Comer, after criminal referrals, pledges to go after Biden: 'This is just the beginning'
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) said Sunday the criminal referrals against President Biden’s son and brother are “just the beginning,” as he pledged to focus on the president himself in the next stage of his impeachment inquiry.
“Remember, this is an investigation of Joe Biden,” Comer said in an interview on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo. “Hunter Biden, Jim Biden, Eric Schwerin, Devon Archer — these are all witnesses in an investigation of Joe Biden. This was always about Joe Biden.”
“Now, we're going to do everything we can to hold Hunter Biden and all the different shady associates accountable. This is just the beginning,” he continued. “But the next step will be accountability for Joe Biden.”
The interview comes after GOP leaders of the impeachment investigation into Biden asked the Justice Department this past Wednesday to bring criminal charges against the president’s son, Hunter, and his brother, James, accusing the duo of lying to lawmakers during conversations with investigators.
The criminal referrals escalate the stakes of the impeachment inquiry, which has grown quiet in recent months as the investigation has failed to produce evidence of any criminal wrongdoing against Biden and as support for the inquiry appears to have died down.
But in the Sunday interview, Comer suggested he has no intention of ending his inquiry, accusing Biden of committing “many crimes” and teasing a soon-to-be-released report updating the public on Biden's alleged crimes.
“And I think everyone that's kept up with this investigation will be very eager to see what the next step is,” Comer said.
Comer also suggested that if Attorney General Merrick Garland does not take up the criminal referrals against the president’s relatives, then former President Trump, who is challenging Biden for a second term in the White House, could appoint an attorney general who would investigate the charges.
“This is the first step, these criminal referrals,” Comer said. “Everything that we refer to the Department of Justice is within the statute of limitations. In fact, there's five-year statute of limitations. So, if Merrick Garland's Department of Justice doesn't take this up in an appropriate manner, then the next administration and a new attorney general certainly can.”
The Hill has reached out to the White House for a response.