CIP congress integrity pjt

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see Benghazi, generic /poster for bad faith house oversight investigations

SEE MTG 3 DOGE POL OPS

see hunter laptop

2nd on but the emails --> trump win

aha proto-fake news? also pseudo-event?

fail by issa et al, fail of press to bust them (earlier?); not so much a literal fail, tho the amb was out front, but did ask for more sec?

SITE: Congressional Integrity Project

no info? 2023?

press@congressionalintegrity.org

LI congressionalintegrity

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, January 15, 2025 PRESS CONTACT: Nicole Haley, nicole@congressionalintegrity.org* Washington, D.C

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/11/jim-jordan-investigate-special-counsel/

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an kos 11 22

It’s going exactly how Republicans promised it would if they took the House: vengeance. Nothing but vengeance. Policy agenda? As if.

The first press conference of their majority Thursday, was from the Oversight and Judiciary Committee chairs laying out the number one target for their vendetta. It was all Hunter Biden’s laptop, all the time. A thing that is entirely not real.

On the second day of their majority, Rep. Jim Jordan’s Judiciary committee sent a letter to White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain demanding the testimony of White House staff about the administration’s “misuse of federal criminal and counterterrorism resources to target concerned parents at school board meetings.” Another thing that never happened. All four of the people they are demanding testimony from are women, and some are women of color.

That was just the start. Jordan also sent letters to Justice, the FBI, Departments of Education, and Homeland Security telling them to “anticipate requiring testimony, either in hearings or transcribed interviews” from dozens more officials, many again of whom are people of color and women.

What about inflation? What about gas prices? What about fentanyl? What about violent crime? What about immigration? What about making sure everyone can afford to go to Disneyland?

As if.

They are not interested in making government work. They won’t try to make government work. Which is why it is imperative that Democrats do all the stuffwhile they have the majority. That includes figuring out how to put the debt ceiling out of their reach, just for a start. That one’s a necessity.

So is doing the least they can on protecting the next presidential election by pushing the electoral count reforms through. We have some breathing room on that with the great results in some swing state elections, but fixing this is important, particularly now that larger election reforms can’t get done.

It would also be super smart to revive the child tax credit monthly payments from the 2021 COVID-19 relief bill Democrats passed, and generally do do everything they possibly can to help regular people and to make a very big deal out of it—the Democrats’ Christmas Gift to America—to start making the case for 2024.

Which will have to happen the week after next, because they’re already gone until after Thanksgiving. Oh, well. In the meantime, enjoy the Washington Post showing us what a fool Kevin McCarthy is, and relish how his red wave became a pink dribble.

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preet bart border, ratchett up to biden;

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mma 11 22

House Republicans appear set on spending the next two years firmly ensconced within the right-wing media bubble, focusing on creating content for its Fox News stars after garnering a slim majority in the midterm elections.

On Thursday morning, just hours after news outlets had projected that Republicans would take control of the lower chamber, Reps. James Comer (R-KY) and Jim Jordan (R-OH) held a news conference detailing what will apparently be the party’s top priority. Their announcement had nothing to do with the issues voters said they cared the most about when they went to the polls, like inflation or abortion rights. Instead, the incoming chairs of the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees, with the apparent approval of likely Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), promised to be laser-focused on business deals President Joe Biden’s son Hunter was involved in years ago.

As they spoke, the caucus’ official Twitter account was tweeting catchphrases that are incomprehensible to anyone who doesn’t spend a significant amount of time in the right-wing information ecosystem[twt]

fox News hosts and their fellow travelers have been trying to use Hunter Biden’s business dealings as a cudgel against his father since before he launched his run for president. That fixation ultimately triggered Fox’s obsession and then-President Donald Trump’s first impeachment for corruptly using his power to try to force Ukraine to launch a spurious investigation into the Bidens. The story returned to the fore in the closing weeks of the 2020 presidential election as part of a last-ditch effort by Rupert Murdoch’s outlets to use revelations from the alleged “Hunter Biden laptop” to keep Trump in office. And as Election Day 2022 approached, right-wing outlets were rife with demands for Republicans to use the power they might gain to scrutinize what they term the “Biden Crime Family.”

Indeed, Thursday’s event seemed made-to-order for the right-wing press, which rewarded the House Republican leaders with fawning coverage and airtime.

Fox prime time host Sean Hannity opened his program that night by crowing that “Republicans now have control of the House and soon, for the first time in two years, this administration will finally get their feet held to the fire” before spending several segments purporting to explain how “the big guy himself, Joe Biden” had “ended up using his crack-addicted son as a bag man.” He aired clips from Comer and Jordan speaking at the news conference, then rewarded Comer with an interview, which he concluded by thanking the congressman “for your hard work and your willingness to take on a hard topic.” During the next hour, hostLaura Ingraham also touted the event and aired clips before bringing on Jordan.

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an 11 22

On Wednesday, POLITICO reported that Democratic strategists are launching a "war room" to investigate House Republicans in the event that they abuse their oversight powers in an incoming Republican majority.

"The newly relaunched Congressional Integrity Project initiative, details of which were shared first with POLITICO, will include rapid response teams, investigative researchers, pollsters and eventually a paid media campaign to put congressional Republicans 'squarely on the defense,' founder Kyle Herrig said in an interview," reported Heidi Przybyla and Jordain Carney. "It’s designed to serve as the party’s 'leading war room' to push back on House Republican investigations, Herrig said in an interview."Longtime Democratic strategist Brad Woodhouse will also be involved.

According to the report, Herrig vowed the campaign will "investigate the investigators, expose their political motivations and the monied special interests supporting their work, and hold them accountable for ignoring the urgent priorities of all Americans in order to smear Joe Biden and do the political bidding of Trump and MAGA Republicans."

This comes after top House Republicans, including Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), are vowing to launch a blizzard of investigations against both the Biden administration, including the Justice Department and FBI, as well as various figures who have become Republican scapegoats, like outgoing National Institutes of Health official Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Similar investigative blitzes occurred during the Obama administration when House Republicans held endless hearings into the issues like failures in the "Operation Fast & Furious" gun-walking operation and the since-debunked allegations that the Internal Revenue Service was targeting conservative groups. Perhaps most famously, the GOP ran a massive campaign trying to blame former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya — something that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) publicly boasted was designed to hurt her presidential campaign rather than to serve any legitimate investigative purpose.

"In addition to Herrig and Woodhouse, the project’s leadership team will include Leslie Dach, a well-known Democratic communications specialistwho has led progressive organizations for decades, served in the Obama administration and advised the Biden administration’s pandemic response," said the report. "In a sign of the important role the initiative will play over the next two years — and its proximity to the White House — other senior advisers include Jeff Peck, a former Biden aide during the president’s time in the Senate who served as treasurer and vice chair of the Biden Foundation as well as a senior adviser to the Biden-Harris transition."

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retaliate benghazi

https://www.mediamatters.org/jack-posobiec/jack-posobiec-suggests-conspiracy-theorist-darren-beattie-chief-investigator

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an 10 22

If Republicans retake the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2022 midterms, it’s a safe bet that the January 6 select committee will cease to exist — while House Republicans launch new investigations of the president’s son Hunter Biden. It won’t take a major red wave like the ones of 1994 and 2010 in order for Republicans to recapture the House; all they will need to do is flip five or more Democrat-held seats.

Journalist Eric Cortellessa examines House Republicans’ plans for Hunter Biden-related investigations in an article published by Time on October 3.

“If Republicans win control of the House,” Cortellessa explains, “they intend to ramp up efforts to paint Hunter Biden as a national security threat who has corrupted his father, using official committee investigations to present a degree of seriousness to what has often been an unserious endeavor.”

Rep. James Comer of Kentucky is likely to become chairman of the House Oversight Committee if Republicans have a majority in 2023, and Comer would probably lead Hunter Biden-related investigations. Comer is claiming that such investigations won’t be political in nature — a claim that House Democrats will find hard to believe.

Comer told Time, “We’re not investigating Hunter Biden for political reasons. We’re investigating Hunter Biden because we believe he’s a national security threat, who we fear has compromised Joe Biden…. The Hunter Biden investigation is slowly becoming the Joe Biden investigation.”

Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York, who currently chairs the Oversight Committee, believes that any Hunter Biden-related probes launched by House Republicans in 2023 will be totally partisan in nature.

Maloney told Time, “Rather than join Democrats in making progress for the American people, Republicans are promoting a so-called investigative agenda that appears to be aimed at riling up their base and rehashing tired talking points from Donald Trump’s failed 2020 campaign.”

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Congressional Integrity Project

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The Congressional Integrity Project is committed to exposing the reality behind Republicans’ politically motivated oversight and investigations.

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Congressional Integrity Project

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May 10, 2023

Wait until

@JamesComer

finds out about this!

Quote

Max Cohen

@maxpcohen

May 10, 2023

We have a flowchart x.com/maxpcohen/stat…

Congressional Integrity Project

@usintegrityorg

Dec 18, 2023

HAPPENING TODAY: Our new mobile billboard is driving the streets of Tompkinsville, Kentucky, where a bombshell investigation by the

@AP

revealed House Oversight Chairman

@RepJamesComer

owns land in Tompkinsville with a long-time donor through a shady shell company.

WATCH >>

0:01 / 1:08

Congressional Integrity Project

@usintegrityorg

Mar 15, 2023

@JamesComer

has made clear that he will stop at nothing to hurt President Biden and his family but his latest attack against Beau Biden, President Biden’s deceased veteran son, is a new low.

That's why we're launching a new billboard in Rep. Comer's district to demand that he

Congressional Integrity Project

@usintegrityorg

Aug 27, 2023

"Congress can’t use its investigative power to engage in law enforcement. Yet that's exactly what

@Jim_Jordan

is trying to do — again."

MUST READ op-ed from

@NormEisen

@StantonLaw

, and @FredWertheimer:

From msnbc.com

Congressional Integrity Project

@usintegrityorg

Mar 12, 2023

@JamesComer

’s rush to blame ESG and Democrats for Silicon Valley Bank collapse, he failed to mention his family’s history of bank mismanagement that led to the collapse of a bank in Monroe County, Kentucky.

Story below.👇

Quote

Aaron Rupar

@atrupar

Mar 12, 2023

"They were one of the most woke banks" -- James Comer on SVB Bank

Congressional Integrity Project

@usintegrityorg

Jun 5, 2023

If this document — that

@JamesComer

has admitted he has already seen — actually proves anything then Comer would be focusing on the substance rather than lies that the FBI has been obstructing him. But we all know Comer doesn’t care about the truth of his allegations.

He is just

Quote

Punchbowl News

@PunchbowlNews

Jun 5, 2023

After weeks of waiting, @RepJamesComer will finally view the FBI doc that he's been battling the bureau to see. Still, Comer pledges to mark up a resolution this week holding FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress. @maxpcohen with more: https://punchbowl.news/archive/6523-punchbowl-news-am/card/16/#group-16

Congressional Integrity Project

@usintegrityorg

Apr 4, 2023

MUST READ from

@kurtbardella

: "As long as

@RepJamesComer

is allowed to lead the Oversight Committee, every single investigative activity initiated by the Committee should be met with skepticism and suspicion... It’s time to investigate the investigator."

https://courier-journal.com/story/opinion/2023/04/04/james-comer-must-be-sidelined-pending-investigation-of-his-actions/70078203007/

Congressional Integrity Project

@usintegrityorg

Sep 28, 2023

Even for James Comer, who has failed consistently for 9 months to prove anything against Joe Biden at all, today's hearing was an absolute disaster. Members of his own party are openly trashing him, and he was made to look like a complete fool by his own witnesses.

Quote

Acyn

@Acyn

Sep 28, 2023

Cavuto: For the better part of six hours, I have been following these hearings, talk an hour off to do my fox business show earlier today. I don't know what was achieved… None or the witnesses provided any proof for impeachment

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https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/16/democratic-strategists-launch-war-room-00065498

group of top Democratic strategists are launching a multi-million-dollar hub to counter an expected investigative onslaught by the likely incoming House GOP majority — digging into President Joe Biden, his administration and his son, on top of potential Cabinet impeachments.

The newly relaunchedCongressional Integrity Project initiative, details of which were shared first with POLITICO, will include rapid response teams, investigative researchers, pollsters and eventually a paid media campaign to put congressional Republicans “squarely on the defense,” founder Kyle Herrig said in an interview.

It’s designed to serve as the party’s “leading war room” to push back on House Republican investigations, Herrig said in an interview. He added that the project would “investigate the investigators, expose their political motivations and the monied special interests supporting their work, and hold them accountable for ignoring the urgent priorities of all Americans in order to smear Joe Biden and do the political bidding of Trump and MAGA Republicans." [vid]

a team of researchers has already begun scouring public records, press clippings and other documents in a bid to immediately undercut House GOP leaders, from Minority Leader — now speakership hopeful — Kevin McCarthy to the likely committee chairs expected to manage probes of Biden and his network.

The House GOP views investigations as a key piece of its agenda for the next Congress once it takes the narrow majority that’s now expected, particularly as much of its legislative wish list is on track to stall thanks to the Senate filibuster and Democratic president. McCarthy has privately talked with committee chairs-in-waiting to coordinate plans, making the swift launch of the outside-group pushback plan a potential godsend to Democrats.

Democratic leadership on the Hill has been briefed about the project’s relaunch, according to a person familiar with its plans.

Brad Woodhouse, a longtime Democratic strategist who is part of the project’s new leadership team, called the House GOP’s looming investigations a “vendetta” after two impeachments of and investigations into former President Donald Trump while Democrats controlled Congress, including the bipartisan select committee probing the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

The project “will exploit every tactic available,” Woodhouse said, adding: “It’s not enough to wait and see what they’re going to do and how far they’re going to go.”

Republicans wouldn’t formally take the House until January, but its leaders are already vowing to cut a broad investigative swath. As McCarthy put it during his conference’s recent agenda rollout: “Every committee has responsibilities for oversight.”

“They’ve virtually outlined no substantive agenda for governing,” Herrig said of House Republicans. “This is what they’re going to do ... so you really need a concentrated effort that’s doing this every day.”

In addition to Herrig and Woodhouse, the project’s leadership team will include Leslie Dach, a well-known Democratic communications specialist who has led progressive organizations for decades, served in the Obama administration and advised the Biden administration’s pandemic response.

In a sign of the important role the initiative will play over the next two years — and its proximity to the White House — other senior advisers include Jeff Peck, a former Biden aide during the president’s time in the Senate who served as treasurer and vice chair of the Biden Foundation as well as a senior adviser to the Biden-Harris transition.

The Congressional Integrity Project leadership team will include Leslie Dach, a well-known Democratic communications specialist who has led progressive organizations for decades. | Brian Stukes/Getty Images for Protect Our Care

For the final two years of Biden’s term, Republicans will be aided in their oversight push by a coalition of outside conservative research groups that have already mapped out potential targets and started digging into issues ranging from Hunter Biden’s business dealings to immigration policy.

And GOP lawmakers have left their own investigative breadcrumbs that make it clear where they intend to go. Likely Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) will lead the Hunter Biden investigation, with Republicans already preparing to elevate the probe to Joe Biden although no evidence has publicly emerged that his decisions were affected by his son’s business dealings. Comer recently told POLITICO that he and likely Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) would provide a public update this week.

Jordan, meanwhile, is preparing to use the gavel he’s poised to take for conduct a sweeping investigation into the Justice Department and FBI, two frequent targets of Trump’s ire. That probe is likely to touch on everything from the search at Mar-a-Lago for classified documents to tracking threats against local school officials, which the GOP slams as an effort to target parents despite denials from the bureau. [vid]

other GOP areas of interest include the withdrawal from Afghanistan, Ukraine aid and a coronavirus probe that is likely to sweep up longtime public health adviser Anthony Fauci.

McCarthy and his allies are under pressure from their base and some members of their own conference to pair their investigations with impeachment articles; some in the party are clearly itching for payback after then-President Trump was impeached twice. Though impeaching Biden is likely a heavy lift — and a step that McCarthy isn’t endorsing for now — Republicans see Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as a more likely target for attempted removal from office.

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congressional Democrats and others close to the administration view Republicans’ vows to investigate Mayorkas’ department and the border as the latest sign that they aren’t serious about trying to pass immigration legislation. And they slam Republican investigative plans writ large as thinly veiled attempts to help Trump, pointing to Jordan’s public remarks earlier this year that characterized GOP probes as helping “frame up the 2024 race.”

The Congressional Integrity Project is also aiming to raise funds for a paid media campaign, including dedicated websites, digital ads, mobile billboards, newspaper ads and, occasionally, TV ad buys. Its public opinion research will be shared with like-minded organizations and congressional allies to contrast GOP investigations with issues the American public cares most about, project leaders said.

Their goal is to prevent a repeat of the 2016 presidential campaign when Republicans also controlled the House and created a select committee to investigate the 2012 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans. That GOP select panel ended up zeroing in on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as she prepared to ascend to the Democratic nomination, culminating in an 11-hour grilling of Clinton.

Republicans’ two-year Benghazi investigation spent $7 million in taxpayer money and dogged Clinton on the campaign trail before finally producing an 800-page report that didn’t focus on the former secretary of state.

Then-Majority Leader McCarthy quipped in 2015 to Fox News’ Sean Hannity that the Benghazi committee had successfully driven down Clinton’s poll numbers. “He took a lot of crap for it, but in the end, it was true” that the investigation hurt Clinton politically, recalled Woodhouse.

Rather, Democrats hope the flood of investigations will lead to a repeat of the 1998 midterm elections, held amid the GOP push to impeach then-President Bill Clinton. Voter backlash against that move helped Democrats defy historical trends in House races that favor the party that doesn’t occupy the White House gaining seats.

POLITICO

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