Congressman James Comer (R-KY), the head of the House Oversight Committee, found himself cornered on CNN Wednesday after denying the importance of a discredited witness in his investigation into Hunter Biden. Comer’s attempt to downplay the role of the witness was swiftly contradicted when CNN host Pamela Brown played a recording of his own words.
The controversy centers on Alexander Smirnov, an FBI informant who pleaded guilty this week to lying about an alleged bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. On Wednesday, Comer claimed Smirnov was never a significant figure in his investigation.
“I never said he was a crucial part of the investigation,” Comer insisted. But Pamela Brown quickly pushed back. “We just played it on Fox!” she countered before CNN aired a previous interview in which Comer had described Smirnov as central to his case.
In the clip, Comer explicitly told Fox News, “This is a very crucial part of the investigation.” Caught off-guard, Comer scrambled to clarify his remarks. “No, I said, I said I want to know,” he began. He continued, attempting to pivot the focus back to Hunter Biden’s business dealings. “I want to know what this guy told the FBI.
If this guy, the FBI had a record that said, this guy said they took a bribe, well, we’ve got $5 million deposited from [Ukrainian company] Burisma into Hunter Biden’s account. We know he didn’t pay taxes on it because that’s what he was charged for. And we know Joe Biden fired the prosecutor who was investigating this company that paid his son $5 million.”
“So obviously, we’re going to interview everyone,” Comer added. In a final effort to cover his earlier comment, he stated, “Everything was a crucial part of the investigation.” The exchange underscored the contradictions in Comer’s rhetoric surrounding the Oversight Committee’s investigation.
While Smirnov’s claims have been proven false, Comer’s past characterization of the informant as “crucial” now hangs over the probe, raising questions about the credibility and focus of the investigation.
As the conversation played out on CNN, the moment illustrated the ongoing tension between Comer’s assertions and the unraveling claims at the heart of the GOP’s inquiry into the Biden family. Brown’s decision to air the earlier tape left little room for doubt, putting Comer on the defensive and drawing attention to the shifting narrative surrounding his investigation.