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House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has struggled mightily in recent months, desperately trying to make a case against President Joe Biden, but at least so far, failing spectacularly. The Kentucky Republican’s troubles seemed to go from bad to worse over the weekend, though, when the committee chair pointed to an “informant” he can’t find.
To briefly recap, Comer, undaunted by failure, suggested on Fox News that he had an important anti-Biden witness, but the congressman can’t seem to find him. “We’re hopeful that the informant is still there,” he said on the air. Asked if his anti-Biden informant “is now missing,” the Republican replied, “Well, we’re hopeful that we can find the informant.”
Yesterday, Rep. Tim Burchett, another Republican member of the Oversight Committee, appeared on Fox Business and was asked, “Do you know the whereabouts of the informants?” The Tennessee congressman replied, “No, ma’am, I do not.”
When the host pressed on, asking whether the person is missing, Burchett added, “Apparently, yes, according to Chairman Comer.”
Did they check between the couch cushions? Maybe they left the informant on top of the car before driving away?
The smart move for GOP lawmakers would be to start lowering expectations, but another Republican member of the House Oversight Committee — Georgia’s Marjorie Taylor Greene — appeared on Steve Bannon’s podcast yesterday and did the opposite:
“[O]ther whistleblowers, yes, they are missing. They’re either in court, they’re in jail, or we cannot talk with them at this time because they can’t be found. This is a very real situation that we’re talking about. And our investigation is so important, Steve, that this will bring down the president of the United States.”
I suppose anything’s possible, but given the evidence that House Republicans have been able to present against the president — which is to say, literally nothing — Biden’s critics probably shouldn’t get their hopes up.
In case this isn’t obvious, Comer and his far-right colleagues are working on the basis of some odd assumptions: When Biden was vice president, they believe, he was bribed by someone to do something for someone else. Who? What? For now, no one, including the Republicans themselves, seem to have any idea, but they’re trying to fill in the gaps, assuming there might be evidence, which they don’t have, and which probably doesn’t exist.
What’s more, the elusive evidence will apparently come from an elusive informant, whom they’re confident does exist, but whom they can’t find.
With a rock-solid case like this, it’s amazing that Biden doesn’t seem nervous.