If there’s one thing House Oversight Committee James Comer knows how to do well it’s find unreliable witnesses. First, James Comer said one of his informants went “missing,” then that informant was indicted by the U.S. Justice Department over allegations that he acted as an unregistered foreign agent for China, was an international arms trafficker while violating U.S. sanctions on Iran, and lied to investigators. Then, Comer didn’t even bother to show up for the interview with his other star witness, who debunked House Republican conspiracy theories about President Biden. Then, it was revealed that another of Comer’s star witnesses sued his cancer-stricken father’s charity and had ties to a Russian oligarch who has been described as a long-time close ally to Vladimir Putin. Then, the confidential human source in the FD-1023 form that Comer touted far and wide was accused of lying to the FBI and admitted to having ties to Russian intelligence. Now, Comer is basing his investigation on the words of a person who is currently in *checks notes* federal prison. Even conservative media hosts keep getting fed up with Comer embarrassing himself over and over. It’s been way more than a year and he’s been debunked over and over, it’s time for Comer to stop this circus.
Indicted FBI Informant Previously Central To James Comer’s “Investigation” Not Only Allegedly Lied To The FBI, But Has A Shady Business History
Associated Press: “How Clean Is The Dirt On Hunter Biden? A Key Republican Source Is Charged With Lying To The FBI”
- Investigators Determined That Alexander Smirnov Had Not Spoken To A Burisma Official Until After Trump Was President And Their Conversation Was About A Cryptocurrency Venture Smirnov And An Associate Were Promoting. “He later said a Burisma official told him during the waning days of the Obama administration that Joe and Hunter Biden had each accepted $5 million bribes in exchange for a promise to alter U.S. policy in Burisma’s favor. Smirnov claimed recordings existed of a Burisma official being ‘forced’ to pay. Investigators determined that Smirnov had not, in fact, spoken with a Burisma official until after Trump was president and that their conversation was about a cryptocurrency venture Smirnov and an associate were promoting.” [Associated Press, 3/4/24]
- Alexander Smirnov Reportedly Claimed That The Russians Likely Had Recordings Of Hunter Biden At A Hotel In Kyiv, But The Indictment Against Smirnov Said Hunter Biden Has Never Traveled To Ukraine. “During a September 2023 conversation with investigators, Smirnov claimed the Russians likely had recordings of Hunter Biden because a hotel in Ukraine’s capital where he had stayed was ‘wired’ and under their control — information he said was passed along to him by four high-level Russian officials. But Hunter Biden has never traveled to Ukraine, according to the indictment against Smirnov.” [Associated Press, 3/4/24]
Associated Press: “Even As Smirnov Was Being Paid As A Government Informant, He Participated In Duplicitous Business Schemes, According To Court Records And Interviews.” [Associated Press, 3/4/24]
- Alexander Smirnov Purchased A Stake In Eco-Trade In 2010, Whose Stock Got Popular Online, Leading Share Prices To Soar Even As Analysts Warned That The Company Had A Shady Past – FINRA Suspended Trading Of The Company’s Stocks In 2013, The Stock Price Plummeted, And The Company Went Dormant. “The company’s fortunes began to rise in 2010 after William Lieberman, who was later convicted in a separate penny stock fraud scheme, became president. Smirnov was appointed chairman of the company’s board, but ultimately declined to take the position, SEC filings show. Soon the company was issuing news releases promoting new financial commitments, ongoing negotiations for oil and gas rights and the prospect of riches to be made in the Bakken oil fields of Montana. The stock caught fire online and share prices soared to more than 70 cents, even as analysts warned about the company’s dodgy past. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority suspended trading of shares for several weeks in the spring of 2013. Then the stock’s price plummeted and the company went dormant. It’s unclear from SEC filings how much Smirnov may have made. He has not been not accused by authorities of wrongdoing in connection with that company. Court records indicate it wasn’t his only stock scheme.” [Associated Press, 3/4/24]
- Alexander Smirnov Was Connected To And Accused Of Providing False Stock Certificates To Two Individuals Who Were Later Incarcerated For Racketeering. “In 2016, Tigran Sarkisyan and Hripsime Khachtryan sued Smirnov, claiming he pitched them on a company called Grand Pacaraima Gold Corp. It was only after paying him $100,000 that the two discovered the stock certificates Smirnov provided were fake, according to the complaint. When they approached him about it, Smirnov told them he was working with authorities on a fraud investigation that did not involve them and he ‘continued to make excuses and lie’ about their investment, the complaint said. The suit was dismissed in 2018 when Sarkisyan and Khachatryan failed to show up for a court date because they were incarcerated. The two been sentenced to prison for racketeering weeks earlier in a far-reaching case against dozens of defendants that included allegations of fraud, money laundering and murder-for-hire, court records show.” [Associated Press, 3/4/24]
- Alexander Smirnov Was Connected To An Individual Who Was Indicted On Tax And Immigration Charges Who Accused Smirnov Failing To Repay A $500,000 Loan And Claimed Smirnov Said He Could Help Resolve Matters Being Investigated By Several Federal Agencies In Exchange For The Loan. “Another acquaintance, Dmitry Fomichev, sued Smirnov in 2013, claiming Smirnov failed to repay a $500,000 loan. Court records state Smirnov boasted of his connections with the FBI and said he could help Fomichev ‘resolve certain matters then being investigated by several agencies of the federal government’ in exchange for the loan. Several months later, Fomichev was indicted on tax and immigration charges and sentenced to probation. A Los Angeles judge ruled in Fomichev’s favor in the civil case, though, issuing a nearly $600,000 judgement against Smirnov.” [Associated Press, 3/4/24]
- Alexander Smirnov Was Connected To A Couple Who Accepted A $250,000 Judgement After The Disappearance Of 619,000 Share Certificates For A Company They Controlled That Were Owed To An Investor. “Business disclosures reveal Smirnov also served as president of a company called GV Global Communications, which was founded by Avady and Galina Vaynter, a penny-stock power couple who have often found themselves at the center of litigation with investors and former business partners. In one case settled last year, according to records, the Vaynters accepted a $250,000 judgment against them after the disappearance of 619,000 share certificates for a company they controlled, which were owed to one of their investors. The Vaynters accused a business partner of stealing the certificates from their home, though their daughter filed a police report in 2016 that stated the shares were inside a pink briefcase that was lost near a Los Angeles community college, court records show. In an interview, Galina Vaynter acknowledged Smirnov had a role in GV Global Partners, but insisted it was only on paper and lasted for a month at most. She adamantly denied any wrongdoing in connection with past business dealings.” [Associated Press, 3/4/24]
FLASHBACK FRIDAY: JAMES COMER PREVIOUSLY PROMISED NOT TO SHARE INFORMATION IN THE FD-1023 FORM UNLESS IT WAS “VERIFIED AND INDISPUTABLE”
New Republic: “Desperate James Comer Has A New Excuse After Losing His Star Witness”
Raw Story: “Resurfaced Comments Catch James Comer Promising Not To Use FBI Informant In ‘Witch Hunt'”
- During A May 10, 2023 Press Conference, James Comer Promised Not To Use Information From The FD-1023 Form Unless It Was “Verified And Indisputable,” And Then Did The Opposite. “Less than a year ago, House Oversight and Reform chair Rep. James Comer (R-KY) gave a press conference demanding the FBI hand over a claim from a confidential source — and promising never to use unverified information on the form as part of a ‘witch hunt.’ It hasn’t turned out that way. On May 10, 2023, Comer stood before the press, flanked by Reps. Nancy Mace (R-SC), Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Jake Laturner (R-KS), to name a few. ‘A week ago, I sent a subpoena to the FBI for a form a whistleblower has alleged is in the FBI’s possession,’ Comer told the press. ‘We hope the F.B.I. will be transparent and forthcoming and provide us with the 1023 form we have subpoenaed. ‘If they do, the committee will assess the form it has subpoenaed from the FBI and, as has been my practice, we will report to you only the facts when they are verified and indisputable. This committee will not pursue witch hunts or string the American people along with false promises of evidence that is beyond circumstantial evidence, as represented by Adam Schiff and the Democrats did for years. I trust the whistleblower.’ But Comer and the GOP took that information and made it key to their investigation in Hunter Biden and his father, President Joe Biden.” [Raw Story, 3/4/24]
James Comer Stakes His Case On A New Witness Who Can’t Come To Congress To Testify Because He’s In Federal Prison
Huffington Post: “Republicans Go To Bat For Federal Prisoner Who Testified In Biden Impeachment Inquiry”
- One Of House Oversight Committee Republicans’ Witnesses In Their Impeachment Inquiry Is A Person Serving A 14-Year Sentence In Federal Prison For His Roles In Two Multi-Million Dollar Fraud Schemes. “House Republicans are chasing a new lead in their impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden, sending official demands for information about how the Justice Department handled a federal prisoner’s requests for home confinement. Impeachment investigators interviewed Jason Galanis last month at a federal prison in Alabama, where Galanis, who claimed to have been a business partner of Hunter Biden’s, is serving a 14-year sentence for his roles in two multimillion-dollar fraud schemes. Galanis claimed during the interview that his request for home confinement last year had been rejected in order to prevent him from talking to Republicans searching for evidence of Joe Biden’s involvement in his son’s business deals.” [Huffington Post, 3/5/24]
Raw Story: “Convicted Fraudster Becomes House Republicans’ New Hope In Biden Impeachment Probe”
Conservative Media Hosts Aren’t Buying What Comer Is Selling
Raw Story: “’How Weird Is That?’ Fox Host Baffled By James Comer Skipping Out On Hunter Biden Hearing”
- Fox News Host Steve Doocy Pointed Out That James Comer Left The House Oversight Committee’s Deposition Of Hunter Biden Early And Comer Did Not Ask Hunter A Single Question. “Hunter Biden appeared this week before the House Oversight and Judiciary committees for a closed-door deposition, where he told lawmakers he had never involved his father in his foreign business dealings. The ‘Fox & Friends’ host was confused why Rep. James Comer (R-KY), who’s leading the inquiry, did not appear to participate. ‘The odd thing to me, speaking of Republicans, is James Comer, who ran that committee, he apparently left the hearing early and did not ask a single question,’ Doocy said. ‘How weird is that?’ ‘Huh,’ agreed co-host Ainsley Earhardt. ‘Very strange.’ The younger Biden dropped his demand to testify publicly after Republicans threatened to hold him in contempt, but Doocy could not fathom why Comer did not leap at the chance to question him. ‘He’s been calling for him to come in — ‘We want Hunter Biden,’ Doocy said. ‘He didn’t ask him a single question.’” [Raw Story, 3/1/24]
Huffington Post: “Rep. Eric Swalwell Spots Sign GOP’s Biden Impeachment Inquiry Is Truly A Fail”