My last piece of the year: reviewing the relentless efforts of House Republicans to gin up accusations against Biden.
A timeline of wolf-crying useful for Americans and journalists alike. Gift link:https://t.co/LTgbgpIEtl
— Philip Bump (@pbump) December 26, 2023
In the Washington Post, the dogged and fact-armored Philip Bump on “The year of Republicans throwing accusations against Biden at the wall”:
In the interregnum between Democrats losing control of the House in the 2022 midterm elections and Republicans taking control in January, senior members of the chamber’s Republican conference began discussing their wide-ranging attack on President Biden.
Speaking to The Washington Post a year ago, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), then the top Republican of House Oversight, pledged to use the power he would gain when assuming control of that committee to “determine if this president and this White House are compromised because of the millions of dollars that his family has received from our adversaries in China, Russia and Ukraine.” He would begin with “probes,” he said, and, if necessary, move on to “investigations.” The desired outcome wasn’t political, Comer suggested, but aimed at developing “a legislative fix” to address influence-peddling.
This is not how Comer’s first year running Oversight worked out. Instead of using his majority to methodically flesh out the existing allegations against the president, Comer and his allies — including Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee — found themselves offering up baseless or debunked allegations to a conservative media ravenous for them. Throughout 2023, Comer, Jordan and their allies made little progress toward Comer’s stated target — but did manage to significantly erode their credibility.
This is most easily demonstrated by considering the slew of allegations and insinuations that Comer in particular offered as 2023 unfolded…
Read — and save for future reference — the whole month-by-month timeline!
Excellent Read: <em>‘A Timeline of Wolf-Crying’</em>Post + Comments (47)