Ranking Member Raskin’s Statement on Latest Political Stunt by Chairman Comer

Washington, D.C. (September 30, 2024)—Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, issued the following statement after Chairman James Comer issued a subpoena as part of his baseless investigation into the democratic candidate for Vice President:

“What do you know, it’s the eve of the vice-presidential debate, and Chairman Comer has apparently been assigned another flotsam and jetsam errand from the GOP’s political smear barrel.  The tarnished hero of the Biden impeachment investigation has just thrown out one of his classic boomerang ‘bombshell’ accusations, revealing to the world that employees at the Department of Homeland Security were actually chatting about Governor Tim Walz over Microsoft Teams message!  This comically trivial last-ditch attempt to smear Governor Walz is one more embarrassing and strained attempt to curry favor with Donald Trump’s collapsing campaign.

“Chairman Comer and House Republicans are eager to distract the American people from Donald Trump's miserable record on China, whose autocratic leader he has lavishly praised and whose abysmal human rights record he has studiously ignored. 

But Governor Walz is a lifelong champion of democracy and freedom who has stood up for decades to the CCP and fiercely advocated for the human rights of the people of China, including by co-sponsoring the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act and meeting with the Dalai Lama and advocating for Tibet. 

“Donald Trump, for his part has not only turned a blind eye to President Xi’s human rights abuses but encouraged his violent crackdowns on pro-democracy protests and his use of forced labor camps.  And Chairman Comer has spent this Congress blocking all investigations into how Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, and Ivanka Trump exploited Trump’s tenure in the White House to rake in more than $5 million in payments from the CCP and embarrassed us on the national stage by sucking up to the Chinese dictator—who Trump fondly described as a ‘brilliant’ and ‘very good man.’ 

“If Chairman Comer is truly worried about elite capture by the CCP, he should look into how, under the administration of Donald Trump the master negotiator, President Xi repeatedly ‘ate our lunch.’”