Suggestion to the Chair of the House Oversight Committee

When will James Comer do his job?

Suggestions to the Chair of the House Oversight Committee

I live in Frankfort, Kentucky, the Kentucky State Capital City. Frankfort is a charming town of 28, 285 in central Kentucky between Louisville to our west to Lexington to our east. We typically vote blue in a state that has turned from reliably blue some 30 years ago to the brightest of the red. Trump won Kentucky in 2024 with 62% of the vote vs. Biden’s 36%. One might expect that we would have a Democratic Congressman. One would be wrong. We live in a radically gerrymandered district that goes from the Mississippi River in the west through Frankfort and up north, a district from east to west of over 250 miles. Our district is represented by one James Comer, who also happens to be the Chair of the House Oversight Committee.

Comer and his committee have been quiet of late. He spent his first two years as Chair of the House Oversight Committee searching unsuccessfully for his white whale, Hunter Biden and the BIDEN CRIME FAMILY. He conducted the committee emulating the chairmanship of Jim Jordan when he was Chair of the House Select Committee on Benghazi back in 2015. Jordan almost single handedly set Hilary Clinton up for defeat by having her in the witness stand for over eleven hours back in 2015, interrupting her often, talking over her, and demagoguing and distorting her testimony. It appears that Rep. Comer decided that since Jordan enabled the defeat of Hilary Clinton in the 2016 election, he would try to do the same to Joe Biden through his chairmanship of the Oversight Committee, explicitly chasing after Hunter Biden, his laptop, and what he called the Biden Crime Family. Yet, despite his failures and wide condemnation of his conduct of the committee, if his goal was to facilitate the election of Donald Trump, he succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.

But a strange thing has happened of late to James Comer. He and his committee have been oddly quiet since the election of Donald Trump. One might think he is out of things to investigate. So if I may, I want to suggest some new lines of investigation to the Congressman.

· The $400 million plane donated by Qatar. Perhaps the largest contribution by a foreign government in history was the contribution of a luxury Boeing 747-8 airplane that Trump had been craving. Accepting the luxury plane violates the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which reads: “[N]o Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under [the United States], shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.” Thus far, Congress has not approved the acceptance of the gift. Comer twisted himself into a pretzel over a $40,000 loan repayment from Hunter Biden to his father. Professor Heather Cox Richardson stated on May 13 that this “plan — involving possibly the biggest foreign gift ever received by the U.S. government — raises substantial ethical issues. This is corruption, and not just in the sense that a government official is getting a payoff. It is corruption in the old-fashioned meaning of the term, that the body politic is being corrupted—poisoned—by a sickness that must be cured or it will be fatal. That corruption is the old-world system the framers tried to safeguard against, and it is visible anew in the relationship of the Trumps with Qatar.” So, Congressman, how about going on Fox News and announcing some hearings into this corruption revealed by Trump accepting Qatar’s gift?

· Crypto Corruption. On May 9^th, the “Washington Post” reported that the Trump family’s “net worth has already ballooned by $2.9 billion thanks to its dealings in digital tokens, and more money keeps flowing in.” Thomas Edsall of the “New York Times” reported on May 6th that Trump has between $2.9 and $6.2 billion in crypto. He and Melania released two meme coins, $Trump and $Melania and the money poured in. Edsall cited Cornell economist Eswar Prasad in saying: “Trump seems to show scarce restraint in his willingness to use the levers of power to enrich his family and close associates…[Trump takes conflicts of interest to an altogether new level…” Edsall calls Trump the “greatest grifter of all time.” Mr. Comer, shouldn’t the “greatest grifter of all time” be worth your committee’s attention?

· Trump’s Super Pac. MAGA, Inc., a Super Pac supporting Donald Trump, has over $400 million in its account. Dana Milbank reported on May 9 in the “Washington Post” that Trump spoke at a dinner for his super PAC, Inc., for which donors paid $1.5 million apiece. Milbank says: “This access-selling scheme is part of a larger crypto racket that has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars into the pockets of Trump and his family and friends, some of it from foreign businesses and governments...It appears to be corruption, plain and simple — he’s directly using the presidency to further enrich himself…” Congressman, does buying access concern you in the slightest?

· Attorney General Pam Bondi and Qatar. The Attorney General authorized the gift of the Qatari luxury plane to Trump. Not coincidentally, Bondi was the lobbyist for Qatari at a rate of $115,000 per month prior to being named Attorney General. Perhaps her role in the Qatari scandal should be investigated, Mr. Comer. On top of that, it has been reported by Glenn Thrush of the “New York Times” that Bondi sold $1 million to $5 million worth of shares in President Trump’s media company last month on the same day that he announced expansive tariffs that led to a stock market rout.” Thrush went on to note that “This is not the first time that the finances of Ms. Bondi, a former two-term Florida attorney general, have been closely intertwined with Mr. Trump. She made at least $3 million from the merger that formed Trump Media.” Truly, with Bondi as the Attorney General, we have the fox guarding the henhouse. How about investigating Ms. Bondi, Congressman?

DOGE. Trump authorized Elon Musk to assemble a group of mostly 20-ish tech bros, including Edward Coristine, also known as Big Balls, to muck around the federal government. With much fanfare, Musk predicted that DOGE would save $2 trillion in so-called waste, fraud, and abuse. The BBC recently found that only $32.5 billion in savings have been found with receipts attached. Yet, DOGE has done untold damage to the federal government, its workforce, and our reputation in the world. Congressman, why not open a big investigation into DOGE and look at the difference between what they claim, what they have delivered, and the damage they have done?

· That’s just scratching the surface. How about the brain drain of scientists across the federal government? The closing of USAID and the deaths that have resulted? The firing of inspectors general? How about the firing of prosecutors who investigated Trump? How about the pardoning of the January 6^th insurrectionist? The investigation of Trump’s political enemies? The staff reductions in weather offices during tornado season? Steve Rattner wrote in the “New York Times” on April 28 that “The corruption of Trump 2.0 has not gotten the attention it deserves…. But self-dealing is such a defining theme of this administration that it needs to be called out.”

Phillip Bump of the “Washington Post” stated of Comer on May 14: “He willingly accepted being positioned as the lead figure in the Republican effort to gin up an impeachment against Joe Biden. He can similarly accept being the lead figure in a Democratic push to hold Republicans to account for not investigating Trump at all.” How about it, Congressman?

Do I expect Comer to actually investigate the cesspool that is the current Trump administration? Don’t hold your breath. Thus far, Comer has investigated none of the above scandals. Instead, like a dog gnawing on a bone, he just can’t quit Joe Biden. Hailey Fuchs of the “Inside Congress Newsletter” reported on May 22, 2025 that he is now demanding to interview Joe Biden’s physician and former White House officials “as part of his investigation into the former president’s mental decline.” Not coincidentally, Comer is widely expected to run for Kentucky governor in the 2027 election. So he has returned to his sweet spot.

Ernie Lewis

Retired Kentucky Public Defender