There is no good relationship between Republican Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and his Democratic counterpart, ranking member Jamie Raskin.
The highly partisan Oversight Committee hearings have descended into chaos in this Congress as Republicans have launched an all-out war on Hunter Biden and attempted to find a connection between his shady dealings with President Biden.
After months of focusing on the Biden family and a looming threat of impeachment, Raskin and his group of pro-Biden Democrats began working to get even: They demanded that Comer hold a hearing on former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
In an interview with DailyMail.com, Comer lashed out at Raskin, saying he was “ignorant” about how the private sector works.
There is no love lost between Republican Oversight Chairman James Comer and his Democratic counterpart, Ranking Member Jamie Raskin.
“Raskin has been fed at the government teat his entire life,” the Kentucky Republican said in an interview with DailyMail.com. “His wife works for the government. He’s worked for the government forever and his father worked for the government.”
Comer continued: “He doesn’t know what the private sector is. So I guess he can play the ignorance card. But at the end of the day, the Bidens have no business. And I don’t think anyone in the United States considers selling access to our adversaries around the world a legitimate business.”
Raskin wouldn’t know a legitimate private business if it bit him on his scrawny ass.
“Raskin has been fed at the government teat his entire life,” the Kentucky Republican said in an interview with DailyMail.com. “His wife works for the government. He’s worked for the government forever and his father worked for the government.”
Raskin’s father, Marcus, served on President John F. Kennedy’s national security council. His wife, Sarah Bloom Raskin, was deputy secretary of the Treasury and served on the Federal Reserve Board under President Barack Obama.
“This shockingly immoderate and juvenile personal attack is full of lies and distortions,” Raskin told DailyMail.com of Comer’s verbal attack.
“Comer has been receiving a government salary for his own eloquent and notoriously effective public service for a longer period of time than I have,” he added in a wry comment.
Raskin first took elected office in the Maryland state Senate in 2007 and Comer served as a Kentucky state representative beginning in 2001. Comer has also been involved in farming and ranching businesses, while Raskin was a law professor before coming to Congress. He briefly served as a Massachusetts deputy attorney general.
Hunter Biden was involved in several legal and consulting firms and struck business deals with people around the world. Republicans have scrutinized how he invoked his last name in such deals.
Kushner, a real estate investor by origin, cashed in on a $2 billion deal with the Saudis shortly after Trump left office, and Trump accepted business from foreign actors who stayed in his properties.
The deals over Trump’s family businesses are expected to be the focus if Democrats take back the House in November.
Comer appears to have lost interest in an idea he had last year to have his committee take a closer look at Kushner’s business dealings as well.
“We’re going to have some questions for Trump and some of his family members, including Jared Kushner,” he told CNN previously. “We want to know exactly what the terms of that loan (2 billion Saudi dollars) to Kushner were.”
Kushner, a real estate investor by training, benefited from a $2 billion deal with the Saudis shortly after Trump left office, and Trump accepted business from foreign actors who stayed at his properties.
“We are writing to urge you to convene a hearing into Jared Kushner’s apparent influence peddling and quid pro quo arrangements involving investments in exchange for official actions and to examine the resulting threats to our national security,” Raskin and Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., wrote in a letter to Comer this spring.
In March, the New York Times reported that Kushner was closing in on lucrative real estate deals in Albania and Serbia.
The Balkan plans build on relationships Kushner built during the Trump administration: They are being worked out with Ric Grenell, who served as acting director of national intelligence under Trump and as ambassador to Germany and special envoy to the Balkans.
Kushner’s company has already received criticism from Democrats for its $2 billion funding from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. A New York Times report claimed that the Saudis on the panel had expressed concerns about Kushner’s lack of experience in private equity.
Kushner was closely involved in Trump’s Middle East policy during his presidency and leveraged relationships he developed during that time to close deals, including a close relationship with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia.
Kushner helped Saudi Arabia secure a $110 billion arms deal and was one of the Saudi royal family’s staunchest defenders within the administration amid international outrage over the murder of the US-based journalist United and MBS critic Jamal Khashoggi.
