Dem
51
GOP
49
House Republicans want to "get" Joe Biden. We had an item about that yesterday, and we also had one a little over a week ago. In the latter piece, we quoted a letter that Rep. James Comer (R-KY), Chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, sent to FBI Director Christopher Wray and AG Merrick Garland:
We have received legally protected and highly credible unclassified whistleblower disclosures. Based on those disclosures, it has come to our attention that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) possess an unclassified FD-1023 form that describes an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions. It has been alleged that the document includes a precise description of how the alleged criminal scheme was employed as well as its purpose.
We were extremely skeptical of this claim, to say the least. You can click on the link and read the item if you want a reminder as to our numerous reasons why.
Yesterday, the FBI finally got back to Comer and told him that there would be no documents forthcoming. The Bureau's letter was very polite, but the basic message was the same one as in our headline above. Or, to be a little more precise, the Bureau's point person (lawyer Christopher Dunham, the FBI acting assistant director for congressional affairs) said that he would be happy to meet with Congress to discuss any questions, but that the Bureau basically doesn't trust Comer & Co. to handle sensitive materials. Which is fair enough; you give a classified document to Comer on Thursday, and by Friday it's probably in a desk at Mar-a-Lago.
As with the "news" we wrote about yesterday, the Republican members of Congress have offered no specifics to support their claims against the President. And since signing his name to that letter, Grassley has given a number of interviews in which he was in CYA mode, and said that he and his colleagues aren't really certain how credible the whistleblower report, the one that triggered the letter, actually is.
Meanwhile, Comer's handling of the situation reveals what his real agenda is. If his goal was to root out real or potential malfeasance—a worthy goal!—he would make the FBI his partner. Instead, as soon as he had this whistleblower claim, Comer leapt right to the press release/public letter/Fox interview stage of the process before politely requesting assistance from the FBI. And although Comer has been offered a meeting, he has already declined, and says he's going to go to court to enforce his subpoena. These are the actions of someone who is after headlines, not truth. And it leaves us with the exact same conclusion we reached yesterday: Once you've actually got something, Mr. Comer, then please do share it. Until then, shut the hell up. (Z)