were benefiting from special treatment. The latter allegation was also raised after the emergence of a plea deal for Hunter Biden involving tax offenses and an accompanying arrangement with federal prosecutors on a gun charge. The Trump-nominated U.S. prosecutor responsible for the deal and broader case has insisted he was not restricted from taking whatever charging action he may have found appropriate for Hunter Biden.
