James Comer's Shady Shell Companies Different From Hunter Biden's Shady Shell Companies, Shut Up.
It's always projection with these guys.
If you have been following the adventures of redneck Pillsbury Doughboy James Comer and his efforts to wriggle up Hunter Biden’s urethra like the world’s roundest candiru, you have spent the entirety of the year of our Lord 2023 watching Comer hop in front of every TV camera he can find to scream some combination of the words “Biden family” and “payoffs” and “Chinese communist party” and “bank records” and “evidence” and “impeachment” in close enough proximity to each other to imply that Joe and Hunter Biden have been up to something. What is that something? Comer can’t say! It’s super-secret! But it’s bad! He’ll tell us tomorrow! Or the next day! Or whenever!
Comer’s efforts thus far have not turned up anything particularly scandalous. In fact, mostly all he has earned himself has been a series of verbal skewerings by such august personages as Brian Kilmeade and Steve Doocy, who have been less than impressed with Dollar Store Newt Gingrich’s investigative chops.
(And yes that is the first time in recorded history that anyone has used the words “august personages” to describe Brian Kilmeade and Steve Doocy, even ironically.)
PREVIOUSLY ON THIS VERY TOPIC!
At some point Comer added the words “shell companies” to his repertoire of alleged Biden misdeeds like some sort of Tourette’s-afflicted talking Barbie doll, probably because the words “shell companies” sound super-shady even when being used for legitimate purposes. (Point of fact, they tend to be pretty shady indeed, especially since even the government has no way of knowing who owns what.)
So it would be hugely embarrassing for James Comer if he also had set up any shell companies that conveniently allowed him to keep the exact nature of a joint investment with a campaign donor off his financial disclosure forms. Oh wait, he did? Who could have seen that coming, besides everybody.
But there are 6 acres (2.4 hectares) that he bought in 2015 and co-owns with a longtime campaign contributor that he has treated differently, transferring his ownership to Farm Team Properties, a shell company he co-owns with his wife. […]
The AP found that Farm Team Properties functions in a similarly opaque way as the companies used by the Bidens, masking his stake in the land that he co-owns with the donor from being revealed on his financial disclosure forms. Those records describe Farm Team Properties as his wife’s “land management and real estate speculation” company without providing further details.
Did we mention that House ethics rules require the disclosure of assets worth more than $1,000 held by any such shell companies, and that Farm Team Properties has a reported value of nearly $1 million? And also that Hunter Biden is not a member of the House of Representatives, but James Comer is? Okay, consider it mentioned.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post looked at the Biden shell companies that Comer has been claiming for months are ZOMG BAD and found that they actually look legit. One in particular that Comer has zeroed in on appears to have been set up as an LLC owning Hunter Biden’s law firm that took in legit income for Hunter Biden’s lobbying work.
None of this is illegal. In Hunter Biden’s case, at least, it’s not even particularly shady, so that’s rare! Comer and the Republicans have been screaming for months that the Bidens were somehow using LLCs like the law firm to launder money, but so far all they have come up with is Hunter paying a few thousand dollars back to his father after the old man covered a couple of truck payments. Quite the payoff!
Compare this to Comer and his defenses of this shell company he has weirdly set up for a minor fraction of his family’s real estate holdings:
After this story first published Thursday, Comer responded during an appearance on FOX News, stating that Farm Team Properties “has five different assets and lots of revenue.” He didn’t reveal what those other assets may be. He also falsely claimed that the donor, Darren Cleary, “wasn’t a campaign contributor” at the time the property was purchased. Cleary and his family have donated to Comer’s political campaigns since at least 2010, records show. […]
Cleary, his businesses and family have donated roughly $70,000 to Comer’s various campaigns, records show. He has also lauded Comer on social media for “For Fighting For Us Everyday” and has posted photos of the two on a golf course together.
The AP asked a couple of congressional ethics experts to weigh in on Comer’s dealings, and both responded with the lawyerly equivalents of hooting and the words “Are you fucking kidding me?”
This would all be embarrassing for Comer if he possessed even an ounce of shame, but one does not get to be a high-ranking member of the House Republican caucus with any such thing burdening one’s character.
[AP / Washington Post]
Wonkette will launder your money if you throw in a little extra for Tide Pods.
On a related topic, someone on the view called out Meghan McCain and said she was just as much an influence peddler as Hunter Biden is because of how she’s used her last name.
Meghan got angry and replied “you’ll be hearing from my lawyer!”
"Dollar Store Newt Gingrich" is the best handle I've heard for him.
[chef's kiss]