Ranking Member Raskin Blasts Chairman Comer for Latest Unvetted Allegations Tied to Russian Propaganda and Trump World

Washington, D.C. (April 5, 2024) — Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, sent a letter to Chairman James Comer demanding he provide Committee Democrats with the information referenced in Committee Republicans’ March 21 letter to the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), as well as any information regarding any involvement by third parties in the Chairman’s decision to make these unvetted allegations public.  The letter comes after Chairman Comer accused the CIA of obstructing a criminal investigation based on information he has yet to disclose to Committee Democrats or the public, once again pushing unvetted conspiratorial allegations connected to both discredited Trump World sources and Russian propaganda and disinformation efforts.

“Please forgive the observation, but I couldn’t help noticing that your accusations against the CIA mirror in striking ways your earlier impassioned claims, also based on whistleblower tips, that the DOJ was ‘seeking to bury’ a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) tipsheet that turned out to be a complete tissue of lies. [...] In this all-too-familiar pattern, the allegations in your new letter to the CIA are also seemingly connected both to discredited ‘Trump World’ sources and to active foreign propaganda and disinformation efforts,” wrote Ranking Member Raskin in the letter.

Republicans’ accusation that the CIA obstructed a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation of Hunter Biden by blocking an interview with Kevin Morris directly collide with the statements and testimony of Internal Revenue Service Special Agent Gary Shapley, who testified he had an opportunity to interview Kevin Morris, and of Mr. Morris himself, who told the Committee he cooperated with the investigation, including by talking to the agents assigned to the matter and producing relevant documents.  Chairman Comer has since ignored Democratic Committee staff’s requests to access the information on which the Republicans’ letter and accusation purport to rely.

Chairman Comer’s letter and its unverified claims were quickly picked up and amplified by Sputnik, a Russian state-funded and state-directed propaganda outlet, which also featured statements supportive of the new conspiracy theory by two discredited Trump World figures.  One of those figures, discredited former psychiatrist Keith Ablow, was interviewed by Tucker Carlson to discuss his allegations just two weeks before Chairman Comer’s letter.

This is just the latest example of how the Committee’s sham impeachment inquiry has become a highly touted feature event for Russian propaganda.  Despite repeated official warnings about how the central claims of this impeachment inquiry stem from a disinformation campaign by Russian intelligence services to smear President Biden, including from the Trump Treasury Department and Department of State, Chairman Comer has repeatedly used the Committee as a mouthpiece to echo foreign propaganda while denying Democratic members an opportunity to vet or even review information purportedly behind the Chairman’s allegations.

When Republicans’ once-star witness Gal Luft was charged by the DOJ last year for acting as an unregistered agent for the Chinese government, among several other felonies, Chairman Comer ignored Ranking Member Raskin and Rep. Goldman’s request for information and an investigation.  And, after the FBI Form 1023 tipsheet Chairman Comer released last year was revealed to be not just a tissue of lies but likely part of a Russian disinformation campaign, Chairman Comer failed to respond to Ranking Member Raskin’s request for information related to Committee Republicans’ decision to amplify unverified and unsubstantiated allegations from an individual with significant ties to foreign intelligence services.

“All of this information must be shared with the full Committee so that we can review it, understand whether you took any steps to vet it, and assess whether you are—once again, wittingly or not—making our Committee a party to efforts by malign foreign interests to influence American elections,” concluded Ranking Member Raskin.

Click here to read the letter.

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