Jamie Raskin is a fighter. You love to see it.
Punchbowl reports:
A messy confrontation between House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the ranking member, over panel rules dominated coverage last week. But the spat can’t change an uncomfortable reality for Democrats — when it comes to GOP investigations, there’s not much they can do in the minority.
So as Comer plugs away at his controversial, high-profile investigation of President Joe Biden’s family members and their business dealings, Raskin is doing his best to try to reorient the narrative. The progressive firebrand is crying foul at Comer’s methods while making sure the biggest committee news comes from the Democratic side, not from the Kentucky Republican.
The fight spilled into the open last week, incensing Oversight Republicans who argue Raskin is trying to distract from GOP breakthroughs in reviewing bank records tied to questionable Biden family deals.
In recent memos and letters sent both to Comer and Oversight Democrats, Raskin repeatedly complained that Comer isn’t playing by the rules. Raskin accused Comer of issuing “secret subpoenas” and failing to give Democrats “equal access” to information. Republicans, furious at Raskin’s claims, argued Raskin was spreading disinformation.
Along with Raskin’s procedural arguments, the Democrat has divulged major Oversight news within his missives. In a March letter upbraiding Comer for his treatment of the Mazars case dealing with Trump’s tax returns, Raskin announced Comer had subpoenaed a business associate of Hunter and James Biden. Raskin was at it again last week, writing that Comer had quietly subpoenaed four financial institutions and another Biden family associate.
Accompanying the subpoena news was an inside baseball dispute over whether Republicans were giving Democrats enough heads-up and access to information.
The issue is extremely niche and the arguments likely don’t make much difference to the American public. But the flashpoint still matters inside the committee and it’s sparked major conflicts.
To recap briefly: Raskin’s initial April 6 letter accused Comer of “efforts to shield information.” Comer responded by calling Raskin “untrustworthy.” A subsequent April 6 Raskin memo claimed Comer issued “secret subpoenas.” The House Oversight GOP Twitter account released an April 7 thread labeling Raskin’s claim “DEM DISINFO.”
Democratic aides rebutted the Twitter thread to us, arguing there was a difference between formal committee rules and a bipartisan agreement between the chair and ranking member. Here’s a statement from a Democratic Oversight Committee spokesperson slamming Comer for acting in bad faith. So that’s how strongly the two sides feel here.
Although this particular war of words is new for this Congress, the Comer-Raskin back-and-forth reveals a typical strategic dilemma. Minority parties in the House are powerless to issue subpoenas of their own — or block the majority’s subpoenas — and can do very little to obstruct investigations.
So the more the two sides bicker about procedure, the less attention is on the substance of Comer’s claims, Republicans argue.
“Democrats’ latest tactics are just more attempts to distract from the Oversight Committee’s efforts to hold President Biden and his administration accountable,” Comer said to us.
Raskin’s team insists these are serious concerns that deserve to be addressed.
In the meantime, Comer promised on Fox News this week that he’d hold a news conference in two weeks time with updates on his Biden family investigation. Until then, the partisan fights will rage on.
Raskin’s approach mirrors that of other House Democrats in similar positions. Weaponization of the Federal Government Subcommittee Ranking Member Stacey Plaskett (D-V.I.) wrote to Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) in March accusing him of keeping her out of the loop on committee business.
“I must assume from these actions that you are not a professional, nor are you an honest broker,” Plaskett said to the Ohio Republican.
And House Judiciary Democrats also tried to preempt GOP investigations last month by releasing a sprawling staff report seeking to pre-but whistleblower testimony that Jordan conducted.