This is just getting embarrassing for House Republicans
Republicans were so desperate to find something on President Joe Biden and his son Hunter that they took the word of a liar. That liar is now going to jail, and Republicans have no more on President Biden or his son than they had before. It’s too bad they won’t do their real jobs. The funny thing is that the same special counsel who was investigating the Bidens is the one who indicted the informant. Past news stories reported that the informant, Alexander Smirnov, claimed that both President Biden and Hunter Biden received $5 million in bribes from a Ukrainian company. Republicans thought they finally had “the smoking gun.” Instead, they have eggs on their faces again.
According to the New York Times, Smirnov claimed that the Bidens demanded the so-called bribe to stop an investigation. Turns out that Smirnov didn’t want Joe Biden to win the presidency and sent his handler “a series of messages expressing bias” against President Biden. Republicans, of course, jumped on the proverbial bandwagon, threatening FBI Director Christopher Wray with contempt if he didn’t disclose some of the details. Mind you, Republicans never sought to confirm any of this information, which is typical. They heard something inflammatory about their perceived enemy and jumped in with both feet, believing they finally had the goods on President Biden. Instead, they made fools of themselves-again.
James Comer won’t even discuss the arrest, especially since prosecutors told him they didn’t believe the statements were true from the beginning. They should have listened. To hide his shame, Comer tried to blame the fiasco on the FBI because he was their informant, but NYT reported that FBI officials had asked Smirnov to provide copies of his travel receipts to these so-called meetings, and in 2020, they advised the Trump administration that Smirnov’s claims were not credible. Republicans should have been aware of that. They’re not the only ones who ran with false testimony.
MSNBC’s Chris Hayes had a field day with Fox. Hayes said: “Smirnov’s allegations that Joe and Hunter Biden received $5 million dollar bribes from a Ukrainian company has always been manifestly absurd. Yet, it was the central point of the Republican argument for President Biden’s impeachment.” He went on to say that “Republican politicians and right-wing media have been using the story to make their case over and over again.” Hayes showed clips from Fox, portraying different anchors calling Smirnov “very trusted,” “highly reliable,” a clip of James Comer saying: “We have determined that the whistleblower is extremely credible,” and Ted Cruz calling Smirnov “a highly reliable source to the FBI.” They also included clips from Sean Hannity and Lindsey Graham, basically saying the same thing. As Chris Hayes said: “Fox News is not a journalistic organization. Their purpose is to create an alternate reality for their viewers.” No wonder they had to pay out over $700 million to Dominion for defamation. How embarrassing; however, Republicans and their right-wing enablers have no shame. They will simply find something else to embarrass themselves with, which is a reliable pattern with Republicans.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years