Ranking Member Raskin’s Statement on 100 Days of Committee Republicans’ Politically-Motivated ‘Investigations’

Washington, D.C. (April 13, 2023)—Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, released the following statement marking 100 days since Committee Republicans commenced their pursuit of blatantly partisan investigations to bolster former President Trump's reelection campaign instead of working toward legislative solutions to help make life better for families across the United States:

"In the 100 days since Republicans took control of the Committee, they have promoted outlandish conspiracy theories and misrepresented basic evidence to justify tiresome, debunked narratives pushed by their extremist MAGA base. The Committee's political fishing expeditions have turned up nothing on President Biden but have circumnavigated the deep waters of wrongdoing where the big fish swim, specifically former President Donald Trump and members of his family, including his son-in-law and former senior White House advisor, Jared Kushner, who have brought in billions of dollars from foreign princes and governments deeply invested in—and grateful for—Trump's obsequious pro-autocrat foreign policy. As we approach the next 100 days, I call on my GOP colleagues to end the political stunts that the public has so clearly tired of and rejected, restore the transparency essential to the credible use of our investigative powers, and work alongside Democrats to ensure an effective and efficient government that delivers real services and goods to the American people."

In the past 100 days, Republicans held 18 hearings on topics ranging from the "Twitter Files" to "wokeism" in the military, often raising false claims and advancing Q-Anon-style conspiracy theories. Republicans have held four Committee votes to empower authoritarian propaganda, stifle free speech, override the local government elected by the people of Washington, D.C., and repeat shoddy talking points that avoid anything resembling real action on inflation. Chair Comer has made more than 50 appearances on Fox News and Newsmax and, under his leadership, Republicans have issued six secret subpoenas in their "top priority" investigation into the Biden family.

In Purely Political "Investigations," Republicans Fail to Turn Up Evidence, Instead Misrepresenting Information to Try to Help Trump and Hurt Democrats

While ramping up investigations into the Biden family based on questionable evidence and tenuous justifications, Oversight Republicans have turned a blind eye to the blatantly suspicious relationship between Saudi government officials and Jared Kushner, a former senior White House official who shaped pro-Saudi policy on the Middle East, on the grounds that looking into evidence of a quid pro quo would be "politically unsustainable." Committee Republicans also apparently allowed former President Trump's personal attorneys to act on behalf of the Committee to unilaterally end investigation into Mr. Trump's inadequate financial disclosures and blatant constitutional and ethical conflicts of interest, including by profiting from authoritarian governments like China and Saudi Arabia, while leading American policy affecting those countries.

During a full Committee hearing on "Twitter Files," Committee Republicans' plans to revive extreme MAGA conspiracy theories backfired when they failed to find any evidence to support their false narrative that the federal government censored a New York Post story ahead of the 2020 election. To the contrary, witness testimony showed that Twitter actively worked, often against company policy, to accommodate former President Trump's repeated demands to censor private citizens with whom he disagreed.

Committee Republicans have relied on cherry-picked evidence and misrepresented information to compose false narratives about President Biden and his family. They even abandoned long-standing Committee practices favoring transparency, preferring instead to issue secret subpoenas and hide key investigative information.

In their most vivid and memorable action, Committee Republicans led a field trip to D.C.'s jail to visit dozens of January 6 insurrectionists, with leading members of the delegation calling them "political prisoners"—equating people in jail for assaulting federal officers and participating in an insurrectionary riot with people like Nelson Mandela, Andrei Sakharov, and Alexei Navalny.

Committee Republicans' Partisan Priorities Run the Gamut of Extremism

Beyond abusing their Congressional powers to help former President Trump in his reelection bid, Committee Republicans have tried to provide cover for wealthy corporations responsible for rail accidents by using the Biden-Harris Administration as a scapegoat, voted to promote Russian and Chinese propaganda by disarming Congress's ability to respond and even punishing federal workers who try to stop it, spread Big Oil misinformation, and amplified the voices of multiple witnesses who have endorsed white nationalist conspiracy theories.

Rather than use their control of the gavel to lead productive conversations to advance solutions to strengthen border security and improve the immigration system, Committee Republicans promoted the racist "Great Replacement" theory and refused to join Democrats' statement denouncing white nationalism and white supremacy. They voted to silence and drown out the voices of hard-working, tax-paying D.C. residents instead of exploring commonsense gun policies to keep Americans safe, including the hundreds of thousands of Americans who call Washington, D.C. home.

Committee Republicans defended lax gun safety laws that have flooded the nation's streets with weapons and made gun violence the leading cause of death for children and teens in the United States. Instead of advancing measures to meaningfully address rising prices and stagnant wages, Republicans doubled down on their ‘do-nothing' approach with a futile messaging bill on inflation.

Consumed with partisan politics and unashamed of railing against federal programs whose benefits they tout in their home districts, Republicans have attacked effective Biden-Harris's Administration programs that have strengthened our economy and put food on the table for millions of families, conveniently ignoring important safeguards that have been instituted to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse.

Committee Republicans have even disrespected servicemembers, veterans, and their families by using them as political props and ignoring the serious challenges they face.

The Next 100 Days

If Committee Republicans are serious about conducting legitimate oversight, they will join Committee Democrats in seeking to ensure an effective and efficient government that works for the American people.

Over the next 100 days, Committee Democrats will challenge Committee Republicans to set electoral gamesmanship aside and join Democrats in pursuing responsible, fact-based investigations and good faith efforts to reform federal government ethics and disclosure laws, address the mishandling of classified records, and hold responsible corporate actors who prioritize profits over people. It is past time for Committee Republicans to end their pursuit of partisan advantage by recycling distorted information to reach pre-determined comic-book narratives. The public is not impressed and knows we can do better.

Let us hope our Colleagues will use these wasted first 100 days as a pivot point for honest reflection and change rather than as a prologue to more useless and witless MAGA theatrics.