--- title: Comer Clarifies Claim Over Lost Biden Informant description: After saying on Fox News he couldn’t ‘track down’ an informant in House Republicans’ Biden investigation, Rep. Comer provided more details about the informant canonical: https://time.com/6279945/comer-biden-lost-informant/ author: Brian Bennett article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-05-15T20:05:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:52.208Z article:section: Politics og:title: Comer Clarifies Claim Over Lost Biden Informant og:description: A day after saying on Fox News that he couldn’t ‘track down’ an informant in House Republicans’ Biden investigation, Rep. James Comer clarified his comment. og:url: https://time.com/6279945/comer-biden-lost-informant/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2ac3ee4531380e9a/698a3ce416d884b584c3bd8b/GettyImages-1488868403.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: House Oversight Chair Comer Speaks To The Media On Investigation Into The Biden Family og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Comer Clarifies Claim Over Lost Biden Informant twitter:description: A day after saying on Fox News that he couldn’t ‘track down’ an informant in House Republicans’ Biden investigation, Rep. James Comer clarified his comment. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2ac3ee4531380e9a/698a3ce416d884b584c3bd8b/GettyImages-1488868403.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 00:55 video:published: 2023-05-15 section: politics topics: debt limit, budget negotiations, congressional leadership, Medicaid, rate programs, negotiation strategy, optimism about agreement genre: news clip, press gaggle tones: guarded, hopeful, terse, evasive emotions: optimism (medium), frustration (low), caution (medium) sentiment: neutral audience: policy followers, political news readers, voters following the debt limit standoff, government observers people: Joe Biden organizations: Congress content_suitability: politics [00:00-00:55]; financial distress [00:00-00:55] transcript_source: automatic transcription transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Comer Clarifies Claim That House Republicans Lost Track of Biden Informant > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=bb4e0f4b-5abf-42e4-8fac-e3bfb5192a08&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Joe Biden and Kevin McCarthy Expected to Resume Debt Limit Talks on Tuesday [Watch (HLS stream): Joe Biden and Kevin McCarthy Expected to Resume Debt Limit Talks on Tuesday](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/oiXQ75tY.m3u8) (0:55)  _Published 2023-05-15. Facing pressure to resolve the ongoing U.S. debt limit standoff, President Joe Biden said he expects to resume budget negotiations with congressional leadership on Tuesday, just one day before he leaves for the G7 summit in Japan._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary A brief clip of reporters pressing an official about the timing and progress of debt limit negotiations with congressional leaders. The official declines to share details of weekend talks, says he is waiting on the other side's exact Medicaid proposal, and expresses optimism that both sides want an agreement. ## Key points - The debt meeting with leaders is about 10 minutes away, and reporters say it has been reported to take place on Tuesday. (00:00) - The speaker declines to share an update on how talks went over the weekend, saying he will not characterize a negotiation mid-stream. (00:00) - The speaker says he voted for tough rate programs and that they are now in the law. (00:00) - On Medicaid, the speaker says the situation is different and he is waiting to hear the other side's exact proposal. (00:30) - The speaker says he has learned not to characterize a negotiation in the middle of it. (00:36) - The speaker describes himself as a congenital optimist and believes both sides desire to reach an agreement. (00:48) - The speaker expresses confidence that an agreement will be reached. (00:52) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:30] Questions on debt meeting timing and talks. Reporters ask when the leaders' debt meeting will happen and for an update on weekend negotiations, which the speaker declines to share. - [00:30 to 00:55] Medicaid proposal and optimism about a deal. The speaker notes the Medicaid issue differs, awaits the other side's proposal, and expresses optimism that an agreement is achievable. ## Key quotes - [00:36] President: "What I've learned a long time ago, and you know as well as I do, is never as good to characterize a" - [00:48] President: "I remain optimistic because I'm a congenital optimist" - [00:48] President: "I really think there's a desire on their part as well as ours to reach agreement." - [00:52] President: "And I think we'll be able to do it." ## Questions this video answers - When is the debt meeting with the leaders taking place? [00:00] - Will the debt talks happen on Tuesday? [00:00] - What is the speaker's level of optimism about reaching a debt deal? [00:00] - What is the status of the Medicaid issue in the negotiations? [00:30] ## Content suitability - politics [00:00-00:55]: Entire clip concerns a national political standoff over the debt limit and budget negotiations. - financial distress [00:00-00:55]: Discussion centers on a debt limit standoff, a government financial-stability issue.  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME. May 15, 2023 8:05 PM UTC  Rep. James Comer, the chari of the House oversight committee, speaks at a a news conference on an investigation into President Biden's family on May 10, 2023 in Washington, DC Rep. James Comer, the chari of the House oversight committee, speaks at a a news conference on an investigation into President Biden's family on May 10, 2023 in Washington, DC Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME. May 15, 2023 8:05 PM UTC The top Republican on the House Oversight Committee clarified on Monday that an informant the committee had lost touch with isn’t related to the committee’s demand that the FBI hand over internal investigative notes about President Joe Biden. House Oversight Chair James Comer is leading an investigation of overseas business transactions by companies he alleges benefited Biden’s relatives during and shortly after the years that Biden was Vice President. Comer has so far [failed ](https://time.com/6278705/james-comer-hunter-biden-investigation/)to show how Biden may have benefited from the payments or how any alleged business dealings by relatives may have impacted Biden’s policy decisions. He has repeatedly blamed stonewalling by the Biden Administration for why his investigation hasn’t gotten more traction. Then, on Sunday, Comer made the unusual disclosure to Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo that his office has lost touch with an informant in the investigation. --- ### More from TIME --- “Well, unfortunately we can’t track down the informant. We are hopeful the informant is still there,” Comer said, as he described his committee’s demand that the FBI give the committee an internal investigation note, known as an FD-1023, that Comer says contains an allegation of wrongdoing by Joe Biden when he was Vice President. The remark led to widespread speculation that the missing informant was related to the Oversight committee’s fight with the FBI over handing over internal investigation notes and demands to know what actions, if any, the bureau took to investigate Biden. It also sparked unfounded conspiracy theories online that Biden’s allies had intervened to silence the informant. Comer’s office clarified on Monday that the informant he lost touch with is unrelated to the FBI records the committee is requesting. Jessica B. Collins, communications director for the House Oversight Committee, told TIME in an email that “the whistleblower who has come forward about the FBI record alleging that then-Vice President Joe Biden engaged in a bribery scheme with a foreign national isn’t missing.” Comer “was referring to another whistleblower regarding the Biden family’s influence peddling schemes,” Collins wrote. Comer told Bartiromo on Sunday that his committee staff is optimistic that they can reconnect with the informant. “We are hopeful that we can find the informant. Now remember, these informants are kind of in the spy business, so they don’t make a habit of being seen a lot or being high profile or anything like that. We have basic information with respect to what the informant has alleged and it is very serious. It all alleges that Joe Biden when he was Vice President was involved in a quid pro quo with a foreign country in exchange for foreign aid.” House Republicans have spent months looking into business transactions by [Hunter Biden](https://time.com/6254861/hunter-biden-laptop-investigations-charges/) and other relatives of President Joe Biden, but have been unable to show that dealings by Biden relatives with foreign nationals impacted decisions Joe Biden made as Vice President or as President. In a 36-page report released May 10 that cites bank records and financial transactions by Biden relatives, Comer and his GOP colleagues alleged a “pattern of influence peddling.” Comer and his fellow Republicans said they will continue to investigate. House Democrats on the committee pushed back on the report. Without evidence of Joe Biden’s involvement, “Chairman Comer has resorted to crude guilt-by-association and innuendo smear tactics,” read a memo from Democratic staff on the committee. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6279945/comer-biden-lost-informant/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6279945/comer-biden-lost-informant/"},"headline":"Comer Clarifies Claim That House Republicans Lost Track of Biden Informant","datePublished":"2023-05-15T20:05:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:48:52.208Z","description":"A day after saying on Fox News that he could no longer ‘track down’ an informant in House Republicans’ Biden investigation, Rep. 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