497
submitted 6 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/politics@lemmy.world

Rep. James Comer, a multimillionaire farmer, boasts of being one of the largest landholders near his rural Kentucky hometown, and he has meticulously documented nearly all of his landholdings on congressional financial disclosure documents – roughly 1,600 acres in all.

But there are six acres 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.

Interviews and records reviewed by The Associated Press provide new insights into the financial deal, which risks undercutting the force of some of Comer’s central arguments in his impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden. For months, the chairman of the House Oversight committee and his Republican colleagues have been pounding Biden for how his relatives traded on their famous name to secure business deals.

top 33 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] snekerpimp@lemmy.world 109 points 6 months ago

Hey, since both sides are bad, let’s criminally investigate every public office holder and throw anyone that’s done anything illegal ever into jail. Jaywalked to get to the cafe? Jail. Sped to get to the strip club and not a government activity? Jail.

Glass houses man.

[-] Kilnier@lemmy.ca 44 points 6 months ago

Mandatory minimums for those who break the public trust. Harsh ones.

[-] ApostleO@startrek.website 25 points 6 months ago

Bump all punishments up by a tier for elected officials.

Capital offense is still a capital offense.

Life in prison becomes a capital offense.

Long prison becomes life in prison.

Short prison becomes long prison.

Large fine becomes short prison.

Small fine becomes large fine.

I also think we should make a law that says any elected official making a public statement is assumed to be under oath to tell the truth, and provably false statements made by public officials in an official capacity should be punished as harshly as perjury in court.

[-] makyo@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago

And make all fines % based because as they say, flat fines are only punishments for the poor

[-] milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee 4 points 6 months ago

Ooh, I'd love that public statements count as oath one :-D

[-] Zetta@mander.xyz 13 points 6 months ago

Let's just remove everyone from office and restart with new votes

[-] Jack@lemmy.ca 11 points 6 months ago

“Everybody complains about politicians. Everybody says they suck. Well, where do people think these politicians come from? They don’t fall out of the sky. They don’t pass through a membrane from another reality. They come from American parents, and American families, American homes, American schools, American churches, American businesses, and American universities; and they are elected by American citizens. This is the best we can do folks. This is what we have to offer. It’s what our system produces: garbage in, garbage out. […] If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you’re going to get selfish, ignorant leaders. Term limits ain’t going to do any good; you’re just going to end up with a brand new bunch of selfish, ignorant Americans. So, maybe, maybe, maybe, it’s not the politicians who suck. Maybe something else sucks around here… like, the public.” - George Carlin https://piped.video/watch?v=cBrbXOmnW70

[-] CobblerScholar@lemmy.world 8 points 6 months ago

In principle sure but good God can you imagine that election cycle

[-] danc4498@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago

Spoiler: everyone gets reelected.

[-] Cosmonauticus@lemmy.world 2 points 6 months ago

My retinas are burning from just thinking about all the ads

[-] aniki@lemm.ee 0 points 6 months ago

As if it's any worse than how it is now....

[-] ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one 2 points 6 months ago

This is a great idea and nominate myself to be your new dictator. I fully promise to crush peoples' rights. Which group of people? My plan is to throw a dart at wheel to make my determination.

I fully promise to grift and bankrupt this beautiful country. When it comes to my eventual end of my term limit, I promise either to resign and enjoy my unimaginable amount of wealth or die in a bloody coup plunging this wonderful country into a decades long civil war.

Remember to vote for me in November 2024.

[-] toastus@feddit.de 6 points 6 months ago

Overcook undercook.

[-] milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee 3 points 6 months ago

If only, after shattering glass houses, we could get some politicians to build proper ones.

"I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll throw stones into your sorry glass house."

But the sixty-third little piggy actually lived a life of honesty, so the wolf had to raise a mob to burn down the good piggy's house.

Once he was back in power, the wolf quickly made laws to make it impossible to live other than in a glass house. Then he felt equal again.

...oops, that story didn't end up quite as I planned.

[-] Spacehooks@reddthat.com 3 points 6 months ago

Drain the swamp?

[-] vitamin@infosec.pub 50 points 6 months ago

The coverage angered the former girlfriend, who wrote a letter to the Louisville Courier-Journal in which she asserted that Comer had hit her and that their relationship had been “toxic.” She also told the newspaper that Comer became “enraged” in 1991 after he learned she had used his name on a form she submitted before receiving an abortion at a Louisville clinic.

Why am I not even a little surprised?

[-] ghostdoggtv@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Where's that form, let's end his ass

[-] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 35 points 6 months ago

The cons don't care about hypocrisy.

[-] Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 points 6 months ago

To them there is no hypocrisy

They're part of the in group protected by laws not bound by them, other people are part of the out group bound by laws not protected by them.

[-] SacredHeartAttack@lemmy.world 21 points 6 months ago

Oh weird, that projecting thing again.

[-] Sabata11792@kbin.social 9 points 6 months ago

They only have the creativity to accuse people of crimes they are intimately familiar with.

[-] carl_dungeon@lemmy.world 20 points 6 months ago

This is so shocking, next you’re gonna tell me he’s closet gay but voted against gay rights!

[-] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 19 points 6 months ago

have been pounding Biden for how his relatives traded on their famous name to secure business deals.

I know of someone else who does that!

[-] JunkMilesDavis@kbin.social 17 points 6 months ago

As true as it all may be, these guys seem to absolutely thrive on their own hypocrisy. I don't think they would let the fact that they stink ten times as bad stop them from going after anyone else.

[-] dhork@lemmy.world 12 points 6 months ago

Well yeah, in-groups and out-groups and all that. They relish on going after enemies for things that we all know they do themselves. They want to reinforce that the rules apply to them differently, and make sure all US common folk know our place.

The modern Republican Party wants to turn this country into an Oligarchy, just like Russia, because their leaders think they will be the Oligarchy when it happens.

[-] grte@lemmy.ca 11 points 6 months ago

Apropos of nothing but I've seen Rep. Comer in a few interviews and he has the most pig-like visage of anyone I've ever seen. Like, if a witch were to curse a pig to become a man James Comer would be the result.

[-] OldWoodFrame@lemm.ee 9 points 6 months ago

I'm not seeing anything illegal listed here? Is the lack of disclosure a legal problem or a loophole he's exploiting? Seems more like the latter.

Regardless, it does not actually change anything about Hunter. They can both break the law or not and it's not dependent on each other.

[-] voracitude@lemmy.world 24 points 6 months ago

Accurate. If Hunter Biden broke the law, he should face the consequences. If Comer broke the law, he should face the consequences. It's illegal to use political office for personal gain, so definitely not a loophole if he's treating donors differently in his political decisions.

I will note only one of them is being investigated for prosecution, though.

[-] TechyDad@lemmy.world 19 points 6 months ago

Also worth noting: only one of them holds elected office.

Did Hunter Biden break the law? If the indictments against him are true, then yes he did. But I'm not voting for Hunter Biden in 2024. He's not running.

"His son broke the law so Joe Biden must be guilty too" isn't anywhere close to enough to base an impeachment on.

[-] evatronic@lemm.ee 11 points 6 months ago

It should be obvious it's not about reality.

It's about being able to say "Biden was impeached" repeatedly in the news during an election year.

[-] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 1 points 6 months ago

Honestly I'm kind of surprised they don't just say it without bothering to actually impeach him.

[-] autotldr@lemmings.world 3 points 6 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


Interviews and records reviewed by The Associated Press provide new insights into the financial deal, which risks undercutting the force of some of Comer’s central arguments in his impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden.

In particular, Comer has attacked some Biden family members, including the president’s son Hunter, over their use of “shell companies” that appear designed to obscure millions of dollars in earnings they received from shadowy middlemen and foreign interests.

But as Comer works to “deliver the transparency and accountability that the American people demand” through the GOP’s investigation, his own finances and relationships have begun to draw notice, too, including his ties to prominent local figures who have complicated pasts not all that dissimilar to some of those caught up in his Biden probe.

“It seems pretty clear to me that he should be disclosing the individual land assets that are held by” the shell company, said Delaney Marsco, a senior attorney who specializes in congressional ethics at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center in Washington.

Comer created the company in 2017 to hold his stake in the six acres that he purchased two years earlier in a joint venture with Darren Cleary, a major campaign contributor and construction contractor from Monroe County, Kentucky, where the congressman was born and raised.

As evidence, he has pointed to a long career as a state legislator and official who sought to build bridges with Democrats and to “clean up scandal, restore confidence, and crack down on waste, fraud, and abuse.”


The original article contains 1,831 words, the summary contains 250 words. Saved 86%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[-] dugmeup@lemmynsfw.com -5 points 6 months ago

Let's see Merrick fucking I'm so neutral Garland setup an Independent enquiry panel for this.

Bullshit neutral AG. He needs to go.

this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2023
497 points (99.0% liked)

politics

18073 readers
3699 users here now

Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!

Rules:

  1. Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
  2. Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
  3. Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect!
  4. No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive.
  5. Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
  6. No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.

That's all the rules!

Civic Links

Register To Vote

Citizenship Resource Center

Congressional Awards Program

Federal Government Agencies

Library of Congress Legislative Resources

The White House

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Senate

Partnered Communities:

News

World News

Business News

Military News

Global Politics

Moderate Politics

Progressive Politics

UK Politics

Canadian Politics

Australian Politics

New Zealand Politics

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS