House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer berated an NBC reporter Tuesday during an exchange of testimony about money transfers to President Biden from his son Hunter and brother James — at one point calling the reporter “financially illiterate.”
The Peacock Network’s Capitol Hill reporter Ryan Nobles grilled Comer (R-Ky.) on the evidence, arguing that bank records suggest the transaction was repayment of a loan to the current president.
“You said there was evidence that proved it was a loan. I have never seen evidence that proves it was a loan. I’m from a banking background,” Comer answered during an interview on “Meet the Press NOW.”
Noble refused, insisting that there were bank records to prove that the money came from loan repayments, while Comer accused him of “providing talking points from the White House and Biden’s legal team.”
“You call it an influence peddling scheme, and you don’t know for sure if it’s a loan or not,” replied Nobles.
James Comer appears to dispute the claim that the transfers involving Hunter Biden were loan repayments. NBC
“You do not understand. It’s like you’re not financially literate. You look like a smart guy on TV,” Comer replied. “The money the Biden family paid back to Joe Biden came from influence peddling.”
Comer then likened the situation to lending money to drug dealers and emphasized the questionable sources from which Hunter Biden might have obtained the money.
House Republicans have flagged several transactions involving the first son and his father.
Ryan Nobles teases James Comer about his allegations about the Biden family’s business dealings. NBC
On Monday, the GOP-led Oversight Committee released documentation showing that Hunter Owasco PC’s law firm began making monthly payments of $1,380 to his father beginning in September 2018.
The payments began three months after the bank’s money-laundering officials issued a warning that Owasco’s account was receiving millions from businesses linked to the Chinese government without “any services rendered.”
In August 2017, Hunter Biden received a $5 million wire transfer from a Chinese company to his Hudson West III account, but later transferred some of the money to Owasco, according to records from House Republicans.
President Biden met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping last month and called him a dictator. AFP via Getty Images
Later, money from there was transferred to accounts belonging to the future president’s brother James and sister-in-law Sara Biden.
Comer has speculated that the money was used to fund a $40,000 check to the future president marked “loan repayment” in September 2017.
In a separate move attributed by Republicans to Americore Health, James Biden cut a $200,000 check in March 2018 to his brother that was also labeled as “loan repayment.”
A $200,000 check flagged by Republican investigators. Monitoring Committee
When pressed by Nobles, Comer admitted that the transfers in question occurred while Joe Biden was not an elected official.
“Money and shell companies were created when Joe Biden was vice president,” Comer said. “Most of the money Biden raised from foreigners actually happened when Joe Biden was vice president.”
Still, Comer appears to admit that he’s not entirely sure that Joe Biden had a substantive conversation about business with his son’s associate.
Comer is Big Mad that an independent report that actually looked into his claims, compared to the sleazy treatment he received during his ~300 appearances on Fox this year, has exposed him as lying https://t.co/W3FgBOcwsO
— Ian Sams (@IanSams46) December 6, 2023
“I don’t know what they are talking about. We brought the president’s son and the president’s brother to ask him questions under the deposition,” he said.
White House spokesman Ian Sams was pleased with the exchange.
“Comer is Big Mad that an independent report that actually looked into his claims, compared to the fawning treatment he got during his ~300 appearances on Fox this year, has exposed him as lying,” he wrote on X Wednesday morning.
Ian Sams confirmed the interview on social media. NBC
During the interview, Comer also defended his impeachment inquiry, which Republicans are looking to formally authorize as soon as this week.
The Kentucky Republican argued that formalizing the investigation was primarily a matter of process and was necessary because “the White House has blocked us every step of the way.”
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