GOP allegations against Biden fall flat, and even Fox News seems annoyed
House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) during a news conference Wednesday morning touted the findings of a congressional probe linking President Joe Biden to millions of dollars in payments from China and Romania to members of his family.
But despite his proclamations to the contrary, Comer didn’t produce any damaging evidence against the president, and he heard about it during an appearance on “Fox & Friends” Thursday.
“You don’t actually have any facts to that point,” host Steve Doocy told the far-right congressman.
“And the other thing is, of all those names, the one person who didn’t profit is — there’s no evidence that Joe Biden did anything illegally.”
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“That wasn’t the reaction Comer had hoped to get in a GOP-friendly venue, columnist Eugene Robinson writes for The Washington Post.
Robinson contends that “Comer’s committee was supposed to be the principal instrument by which House Republicans made good on their pledge to dig up some kind of dirt on Biden. With the leading candidate for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, Donald Trump, facing felony charges in Manhattan, a civil verdict holding him responsible for sexual abuse, and the possibility of soon being hit with more state and federal charges, Republicans would love to be able to tar Biden with at least the appearance of illegality.”
But Comer’s committee has yet to deliver.
“The GOP has come up with a whole lot of nothin’,” Robinson writes, noting that “Biden has had every right to perform the “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” gesture that Barack Obama borrowed from Jay-Z.”
The theory advanced by Comer is described by Robinson as incoherent.
Robinson writes: “The committee’s investigators went down deep rabbit holes involving business dealings that companies associated with members of Biden’s family conducted with firms in two countries, Romania and China. The theory seems to be the following: Biden, as vice president, was critical of corruption in Romania even as his son dealt with a corrupt Romanian businessman. One of the Chinese businesses Hunter Biden had a relationship with was led by a man who once was close to Chinese President Xi Jinping. Therefore …
“Therefore, what? The committee produced no evidence to suggest that Biden did anything at all to help his son’s overseas business partners, or even that Biden knew which foreign companies his son, other family members and “associates” had transactions with.”
Robinson contends that while serving as vice president Biden did nothing to support the interests Romanian or Chinese officials that Comer’s allegations would suggest.
Robinson writes: “Sorry, I forgot Comer is running a political exercise, not an investigation. Republican influence-peddling — however glaringly obvious — is the last thing he wants to find.”