Here's the latest from James Comer, lunatic chairman of the House Oversight Committee:
Biden family associate Eric Schwerin told Congress that he interacted with VP Joe Biden often and provided him free services. Once again, Joe Biden’s claim that there was an "absolute wall" between his official government duties and his family’s business dealings is a lie.
This was, of course, after a closed-door hearing, which means Comer can say anything he wants. And he does. But the New Republic got hold of Schwerin's opening statement:
Schwerin worked as a financial adviser for Joe Biden from 2009 until 2017, during which time he was able to see transactions in and out of the then vice president’s bank accounts.
“Based on that insight, I am not aware of any financial transactions or compensation that Vice President Biden received related to business conducted by any of his family members or their associates nor any involvement by him in their businesses,” Schwerin said in a prepared opening statement obtained by The New Republic.
....In his statement Tuesday, Schwerin said Biden had not been involved, either as a public official or a private citizen, in Hunter’s business dealings, nor had he ever been asked to take action on Hunter’s behalf. Schwerin said that in his role as Hunter’s business partner, he never asked Biden to get involved with their work. He and Hunter never suggested to or promised their clients or associates that Biden would get involved, either.
“In my discussions with the Vice President concerning his personal finances, he was always crystal clear that he wanted to take the most transparent and ethical approach consistent with both the spirit and the letter of the law,” Schwerin said. “Given my awareness of his finances and the explicit directions he gave to his financial advisers, the allegation that he would engage in any improper conduct to benefit himself or his family is preposterous to me.”
So, anyway, James Comer is a liar. Shocking, I know.
Well, it's obvious why Mr Comer demands closed door hearings. If he could turn off the official recordings, he'd like it even better.
How many stories like this have to come out before reporters start questioning everything asserted by Mr Comer ... and by many of his similarly untruthful Republican associates? Will reporters ever learn? Will editors?
I recommend Philip Bump at the Washington Post. He starts every story on Comer with a recitation of why no one should trust anything he says, and reinforces it along the way.
Yes! I'd say Mr Bump is a better "Fact CHecker" than Glenn Kessler. Kessler seems wedded to both-siderism.
A big part of the problem is that political reporters will run Comer's story, knowing it's BS. Why? Because it's an easy story to file. And they aren't saying it, they're just reporting that Comer is saying it, and he chair's a House subcommittee. So it's news, right?
The problem with journalism -- and I'm not talking about journalism as corrupted by business interests or venture capitalists, but straight up journalism -- is that it doesn't care if what it publishes informs or misinforms readers. They don't care if the information they are conveying is right or wrong. They only care in a formalistic sense that they can say "it's accurately reported" and it meets the lowest bar of "it's newsworthy". Anything more than that would be "taking sides", never mind that your readers don't know what's going on. They're just cranking out another paper, another online article, another news segment that won't get them sued.
Sure, Comer's full of shit, but we can't say that because of rules, and hey, it's easy to fill a little space or air time with a nice easy (clickbait) story about Comer's hearings.
The old "we report, YOU decide" dodge. Or, as I once heard on NPR (NPR!!! but that was years ago) -- listeners can do the research themselves.
If that's supposed to be the case, why would anyone ever listen, read, or watch, much less pay?
I don't know if the NYT covered the story but their style would be to quote Comer for 10 column inches and then have a couple of sentences from what Schwerin actually said in the last paragraph. The headline, of course, would be paraphrasing Comer. And everybody else could then quote "even the liberal New York Times".
This is why I finally cancelled my online subscription. This, and my bargain rates ending. The Post is considerably better, for the msm.
Funny, how with selective editing, one gets a very different impression
https://nypost.com/2024/01/30/news/biden-family-moneyman-eric-schwerin-testifies-in-impeachment-inquiry/
Comer is saying what the Cult wants to hear and believe, so the media will publish it and get clicks and access, aka profit and brand, and the Cult will believe it and repeat it. It's not news; it's information for sale (directly or via advertising) to willing consumers. That it's misleading or outright false, and so intended to entertain and validate biases rather than to inform, is entirely irrelevant to the business transaction.
Some media have started improving, eg they'll say "X claimed falsely that ..." when X is lying. Whether there are enough consumers who are materially influenced when this happens is still an open question. (The Cult are beyond hope of course. The media could tag lies with big red flashing LIE! labels and the Cult would just say it's a Librul plot and double down on their beliefs.)
And again, for the millionth time, legacy media skews towards old and consertive because a) its readership skews old and conservative, and b) because it's dying and will do anything -- anything! -- to hold on to what subscribers they have.
Media Pandering: Good Business Or Ethical Violation?
Views Differ On Telling Readers What They Want To Hear
Analysis by The New York Times
Comer and the Republicans have a brilliant scam running here. Pull anybody into a private hearing, then just tell Fox news whatever you want: "He said Joe Biden killed Laura Palmer" -- anything! It doesn't matter at all; it will be all over Fox for a week.
Hunter could (and should) have a press conference on the steps of the Capital right after the closed door deposition, summarizing what was said to congress at the deposition. Unlike most of the other James Comer victims, Hunter's statements would dominate the headlines.
He should do this regardless of any promises by Comer that he will not discuss testimony until a transcript is released, because Comer is a lying sack of shit and is unlikely to honor any agreement, or will have another MAGA committee member leak his BS to the press.
"Hunter could (and should) have a press conference"
Sure, but: the goal is not to have the American public hear _Hunter_ talk about how _Hunter_ is not a criminal, any more than it's Comer's particular goal to demonize Hunter specifically. Comer's whole goal is the have the words Biden Crime Corrupt Sleaze etc. repeated endlessly, any which way and in any fora he can. He *wins* if Hunter is holding press conferences to say talk about how much Hunter Biden is not Criminal/Corrupt/Sleaze, etc.
Put another way: I don't care about Hunter Biden, who I will never vote for, not least because he isn't running for anything. Frankly, I don't really care that much about Comer's election, because I can't vote against him and aside from this in this respect, he's a backbencher nobody. I do care about *President* Biden winning reelection, and so I think it would be great if people who also care about that would recognize that you don't beat Comer by playing his game.
Mostly I agree -- never mud-wrestle a pig because you get filthy and the pig loves it -- but when Hunter Biden played that game by showing up at that House hearing, he kinda ... won.
Arguably, Comer's hand is SO weak that it doesn't take much to make him look bad. And Biden's lawyer is savvy indeed ...
So the guy who famously didn't get rich after spending decades in the Senate isn't taking bribes?
... which is exactly why Real Americans don't respect him! Alpha Men like Trump make bank in office! And also Hunter Biden should be impeached!!11!!
Once again, Joe Biden’s claim that there was an "absolute wall" between his official government duties and his family’s business dealings is a lie.
Vice Presidents aren't allowed to meet with a financial advisor? And if they do, it's prima facie evidence of corruption? Good to know.
If only this wouldn’t give this BS more attention Biden (really any Biden) has an open and shut slander case against Comer
Maybe in January 2029
Comer seems to have lost track of his goal months ago. He's devoted enormous time and effort trying to prove Joe Biden DID TOO talk to Hunter about his business affairs. He's failed, but even if he had succeeded, so what? What is supposed to be wrong with a father taking an interest in his son's business affairs?
For all his bloviation, Comer remains unable to point to anything the president did that was improper, let alone illegal, to help Hunter's business interests. The only serious attempt, the Shokin dismissal, was discredited as a pathetic joke years ago by anyone who takes the time to learn what actually happened, as opposed to the creative fiction peddled by Comer and the 'New York Post'.
The upshot is that even if Comer had succeeded in substantiating all his dishonest claims about Hunter and James Biden, he'd be nowhere near finding any high crimes and misdemeanors by Joe.