'Confession': Comer shredded for apparent admission Garland contempt hearing is 'stunt'
House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) just admitted that his latest moves against Attorney General Merrick Garland are a purely partisan exercise, wrote Steve Benen for MSNBC's MaddowBlog.
The apparent confession came after Comer's committee demanded the Justice Department turn over raw audio recordings of President Joe Biden's interview with special counsel Robert Hur in the classified documents probe, which ended without charges.
Biden asserted executive privilege over the recordings — and explained why.
"Officials realize that Republicans are simply looking for a political toy they can play with ahead of Election Day 2024. Former Republican Rep. Ken Buck admitted as much this week, explaining that Congress already has the transcript and relevant information, adding that his former GOP colleagues are 'just looking for something for political purposes,'" wrote Benen.
"Given that there’s no legitimate or legislative reason to release the audio, Team Biden has asserted executive privilege. White House Counsel Ed Siskel told congressional Republicans in a letter yesterday, 'The absence of a legitimate need for the audio recordings lays bare your likely goal — to chop them up, distort them, and use them for partisan political purposes.'"
The Oversight Committee, along with the Judiciary Committee, has now moved forward with recommending a contempt of Congress referral for Garland for not turning over the tapes — but this was undermined swiftly when Comer admitted in a fundraising email that they only want the tapes to cut campaign material against Biden, not for any legitimate investigative purpose, Benen wrote.
"Comer’s latest fundraising appeal reads in part, 'Biden and his advisors are terrified that I will release the recordings, forcing the media and Democrats to answer for the dismal decline of Biden’s mental state.' The Kentucky Republican added that audio recording 'could be the final blow to Biden with swing voters across the country,'" wrote Benen.
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"In other words, the White House’s counsel’s office accused Comer and his colleagues of wanting to use Biden’s interview 'for partisan political purposes,' after which Comer put in writing that he’s focused on using the audio recording to target 'swing voters.'"
Since this fundraising email was made public, multiple Democratic lawmakers, like Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) have brought it up in committee, hammering Comer with his own words.
"The public doesn’t have to take Comer’s critics’ word for it," concluded Benen. "Comer’s own letter was effectively a confession that this entire charade was — and is — a partisan stunt."