James Comer Says Democrats Are Playing 'Russia Card' Against Him

James Comer, the House Oversight Committee Chair leading the impeachment probe into President Joe Biden, has accused key Democrats of playing the "Russia card" over the issue.

The Context

Comer told the Newsmax show Eric Bolling The Balance on Wednesday that the likes of Rep. Jamie Raskin, ranking member of the Oversight Committee, and Rep. Dan Goldman "were going to play the Russia card again." The Kentucky Republican was responding to comments by Goldman on CNN on February 21 that there was "no evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden" and that the "House Republican majority was being used by Russia to interfere in the 2024 election."

Comer also said "they," likely meaning Democrats, calling for an end to the Biden probe, had been "backed into a corner" and were using a former FBI informant's alleged links to Russian intelligence as a means to undermine the investigation.

"That's what Dan Goldman done, that's what Jamie Raskin's done," Comer said.

What We Know

Raskin has called on the investigation to be dropped after a former confidential FBI source, Alexander Smirnov, was charged with lying to the FBI, and the Justice Department also said he had links with "high-level" Russian intelligence operatives.

Smirnov's claims that Ukrainian energy company Burisma paid Biden and his son Hunter Biden a sum of $5 million each was an important part of Republican efforts to launch the the inquiry into the president in September 2023.

However, Smirnov has been charged with making false statements and manufacturing false records. The Justice Department has said he should remain in custody because of his alleged links to Russian intelligence agencies.

Both Raskin and Goldman have called for the probe into Biden to be dropped.

Raskin told reporters on February 21 that the probe into Biden was "not only obviously false and fraudulent, but a product of Russian disinformation and propaganda."

Goldman told CNN on February 20 that "wittingly or unwittingly, House Republicans have been acting as an agent or an asset of Russian intelligence."

Newsweek has approached the office's of Goldman, Raskin and Comer for comment via an email outside of working hours.

Comer has said the probe will continue, but has faced calls from liberal commentators and Democratic supporters to resign.

Views

Republican Congressman Ken Buck said the House was "warned" that the credibility of a document known as "FD-1023" was "not known."

It was this document that contained some of Smirnov's claims about the president and his son.

Speaking to CNN's Kaitlan Collins on Wednesday, Buck said: "My colleagues, went out and talked to the public about how this was credible and how it was damning and how it proved President Biden's complicity in receiving bribes."

He added: "If the impeachment inquiry was based on this witness, it undermines the credibility of this impeachment."

Comer said previously to CNN that "the impeachment inquiry is not reliant on the FBI's FD-1023."

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said there was an alleged double standard in the indictment of Smirnov as he was a "confidential human source" for the FBI.

"With Christopher Steele, who gives false information about President Trump to the FBI, he continues to get paid," Jordan said. "With this Smirnov guy, he gives false information to the FBI about the Bidens and he gets indicted. Doesn't seem to me to be the same standard."

Jordan was referring to Steele, a former British spy, and the infamous "Steele Dossier" that alleged Trump campaign figures worked with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the 2016 presidential campaign. Large parts of the contents of the report have not been substantiated.

Legal experts have pointed out that statements in the Steele dossier were unconfirmed but it was not proven that Steele did not believe they were true.

Newsweek has approached the Department of Justice for comment via an email outside of normal working hours.

What's Next?

Democrats are expected to continue to call on the Biden probe to be dropped.

On February 20, Hunter Biden's legal team filed a motion that said the arrest of Smirnov meant it was no longer possible for him to get a fair trial on charges he is facing of tax avoidance and buying a firearm while a known drug user. Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to the charges.