Profile Raises New Questions About James Comer’s Credibility

New York Times deep dive on James Comer this morning is raising new questions about his record of using far-right conspiracy theories to launch politically motivated attacks on President Biden, while also raising serious concerns about his own credibility.

In a six-hour interview with the New York Times, James Comer openly admitted that the Republican-led House Oversight Committee ended investigations into Trump because of politics. 

New York Times: “Mr. Comer has quietly abandoned an investigation ‌opened by the panel during the last, Democratic-led Congress, into whether Mr. Trump profited improperly from the presidency. That investigation had begun producing evidence of how foreign governments sought to influence the former president by spending lavishly at his properties. Mr. Comer also dropped a separate inquiry into the business dealings of Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law whose Affinity Partners investment firm received a $2 billion investment from the main Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund six months after the Trump presidency ended.”

New York Times: “Mr. Comer indicated he had no interest in the former president’s finances. … when a reporter suggested it might be politically unsustainable for him to investigate Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, he took a long pause, then replied: ‘I don’t disagree with what you said.’”

For the first time, Comer admitted to leaking hacked emails to attack his ex-girlfriend who accused him of abuse. 

New York Times: “The rumor whispered around Kentucky political circles at the time was that Mr. Comer had swiped the emails from the computer server for the husband’s former law firm and leaked them to the newspaper. In an interview with The Times, Mr. Comer confirmed, for the first time, that he had been behind the leak and strongly hinted he had gotten them from the server.

Comer also made clear he’s beholden to his extreme, far-right base — many of whom subscribe to QAnon conspiracy theories.

New York Times: “‘You know, the customer’s always right,’ Mr. Comer said wryly, of his approach to the people who elected him and now brandish conspiracy theories, vulgar photographs featuring the president and his son, Hunter, and other lies they expect him to act upon. ‘I say, “Let me see it,” because I want to see where the source is,’ Mr. Comer said. ‘They don’t know that it’s QAnon, but it’s QAnon stuff.’ Yet in his new role leading the Republican Party’s chief investigative committee in the House, Mr. Comer, 50, has himself become a promoter of sinister-sounding allegations against Mr. Biden and his family.”

And if that weren’t enough, Comer shot his credibility even further by ridiculously comparing Marjorie Taylor Greene to LeBron James. 

New York Times: “Mr. Comer’s committee is populated by the most hard-line House Republicans, including Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia … Mr. Comer conceded he was limited in how much he could control such members given their outside influence in the party. ‘It’s hard for a coach to tell LeBron James what he’s doing wrong,’ he said.”