In a new letter, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) — the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee — is demanding the release from panel chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) of information related to his previous handling of allegations now revealed as from a reportedly Russian intelligence-tied figure. The ex-federal source, Alexander Smirnov, was indicated for allegedly lying to federal authorities here in the U.S.
“Given that our Committee and its resources were thus made party to a fraud on the American people, the people now have a right to know what steps you took—if any—to assess the allegations contained in the FBI tipsheet before releasing these allegations to the world,” Raskin wrote to the Republican. Those specific details covering any investigative efforts by Comer and his team before the allegations were publicized were the focus of Raskin’s effort.
The now imploded claims involved alleged bribery connecting President Joe Biden, his son Hunter Biden, and the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, in which the younger Biden was involved. Hunter recently sat for an extensive Congressional deposition in which he was consistent in saying his father had no role in his business activities, the possibilities of which have all been a focus of a House GOP-led impeachment inquiry targeting the president. Comer, in turn, then pushed the president’s son for participation in a public hearing later this month, which Hunter’s lawyer Abbe Lowell rejected outright, citing both a scheduling conflict and Republicans’ lack of corresponding interest in Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Kushner is the ex-president’s family member who received Saudi billions for an investment business he has led after leaving Trump’s presidential employ. Democrats, meanwhile, are demanding the House GOP just shut down its Biden impeachment probe, amid which it’s unclear the chamber’s Republicans will ever have the votes to approve an impeachment.
