Rep. James Comer (R-KY) tried to distance himself from the FBI on Tuesday morning, telling Fox’s Maria Bartiromo that every exchange he’s had with the agency has been “suspicious.”
His comments came after he’s credited the FBI for months with providing “key evidence” in his push to impeach President Joe Biden.
“Everything I’ve had to do with the FBI has been very suspicious throughout this investigation,” the Oversight Committee chairman told Bartiromo on Tuesday’s Mornings with Maria Bartiromo. “The trust level that I have with the FBI is zero, Maria. We’re following the money. [Alexander] Smirnov never was a key part of this investigation,” he said, referring to the informant who was recently indicted for lying about Biden’s dealings in Ukraine.
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Comer’s latest remarks contradict what his own committee labeled the memorandum Smirnov provided the FBI that contained the false claim that Biden was involved in a bribery scheme with his son Hunter and the Ukrainian company Burisma. The FBI memo documenting Smirnov’s claims, known as a Form 1023, was released by the bureau after intense pressure by GOP lawmakers last year, making its way to the House Oversight Committee website’s page on the “Biden Family Investigation.”
The website included a link to an X post by the Oversight Committee with the document, filed under “Key Evidence,” to support the committee’s claim. Comer had also called the document “very crucial” to the committee’s investigation months before the FBI released the document.
Both the tweet and the website’s reference to it were removed following Smirnov’s arrest.
Special Counsel David Weiss, who has focused on all allegations regarding Hunter Biden, charged Smirnov earlier this month with lying to the bureau about the allegations in the Form 1023. Specifically, Weiss said Smirnov told investigators his claims came from “officials associated with Russian intelligence.”
Weeks and multiple disproven allegations later, Comer is trying to wash his hands clean.
“I don’t know anything about Smirnov, but the circumstances around his indictment and his re-arrest and the changing of the original indictment by Weiss is very concerning,” Comer said.
