This week, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan have both exceeded expectations when it comes to embarrassing themselves.
First, Comer continued to misrepresent bank records in his possession, even after multiple news outlets called him out. Then this week, the Washington Examiner, a conservative news publication, reported that records it obtained supported the White House’s explanations about loans President Biden made to his brother and not Comer’s conspiracy theories.
Then, it turns out that Comer has previously given his brother around $200,000, while Comer was serving in Congress. The Daily Beast reported that in 2019 Comer engaged in land swaps with his brother and one deal involved $200,000 and even Comer’s LLC. In another land swap Comer’s brother applied for a special agricultural tax break after Comer gifted his brother his share of two tracts of land in Tennessee for $1. On the same day, Comer’s brother reportedly gave him a more valuable piece of property in a different Tennessee County, but Comer intentionally obscured its value. The Daily Beast also reported that for years Comer has served in high-level agricultural oversight positions, including in Congress, while he and his family ran a multimillion-dollar farming business. The problem is, the names of Comer and his family’s widely reported agricultural businesses – Comer Land & Cattle, James Comer Jr. Farms – don’t appear in public Kentucky business filings.
Finally, Special Counsel David Weiss debunked Jim Jordan’s conspiracy theories about Weiss’ investigation of Hunter Biden. Weiss told the House Judiciary Committee that he was never blocked from pursuing charges or taking necessary steps in his investigation by others in the Justice Department. It was also reported that the Justice Department had offered to make Weiss available for a public hearing, but Jordan chose a closed-door deposition instead. Yet again, Jordan is afraid of his own witnesses.
James Comer and Jim Jordan are experts at embarrassing themselves but fall far short when it comes to addressing the important issues facing Americans.
While Serving In Congress, James Comer Engaged In Land Swaps With His Brother – Including One Involving $200,000
Daily Beast: “James Comer, Like Joe Biden, Also Paid His Brother $200k”
Daily Beast: “Unlike With The Bidens, Comer’s Own History Actually Borders A Conflict Of Interest Between His Official Government Role And His Private Family Business—And It’s Been Going On For Decades.” “But unlike with the Bidens, Comer’s own history actually borders a conflict of interest between his official government role and his private family business—and it’s been going on for decades.” [Daily Beast, 11/9/23]
James Comer Reportedly Engaged In Land Swaps With His Brother And One Deal Involved $200,000 And A Shell Company. “According to Kentucky property records, Comer and his own brother have engaged in land swaps related to their family farming business. In one deal—also involving $200,000, as well as a shell company—the more powerful and influential Comer channeled extra money to his brother, seemingly from nothing. Other recent land swaps were quickly followed with new applications for special tax breaks, state records show. All of this, perplexingly, related to the dealings of a family company that appears to have never existed on paper.” [Daily Beast, 11/9/23]
- 7/8/19: James Comer’s Brother Bought Out Comer’s Piece Of An Inherited Property For $100,000, Then Five Months Later Comer Paid $218,000 To His Brother To Buyout The Property In Full – A Transaction That Included Comer’s LLC, Farm Team Properties. “For instance, on July 8, Chad Comer bought out his brother’s half of a piece of inherited Kentucky property, paying $100,000, according to deed records in Monroe County. Five months later, James and his wife Tamara ‘TJ’ Comer, bought the property out in full, this time paying Chad Comer $218,000. The buyout netted Chad Comer an unexplained $18,000 above the total value in July. That purchase, however, had a third party in addition to James and TJ—their own shell company, ‘Farm Team Properties, LLC.’ Comer’s financial disclosure that year describes Farm Team Properties, LLC, as a ‘land management and real estate speculation company’ with a range of value between $200,000 and $500,000. In two years, its value had increased to the $500,000 to $1 million range.” [Daily Beast, 11/9/23]
James Comer Reportedly Engaged In Land Swaps With His Brother That Were Followed By New Applications For Special Tax Breaks. “According to Kentucky property records, Comer and his own brother have engaged in land swaps related to their family farming business. In one deal—also involving $200,000, as well as a shell company—the more powerful and influential Comer channeled extra money to his brother, seemingly from nothing. Other recent land swaps were quickly followed with new applications for special tax breaks, state records show. All of this, perplexingly, related to the dealings of a family company that appears to have never existed on paper.” [Daily Beast, 11/9/23]
- April 2019: James Comer Gifted His Brother His Share Of Two Inherited Tracts Of Land In Clay County, TN For $1 With The Value Of Comer’s Share Being Stated As $175,000, The Same As The Value Of The Full Property When It Was First Acquired In 1994. “In another swap—this one in April, 2019—James Comer gifted his brother, via a $1 transaction, his share of two inherited tracts in Clay County, Tennessee, with a share value being $175,000, according to the deed of sale. The value of James Comer’s share matches the value of the full property in 1994, when the brothers and their father first acquired it for $175,000, according to the deed.” [Daily Beast, 11/9/23]
- On The Clay County, TN Land, James Comer’s Brother Applied For A Special Tennessee Agricultural Tax Break That Assesses Property Taxes At Its “Use Value” Rather Than Fair Market Value As Long As The Land Generates A Certain Amount Of Annual Agricultural Income. “It’s not immediately clear why James Comer listed that same specific dollar amount for his share—either to match what was already on the books, or to reflect a neatly coincidental increase in value. But in September, Chad Comer applied for a special Tennessee agricultural tax break on that property, according to Clay County records. The tax break, called a ‘Greenbelt Assessment,’ assesses property taxes at its ‘use value’ instead of fair market value as long as the land generates a certain amount of annual agricultural income. (James Comer made that move this year after buying a $10,000 parcel from his brother, tax records show.)” [Daily Beast, 11/9/23]
- April 2019: Chad Comer Gave James Comer A More Valuable Piece Of Property In Macon County, TN, But Comer Redacted The Value Of Property In The Documents. “The same day that James Comer gave his brother that land, Chad Comer reciprocated with an apparently more valuable piece of property in Macon County, Tennessee—except James Comer didn’t disclose that value in the sale. Instead, Comer appears to have whited that number out, writing ‘exempt’ in its place on the deed, then signing below. However, the land’s value can still be ascertained from the deed history in Macon County, where records show that their father had originally purchased the tract for $203,000 in 2015. That means that, while Comer appears to have netted a value of roughly $30,000 in the swap, he did not put that in the public record.” [Daily Beast, 11/9/23]
COMER HAS SERVED IN HIGH LEVEL AGRICULTURAL OVERSIGHT POSITIONS FOR YEARS, WHILE ALSO HELPING RUN A MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR FAMILY FARMING BUSINESS
Daily Beast: “Comer’s Official Positions Afforded Him Both Insight And Power In The Agriculture Industry, And He Held Them While He And His Family Ran A Multimillion-Dollar Farming Business.” [Daily Beast, 11/9/23]
News Reports, Official Statements, Livestock Sale Bulletins, And Comer’s Financial Disclosures All Identified “Comer Land & Cattle” As A Business He Ran With His Brother And Father For Years, But There Is No Record Of An Entity With That Name In Kentucky Business Filings. “For years, the company Comer ran with his brother and father has been identified in news reports, official statements, Comer’s financial disclosures, and livestock sale bulletins as ‘Comer Land & Cattle.’ But there is no record of an entity by that name in business filings with the commonwealth of Kentucky—or apparently with any other jurisdiction.” [Daily Beast, 11/9/23]
- A Search Of Kentucky Business Filings Only Associated James Comer With Three Defunct Entities. “A statewide search for business officers only associates Comer with three defunct entities—an insurance outfit, ‘Four Dips, Inc,’ and ‘CFB Foods, Inc’—and the still-active Tompkinsville-Monroe County Chamber of Commerce, where he was a founding member but has since been removed.” [Daily Beast, 11/9/23]
James Comer Claimed To Run “James Comer Jr. Farms,” But There Was No Official Records Of An Entity By That Name In Kentucky Business Filings. “Comer has also claimed to run his own personal agriculture company, ‘James Comer Jr. Farms’—described in a 2012 Kentucky agriculture commission press release as ‘a 950-acre beef cattle, timber and hay farming operation in his native Monroe County’—but The Daily Beast couldn’t find any official records of an entity by that name, either. His brother and father also don’t appear in filings.” [Daily Beast, 11/9/23]
After His Father Died In Early 2019, James Comer Changed His Business Focus From Farming Land To Leasing It, Which He Recently Said Was A Way He Had “Accumulated Wealth.” “After Comer’s father died in early 2019, Comer appears to have changed his business focus. He went from farming the land to leasing it, a move he touted in a podcast interview last month as the way he ‘accumulated wealth.’ The next year, Comer left the House Agriculture Committee, with his official website no longer listing the committee by August. (He currently serves on the Education and Labor Committee, in addition to leading Oversight.)” [Daily Beast, 11/9/23]
Even A Conservative News Outlet Showed James Comer Misrepresented Bank Records In His Committee’s Possession
Washington Examiner: “Joe Biden May Have Lent James Biden Money To Justify ‘Loan’ Repayments, Bank Records Show”
- Washington Examiner: “The Records, Obtained By The Washington Examiner, Support The White House’s Claim That The Checks James Biden Wrote To Joe Biden In 2017 And 2018, Respectively, Appear To Be Intended To Pay Back Loans.” “Bank records suggest President Joe Biden may have paid his brother $240,000 in two installments a year apart, each just weeks before James Biden wrote his brother a check for the same amount. The records, obtained by the Washington Examiner, support the White House’s claim that the checks James Biden wrote to Joe Biden in 2017 and 2018, respectively, appear to be intended to pay back loans.” [Washington Examiner, 11/8/23]
Special Counsel David Weiss Told Congress That He Had Full Authority Over His Investigation And Was Never Blocked From Pursing Charges
Associated Press: “Special Counsel In The Hunter Biden Case Insists He Was The ‘Decision-Maker’ In Rare Testimony”
- David Weiss To The House Judiciary Committee: “At No Time Was I Blocked, Or Otherwise Prevented From Pursuing Charges Or Taking The Steps Necessary In The Investigation By Other United States Attorneys, The Tax Division Or Anyone Else At The Department Of Justice.” “David Weiss, the special counsel overseeing the Hunter Biden federal criminal investigation, told the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that politics have played ‘no part’ in his investigation into the president’s son, and that he was never stopped from bringing charges by the Justice Department or other federal offices. In his opening statement, which happened behind closed doors, Weiss countered the intense scrutiny his probe into Hunter Biden has faced since whistleblowers with the Internal Revenue Service raised questions about Weiss’ ability to bring charges. House Republicans have lambasted what they say was political interference in in the criminal probe against Hunter Biden as part of their ongoing campaign alleging unfair treatment by the Justice Department. ‘I am, and have been, the decision-maker on this case,’ Weiss said according to a copy of his prepared remarks. He continued, ‘At no time was I blocked, or otherwise prevented from pursuing charges or taking the steps necessary in the investigation by other United States Attorneys, the Tax Division or anyone else at the Department of Justice.’” [CNN, 11/7/23]
Washington Post: “Hunter Biden Prosecutor David Weiss Says Justice Officials Never Blocked Him”
New York Times: “Special Counsel Rebuts Claims Of Favoritism Toward Hunter Biden”
CNBC: “Hunter Biden Prosecutor Tells House Panel He Is ‘The Decision-Maker On This Case’”
The Hill: “Special Counsel In Hunter Biden Probe Rejects Claims He Was Stymied From Pursuing The Case”
USA Today: “DOJ Special Counsel Tells Congress Politics Played No Role In Hunter Biden Investigation”
Reuters: “Hunter Biden Prosecutor Faced No Political Pressure In Probe, He Tells Lawmakers”
MSNBC: “Special Counsel Fails To Tell GOP Members What They Wanted To Hear”
HOUSE REPUBLICANS CHOSE TO KEEP DAVID WEISS’ TESTIMONY PRIVATE, EVEN THOUGH THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OFFERED TO MAKE HIM AVAILABLE FOR A PUBLIC HEARING
Huffington Post: “Hunter Biden Special Counsel Wanted To Testify In Public. Republicans Kept It Private.”
- The Justice Department Reportedly Repeatedly Pledged To Make David Weiss Available For Public Testimony To Congress, But When Forced To Chose Between A Public Hearing Or Closed-Door Deposition, House Republicans Chose The Closed-Door Deposition. “The Justice Department this year repeatedly pledged to make the prosecutor investigating the president’s son available for public testimony. But when special counsel David Weiss appeared before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, it was for a closed-door deposition rather than a televised hearing. The interview was part of Republicans’ impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden, whom they claim has helped his son Hunter Biden’s business deals and protected him from prosecution. […] Republicans initially wanted Weiss for both a deposition and a public hearing, according to two sources familiar with negotiations, but when the Justice Department said they had to pick one, they chose the deposition.” [Huffington Post, 11/8/23]