House Oversight Committee members Reps. Jamie Raskin and Dan Goldman are calling for the committee to investigate whether they were duped by Chair James Comer’s star fugitive Biden scandal witness.
Raskin (D-MD) and Goldman (D-NY) wrote to the other members of the Oversight Committee:
It appears as if Mr. Luft sought “whistleblower” status from you in an effort to defend himself from criminal prosecution while a fugitive from justice. Worse yet, this latest episode also raises concerns that Mr. Luft may be manipulating your investigation not only for his own self-interest but perhaps also in furtherance of the CCP’s efforts to undermine U.S. security interests and the President of the United States.
These recent revelations naturally raise broader concerns about the credibility and motivations of other purported whistleblowers that Congressional Republicans have relied on to support unfounded and baseless allegations. Sadly, the Luft episode severely undermines the credibility of the critical function of whistleblowers in this body. We further note that you have refused to share any documents or information that you have received from Mr. Luft with Oversight Committee Democrats. Given your own public endorsements of Mr. Luft’s information, there is no plausible basis for you to withhold from Committee Democrats any and all information that Mr. Luft has provided to the Committee, including any information that led you to conclude that he is “a very credible witness” despite being under indictment and a fugitive from justice.
In order to protect the Congress’s institutional credibility and to reassure the American people that the CCP is not using Republicans’ investigations as a vehicle to undermine the United States government, we urge you to immediately initiate an investigation into whether the Committee may have been unwittingly duped by Mr. Luft in furtherance of the CCP’s interests, as well as any potentially false statements made by Mr. Luft to Members of Congress or congressional staff. In addition, we request that you immediately provide Committee Democrats with all materials and information provided by Mr. Luft to the Committee.
How big of a failure does a committee chair have to be that the fellow members of his committee are calling for an investigation into whether or not he was duped by a fugitive?
Comer has been an epic embarrassment since Republicans officially took back the House, and he became the chair of the Oversight Committee.
Rep. Comer appears to be operating under the impression that facts don’t matter. If he can come up with enough sensational allegations, eventually, something will stick to President Biden and help Trump win the 2024 election. I have been covering national politics since 2004, and I can’t remember a request like this ever being made by a congressional committee of its chair.
If Comer had any shame, he would be humiliated. He is standing with a fugitive who committed crimes against the United States.
Rep. Comer is either a buffoon or corrupt, and both options should disqualify him from chairing the Oversight Committee.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
