Republican Representative James Comer is facing calls for an investigation of his efforts to impeach President Joe Biden after a key witness in the probe was charged with lying to the FBI.
Special counsel David Weiss, an appointee of former President Donald Trump who was chosen to lead the investigation into Hunter Biden by Attorney General Merrick Garland, announced charges against 43-year-old Alexander Smirnov on Thursday for allegedly making false statements and manufacturing false records concerning Biden's business dealings in Ukraine.
Smirnov's claims that Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, had each received a $5 million bribe from Ukrainian energy company Burisma was a key factor in the effort to impeach the president launched by House Republicans last year.
Smirnov made that claim as a "confidential human source" in an FD-1023—a document the FBI uses to record information from such sources.
Thursday's indictment called Smirnov's claims "a fabrication, an amalgam of otherwise unremarkable business meetings and contacts."
Comer, who is chair of the Oversight Committee, was criticized by Democrats following news of the indictment with at least one member of the House suggesting he has questions to answer.
Many social media users on X, formerly Twitter, were quick to call for Comer to face investigation, while his Democratic critics suggested that the Republican has questions to answer.
Newsweek has reached out to Comer's office via email outside of office hours for comment.
"When did James comer know this was false and how long did he conceal that from the American people?" asked Democratic Representative Jared Moskowitz during a CNN interview on Thursday.
"Are you telling me he just found out through the indictment or has he known all along or at least for a period of time that this 1023 form was made up? Those are real questions we need to get to the bottom [of]," the Democrat said.
Moskowitz also suggested that Speaker of the House Mike Johnson should assess whether Comer should remain chair of the oversight committee.
The Democrat did not directly call for a probe and with a GOP majority in the House it seems unlikely that Comer could face investigation. Nonetheless, other Democrats also strongly criticized Comer.
"James Comer's lead informant in his sham impeachment against POTUS was just indicted for lying and making up his claims," Democratic Representative Robert Garcia of California wrote on X.
"We demand Comer apologize to the President and end this political stunt immediately. What a joke," he added.
Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin, ranking member of the Oversight Committee, issued a statement demanding an end to the impeachment inquiry and called the probe "fraudulent."
"Special Counsel Weiss's investigation is just the most recent to debunk the Ukraine-Burisma conspiracy theory at the heart of this fraudulent impeachment inquiry," Raskin said.
"It is an undeniable fact that Republicans' allegations against President Biden have always been a tissue of lies built on conspiracy theories, and I formally call on Speaker Johnson, Chairman Comer, and House Republicans to stop promoting this nonsense and end their doomed impeachment inquiry," he added.
"James Comer's star witness against Joe Biden was just charged by the TRUMP-APPOINTED Special Counsel with making false claims," wrote Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett in a post on X. "THIS is the informant who provided the core 'evidence' in the GOP impeachment investigation. According to a federal grand jury, he made it all up."
In a statement on Thursday, Comer denied that Smirnov's claims or his FD-1023 were central to the impeachment probe.
"To be clear, the impeachment inquiry is not reliant on the FBI's FD-1023. It is based on a large record of evidence, including bank records and witness testimony, revealing that Joe Biden knew of and participated in his family's business dealings," Comer said.
"When asked by the committee about their confidence in the confidential human source, the FBI told the committee the confidential human source was credible and trusted, had worked with the FBI for over a decade, and had been paid six figures."
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Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more
