If you ask anyone in the United States — and possibly around the world — what politician they think of when they hear the word “Kentucky,” they will all undoubtedly say “Mitch McConnell.”
That may be about to change.
Kentucky’s 1st District representative, James Comer, is set to be the chair of the House Oversight Committee once the Repubs take over in January. And he is coming loaded for bear.
Forty (or more!) investigations
In an interview with Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press,” Comer said his committee will undertake “40 or 50 different things.”
“We’ll have 25 members on the committee, and we’re going to have a staff close to 70,” Comer said. “So we have the ability to investigate a lot of things.”
Here’s a list of some of the investigations Comer’s committee is said to be looking at:
- The handling of the US-Mexico border
- The origins of the Covid-19 pandemic
- The handling of pandemic relief funds
- The IRS and its actions
But the main focus is going to be on the Biden family, especially son Hunter.
All Hunter Biden, all the time
Comer has been focused on the Biden family, and especially Hunter Biden, ever since Joe Biden came into the picture as a possible presidential candidate. Here’s the text from the home page of the Republicans on the House Oversight Committee:
“Evidence obtained by Committee Republicans reveals Joe Biden lied to the American people about his involvement in his family’s business schemes. The Biden family business model is built on Joe Biden’s political career and connections with Joe Biden as the ‘chairman of the board.’ Biden family members sold access for profit around the world to the detriment of American interests. If President Biden is compromised by deals with foreign adversaries and they are impacting his decision making, this is a threat to national security. The American people deserve transparency and accountability about the Biden family’s influence peddling. With the new Republican majority, Oversight Committee Republicans will continue pressing for answers to inform legislative solutions to prevent this abuse of power.”
Comer has already announced that he is going to re-send his letter to the Treasury Department demanding the agency fork over any suspicious bank activity reports linked to Hunter Biden. The Treasury ignored the letter the first time it was sent; Comer is assuming they will answer now that Repubs are in charge in the House.
And, he intends to call Hunter Biden before the committee multiple times, to have him answer questions under oath.
Comer says he wants the committee’s work to be “fair” and “sensible” – but he is already getting pressure to impeach the Homeland Security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas. And some of the far-right Republicans in Congress want Comer to lead an impeachment of President Biden. (!)
So, it is safe to assume that our own Jamie Comer will soon become as much a household name as Mitch McConnell. What will he do with this newfound fame? That remains to be seen.
But let’s remember, McConnell’s term ends in 2026. If Comer can keep his pursuit of the Biden family from turning into his own version of Moby Dick — with Comer in the role of Captain Ahab — then perhaps he can leverage his role as chair of the House Oversight Committee into a new role: Senator from Kentucky.
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