Comer shrugs off attack by Democratic-aligned group flying banner over Kentucky Derby

Cami Mondeaux

May 06, 04:13 PM May 06, 04:13 PM

Rep. James Comer (R-KY) shrugged off attacks by the Democratic-aligned activist group Congressional Integrity Project flying a helicopter over the Kentucky Derby with a banner calling for an investigation into the influential House Republican.

The banner, which flew over Churchill Downs as thousands of people gathered to watch the annual horse race, simply displayed a website URL: investigatecomer.com. The website directs users to an article in the Louisville Courier-Journal reporting on a letter requesting an investigation into the Republican leader for his actions while running for governor in 2015.

COMER SAYS HE KNOWS WHAT COUNTRY IS AT THE CENTER OF BIDEN’S ALLEGED ‘CRIMINAL SCHEME’

During that campaign, Comer allegedly obtained and distributed leaked emails to intimidate a former girlfriend as well as his political opponent, prompting an outcry from critics who say he must be investigated for his possible involvement. The allegations stem from a profile piece on the congressman in the New York Times in March that detailed the scheme.

“Comer all but admitted to the New York Times that his gubernatorial campaign had a hand in stealing a server, hacking emails, and leaking them,” the group wrote in a statement. “His constituents deserve to know who their Representative really is. Comer has proven himself to be vindictive and driven by revenge, even in his role as chair of the House Oversight Committee, launching baseless investigations designed to hurt President Biden, and his family, while ignoring the issues families care about.”

Comer responded to the helicopter banner on Saturday afternoon, claiming the stunt would actually do more to help his reputation rather than harm it.

“This desperate political stunt by the Bidens is helping me so much politically in Kentucky today, I wonder if I will be required to list it as an in-kind donation from China on my next campaign finance report?” he said in a tweet. “We on [the Oversight Committee] will hold any politician, any government official, any corrupt attorney, or any Biden accountable for both public corruption and intimidating whistleblowers.”

The tweet referenced Comer’s latest investigation regarding unclassified records detailing an alleged “criminal scheme” between then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national during the Obama administration.

Comer issued the subpoena in conjunction with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) on Wednesday, demanding access to an FBI-generated FD-1023 form they say details an exchange of money between Biden and a foreign national that may have influenced U.S. policy decisions. The two Republicans were tipped off about the document’s existence by a whistleblower, although it remains unclear what wrongdoing Biden is being accused of conducting.

The subpoena is the latest development in House Republicans’ investigations into the president’s family and their business dealings, which became a focal point of their agenda after taking control of the lower chamber earlier this year.

The Oversight Committee has made that a high priority in recent months, with Comer leading investigations into the Bidens’ business dealings “to determine if the Biden family has been targeted by foreign actors, if President Biden is compromised, and if there is a national security threat,” he wrote.

Biden-allied group vowing to investigate GOP pocketed $1.5M from left-wing dark money giant

Gabe Kaminsky

November 21, 06:00 AM November 21, 06:00 AM

A left-wing nonprofit group allied with President Joe Biden and planning to investigate the House GOP while in the majority has taken large sums from an influential liberal dark money group, records show.

The Congressional Integrity Project, which is led by Democratic strategists, has been relaunched after going silent during Biden's presidency and operating minimally in 2020. The project has raked in $1.5 million combined from Sixteen Thirty Fund, a group under the helm of Arabella Advisors, the largest liberal dark money network in the United States, according to tax forms reviewed by the Washington Examiner.

The group is a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm. It has been dubbed a "dark money" network because it manages five nonprofit groups, including the 501(c)(4) Sixteen Thirty Fund, that do not disclose their donors. All five groups sponsor a variety of pop-up left-wing organizations, which are not required to file tax documents with the IRS.

In 2021, Sixteen Thirty Fund granted $1 million to Congressional Integrity Project, which is also a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, according to Sixteen Thirty Fund's newly filed tax forms. The fund gave $500,000 to Congressional Integrity Project in 2020, according to Sixteen Thirty Fund's tax forms that year.

Both grants were given for the purpose of "civil rights, social action, [and] advocacy," according to tax forms. It is unclear what other organizations have poured money into Congressional Integrity Project, and an internet search of its employer identification number does not display other grants.

Sixteen Thirty Fund, which hauled in $190 million in 2021, is run by Amy Kurtz, who has worked in the liberal nonprofit sphere since 2001. The fund steered $6.2 million to liberal political action committees between January and September, according to campaign finance filings. In 2021, the fund granted over $18.9 million to the League of Conservation Voters, an environmental group, to "fund the development of several climate provisions" in Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, a $740 billion energy and climate spending bill.

"Every time you pull back the curtain, you’re going to find that the Arabella Advisors network is bankrolling the Left’s newest project," Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of Americans for Public Trust, a conservative ethics watchdog, told the Washington Examiner. "This time, it’s Sixteen Thirty Fund providing millions in seed money to the Congressional Integrity Project."

On Friday, the Washington Examiner went to the Washington, D.C., address listed in public records as belonging to Congressional Integrity Project. However, it was unclear if any employees were on site, and nobody opened the door after roughly 45 minutes.

An unnamed spokesperson for the Sixteen Thirty Fund told the Washington Examiner: "Sixteen Thirty Fund is proud to support efforts to strengthen integrity and transparency in government. Our grants to Congressional Integrity Project funded important research to ensure effective, ethical leadership in Washington."

BIDEN-ALLIED GROUP VOWS TO PUSH BACK ON HOUSE GOP OVERSIGHT

The relaunch of the Congressional Integrity Project comes as House Republicans, who will have a majority come January, plan a variety of investigations. This includes oversight into the COVID-19 origins, the alleged politicization of the Justice Department and FBI, the influx of immigrants at the border, the business dealings of the president's son, Hunter Biden, and the Biden administration's withdrawal from Afghanistan.

"After four years of covering up for Trump, MAGA Republicans in Congress have already made their priorities clear — relentlessly investigating Joe Biden, historic impeachments of Cabinet Secretaries, and likely efforts to impeach Biden himself," says Congressional Integrity Project on its website. "These investigations are revenge for the past two years of Biden working every day for all Americans, not the special interests."

Congressional Integrity Project's leadership includes experienced Democratic operatives who have worked on campaigns for former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Kyle Herrig, the group's executive director, runs a left-wing advocacy group called Accountable US, which has taken almost $9 million between 2019 and 2021 from the New Venture Fund, another group in Arabella's dark money network, tax records show.

Leslie Dach, a senior adviser to Congressional Integrity Project, helped implement Obama's Affordable Care Act while working as senior counselor between 2014 and 2016 in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Another senior adviser to Congressional Integrity Project is Jeff Peck, who was an aide to Biden while he was a senator, the treasurer and vice chairman of the Biden Foundation, and a senior adviser to the Biden-Harris transition team.

Brad Woodhouse, a Congressional Integrity Project board member, was previously a senior adviser for the Democratic National Committee and president of American Bridge, a liberal opposition research PAC.

Congressional Integrity Project's researchers have begun the process of combing through public records to locate material that could undercut the expected agenda of congressional Republicans, according to Politico. Democratic leaders in Congress have already been briefed on Congressional Integrity Project's relaunch, a source familiar with the situation told the outlet.

"With White House insiders at the helm, and dark money in their coffers, Arabella has cemented how central they are to the liberal and left-wing movement," added Sutherland.