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Kentucky Rep. James Comer, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, has admitted no one had had any contact for three years with an alleged key source in its investigation into the Biden family business dealings.
Comer appeared on Sean Hannity's Fox News show Thursday to give an update to the Republican inquiry into allegations Joe Biden took part in "influence peddling," while vice president in the Obama administration. The serving president is also accused of engaging in corrupt foreign business dealing with his son Hunter Biden and Ukrainian energy company Burisma. However, the investigation has so far not revealed any real evidence to back up the claims.

In May, Comer released a memo that did not provide any specific details of any corruption involving the president. The House Oversight Committee also said there are 17 audio recordings of Joe and Hunter Biden talking about an alleged criminal bribery scheme, which some Republican figures have even stated may not even exist.
Speaking to Hannity, Comer said that the tapes came from an oligarch who is a high-ranking member or owner of Burisma. He added that the tape is alleged to show Joe Biden accepting a multimillion dollar bribe, which the president used "as an insurance policy."
When asked by Hannity if he has any contact with this alleged Burisma source, Comer replied: "Unfortunately, nobody's had any contact with him for the last three years.
"You know, the MSNBC makes fun of me when I said that there are a lot of people that were involved in the Biden shenanigans that are currently missing," Comer said. "But, with respect to this oligarch, we think we know where he is. He just hasn't been seen in public in a long time, but we're following the money."
Comer previously told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo that they "can't track down" a key informant in the Biden investigation.
"We're hopeful that we can find the informant," Comer said in May. "Remember, these informants are kind of in the spy business, so they don't make a habit of being seen a lot or being high-profile or anything like that.
"Nine of the 10 people that we've identified that have very good knowledge with respect to the Bidens, they're one of three things. They're either currently in court; they're currently in jail; or they're currently missing."
Earlier this week, during an appearance on Newsmax, Comer was pressed about the apparent existence of the audio tapes that form a key part of their bribery allegations. He said that "we don't know if they're legit or not."
Ian Sams, the White House spokesperson, has dismissed the allegations while tweeting out a Federalist article. It alleged that the Biden family "coerced" a foreign national to pay them $10 million in bribes, citing an unnamed FBI source.
"Every time a right wing talking point about this absurd allegation falls apart under even the slightest scrutiny, the far right moves the goal posts," Sams tweeted on Thursday.
"Informant? Disappeared! Audio tapes? Don't exist! It wasn't investigated? Actually Trump's DOJ/FBI did! Now coercion! Crazy."
Last week, President Biden also dismissed the accusations as a "bunch of malarkey" to reporters.
Newsweek has contacted Comer's office for comment via email.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, and Florida ... Read more