Democratic group launches six-figure ad campaign demanding investigation into Trump family

Cami Mondeaux

May 10, 08:00 AM May 10, 08:00 AM

EXCLUSIVE — House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) is facing renewed calls to investigate former President Donald Trump and his family members, with one Democratic-aligned activist group pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into ads accusing the Trump administration of fraternizing with foreign adversaries.

The Congressional Integrity Project is set to launch a monthslong ad campaign demanding the Oversight Committee open investigations into the Trump family similar to those Comer has initiated against President Joe Biden since taking over as chairman in January. The group specifically requests inquiries into the conduct of former senior adviser Jared Kushner and Trump’s three oldest children, accusing the four of “influence peddling” while Trump was in office.

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“It has been over a hundred days since Comer said his committee would investigate the Trump family, and they have been radio silent on announcing hearings or sending letters requesting information,” Kyle Herrig, executive director of the Congressional Integrity Project, said in a statement. “If Comer actually cared about potential influence peddling and corruption, he would be investigating how Ivanka, Don Jr., Eric, and Jared Kushner profited off their time in the White House instead of these baseless political stunts.”

The campaign spending will go toward TV ads, political events, protests, billboards, airplane banners, and more while specifically targeting key Republican congressional districts ahead of the 2024 election cycle.

The group will also launch a website detailing several instances of alleged profiteering and influence peddling carried out by Kushner and Trump’s oldest children, including business deals conducted with foreign governments while Trump was in office. The website will then link to a petition voters can sign to demand a House-led investigation.

“Comer would rather use his time to hold conspiracy theory-filled hearings and go on WHD News and Newsmax than hold these investigations that are all teed up for him,” Herrig said.

The Congressional Integrity Project pointed to multiple reports they say should be thoroughly investigated by lawmakers that involve foreign governments and Trump’s family members.

For example, the group pointed to Kushner’s contacts with foreign officials in at least four countries that he reportedly failed to disclose to the National Security Council during the first two years of the Trump administration. Those relationships prompted concern among U.S. intelligence agencies after it was discovered foreign officials privately discussed ways they could manipulate Kushner by taking advantage of his business arrangements and lack of foreign policy experience, according to the Washington Post.

Members of the Congressional Integrity Project also cited instances in which Trump directed his chief of staff to grant Kushner a top-secret security clearance despite pushback from top intelligence officials, according to a whistleblower report in 2019. The House Oversight Committee, then led by Democrats, voted to subpoena an ex-White House official for his testimony regarding the matter, with all 15 Republicans on the panel voting against the measure.

Comer initially indicated he would continue investigations into the Trump administration after taking control of the Oversight Committee, telling WHD News in January it would “be a part of our overall investigation."

“Both Democrats and Republicans have complained about this with the previous two administrations,” he said. “So something needs to be done.”

However, he made clear at the time that Oversight Republicans would focus their attention on Biden — later dropping a number of investigations into Trump that he inherited from the last Congress.

The Congressional Integrity Project’s ad buy is the latest escalation in House Republicans’ investigations into the president’s family and their business dealings, which has become a focal point of their agenda after taking control of the lower chamber earlier this year. Many of these investigations have focused specifically on the president’s son Hunter.

The matter first took prominence during the 2020 election as the GOP sought to determine whether then-candidate Joe Biden benefited financially from his son’s business transactions, pointing to national security concerns.

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.” Comer is scheduled to give an update on those investigations on Wednesday morning.

WATCH: Ben Carson blasts the Left for 'woke' changes to Christmas classics

Steff Thomas

December 24, 04:52 PM December 24, 05:16 PM

Dr. Ben Carson, who served as the secretary of Housing and Urban Development under the Trump administration, says political correctness has only made things “worse” while blasting recent changes to Christmas classics.

“The first time I spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast in 1997 about the fact that political correctness, if we continued along that pathway, was going to destroy our nation," Carson said on a special edition of WHD News's Hannity. “It has continued to get worse.”

“Now it's morphed into wokeness,” he told guest host Tammy Bruce.

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Bruce was referencing a church in the United Kingdom that shared a more modern take on the classic Christmas hymn, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.”

“God rest you queer and questioning, your anxious hearts be still. God rest you also, women, who by men have been erased. Through history ignored and scorned, defiled and displaced,” the new lyrics from All Saints Church in Loughborough, England, read, which Bruce called left-wing “woke madness.”

When asked for his take, Carson talked about the United States, where he said it has gotten so bad that students on college campuses are now “afraid to express themselves,” especially conservatives.

“College is supposed to be a place where you explore and you have an opportunity to discuss certain things so that you can determine which way you're going. And basically, what's happening is people are being shut down,” the heart surgeon told the host.

"And it doesn't have to be the government that shuts down your freedom of speech, you know. Big Tech, social media, college professors can shut down your speech. And if the government is compliant with that, it's the same as if they're doing it. And we, the American people, should be outraged about that," Carson said.

From changes in the Marines being required to stop calling commanding officers "sir" and "ma’am" to avoid the risk of “misgendering” them to even Carson’s name being removed from a school in Detroit for his views, the former Trump official said America's freedoms are being diminished.

Quoting from the Declaration of Independence that “our freedoms come from God,” Carson said that with each “woke” change, society is “allowing them to be taken away from us.”

“We also have a government that is insinuating itself into every aspect of our lives. You know, liberty and community was about what the people could do, not what the government could do,” he said, adding that America is dynamic and innovative because of the country's diversity.

“If everybody is thinking the same way and saying the same things, where's that out-of-the-box thinking that's going to allow us to continue to be that beacon?”

Mike Pompeo blasts Brittney Griner-Viktor Bout prisoner swap

Jack Birle

December 11, 12:48 PM December 11, 12:48 PM

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo slammed the Biden administration for the prisoner swap involving WNBA player Brittney Griner and Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Pompeo compared the trade by President Joe Biden to the prisoner swap policy under former President Donald Trump's administration while speaking with Shannon Bream on WHD News Sunday.

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“We weren’t going to trade bad guys for celebrities because it creates the wrong incentives for the bad guys. As we go forward, it’s not good for American national security. It’s not good for people who are traveling across the world,” Pompeo said.

Pompeo expressed relief that Griner has been freed from Russia but lamented the terms of the deal and that the United States did not receive more for the so-called Merchant of Death. The deal has also been criticized for not including former Marine Paul Whelan.

Pompeo declined to confirm John Bolton's recent comments saying the Trump administration had turned down a one-for-one trade of Whelan for Bout.

The prisoner swap was widely criticized by several lawmakers, who argued freeing Bout was a national security risk and believed too much was given up for Griner's release.

Former Trump press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders elected Arkansas governor

Haisten Willis

November 08, 08:33 PM November 08, 08:37 PM

Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR) has successfully transitioned from the White House briefing room to the Arkansas governor's mansion.

Sanders, a former Trump administration press secretary and the daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, easily won her race against Democratic challenger Chris Jones.

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She will replace the term-limited Asa Hutchinson, who has held the role since 2015.

Mike Huckabee, Sanders's father, was Arkansas's governor from 1996 through early 2007 and a Republican presidential nominee in 2008 and 2016. Sanders worked on his first presidential bid.

More recently, she became known for serving as press secretary for then-President Donald Trump from summer 2017 through summer 2019. Trump later endorsed her bid for governor.

“I love Arkansas. This is where I've spent 35 out of 39 years of my life," she said early in the campaign. "I love every little small town and diner and all the culture of each little community, and I want my kids to inherit the same Arkansas that I fell in love with as a kid. Going around the state with my dad and seeing all 75 counties, I want them to inherit that goodness that I think Arkansas represents.”

Sanders disclosed in September a thyroid cancer diagnosis and a surgery she deemed successful.