House Oversight Chair Links Biden Investigation to Trump Polling, Drawing Outrage From Top Democrat

Five months after House Republicans launched an investigation into President Biden’s son Hunter and other members of his family, they have so far failed to identify any business dealings that may have influenced his decisions as Vice President or President.

But Rep. James Comer, the Kentucky Republican who chairs the House Oversight Committee, said on Monday that his committee’s public airing of overseas business transactions by Hunter Biden and other Biden relatives was helping Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. During an interview on Fox News, Comer linked the Republicans’ investigation into Joe Biden’s relatives to Donald Trump’s poll numbers.

A Fox News anchor asked Comer, “do you think that because of your investigation, that is what’s moved this needle with the media?”

“Absolutely. Absolutely, there’s no question. You look at the polling, and right now Donald Trump is seven points ahead of Joe Biden and trending upward, Joe Biden’s trending downward,” Comer said. “And I believe that the media is looking around, scratching their head, and they’re realizing the American people are keeping up with our investigation. And they realize there’s something wrong here. It’s not normal for the President of the United States’ children and grandchildren and in-laws and nieces and nephews to receive wires from foreign nationals. That’s what we’ve proven.”

Comer appeared to be referring to a recent ABC-Washington Post poll from early May that showed Trump beating Biden in a head-to-head matchup. Some polling experts have criticized the survey, saying the sample size was too small and the methods imperfect. Most polls show a potential race between Trump and Biden in 2024 being too close to call.

“It’s amazing to me that the Chairman of the Oversight Committee openly measures the progress of his work by Donald Trump’s poll numbers,” said the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who added that Comer’s “comment tells the world that these wild-goose-chase probes are all about one thing: helping Donald Trump claw his way back into the White House.”

Read more: How Hunter Biden’s Scandals Compare to Those of Trump’s Family Members

Raskin accused Comer of using the Biden investigation for political gain while failing to “honor his public commitment to investigate former President Trump for his blatant profit-taking and conflicts of interest during his time in office and Jared Kushner for profiting off his former position as a senior White House advisor to the tune of billions of dollars pocketed from the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and other foreign autocrats.”

Last year, as Comer was preparing to take the gavel of the House Oversight Committee, he told TIME that Republicans were “not investigating Hunter Biden for political reasons,” and were preparing to examine his business dealings specifically to see if he posed a national security threat or compromised his father.