For two years, the Biden White House has operated without accountability. Now that Republicans are in control of the House of Representatives, they’re at last demanding answers.
Among those holding the administration’s feet to the fire is Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. Specifically, Comer is looking into John Kerry, Biden’s Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (SPEC), over Kerry’s secretive talks with Chinese government officials.
In a Thursday letter, Comer told Kerry that the oversight committee has launched a probe into Kerry’s work within the administration, with particular emphasis on his climate negotiations with counterparts in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Comer chastised Kerry for ignoring Republicans’ requests for information and documents.
“To date, you have failed to respond to any of our requests,” Comer wrote. “Yet, you continue to engage in activities that could undermine our economic health, skirt congressional authority, and threaten foreign policy under the guise of climate advocacy.”
The Oversight chair went on to inform Kerry that “The Committee requests documents and information to understand your role and provide necessary transparency over the SPEC and its activities. As a member of the President’s cabinet, you should be representing the United States’ interests. Your statements, however, consistently show disregard for American national security and taxpayer dollars.”
Although Kerry plays a prominent role within the administration — as part of the president’s Cabinet and the National Security Council and managing an office with a nearly $14 million budget — the particulars of his office’s inner workings have remained shrouded in mystery.
“We are left with an insufficient understanding of your office’s activities, spending, and staffing,” Comer wrote to Kerry. “To enable long overdue oversight of your office, please provide the following documents and information.”
One of the Oversight Committee’s issues is its view that Kerry and his office have taken a lax approach to China’s human rights record, which is marred by a long list of violations. Per Comer, Kerry has let these violations slide “while promoting climate negotiations that the CCP does not even appear interested in entering.”
Indeed, when asked in November of 2021 about what role slave labor plays in the manufacture of Chinese solar panels, Kerry suggested that such abuses are outside his “lane,” responding:
Well, we’re honest about the differences. We certainly know what they are, and we’ve articulated them, but that’s not my lane here…. My job is to be the climate guy and stay focused on trying to move the climate agenda forward.
He has also downplayed China’s major role in pollution and carbon emissions.
“This is not about China. This is not a counter to China,” Kerry told CNBC after a regional climate summit in April of 2021. “This is about China, the United States, India, Russia … a bunch of countries that are emitting a pretty sizable amount.”
Yet the statement ignored the fact that China is responsible for 27 percent of the world’s total emissions — triple that of the United States.
The SPEC mantle had never existed before Kerry assumed it — it was created by Biden and did not require Senate approval. The office is housed within the State Department, which Kerry used to lead as Secretary of State under Obama.
Kerry has certainly been busy in the new role. He has traveled extensively around the world, participating in summits and diplomatic meetings and pushing an agenda of replacing fossil-fuel use with “green” sources of energy. Kerry’s talks with Beijing included two meetings in 2021, both of which took place in China.
In his letter to Kerry, Comer made his demands clear:
1. All documents and communications regarding elements of the FY21, FY22, and FY23 budgets of the SPEC, including those discussed off the record;
2. A list of all individuals present at any discussions where elements of the FY21, FY22, and FY23 budgets of the SPEC were discussed, whether on or off the record;
3. A full list, including names, titles, and salaries of all individuals currently and previously employed by the office of the SPEC, as well as all ethics and financial disclosures of those individuals;
4. All documents and communications between any individual or individuals within the office of the SPEC and any third party, including but not limited to any environmental advocacy group or foreign government official; and
5. All documents and communications regarding domestic and international travel of the SPEC.
Notably, Comer is one of the Republicans being targeted by a Democrat-aligned, Soros-linked dark money group called the Congressional Integrity Project.
As The New American has reported, the Congressional Integrity Project is giving the White House and Democrats on Capitol Hill opposition research on the Republicans spearheading the investigation into the Biden family — along with polling data and ads to use against these Republicans.
Because the Congressional Integrity Project, like other dark money groups, is legally classified as a nonprofit, it is not required to reveal the names of its donors. However, a look at its tax filings reveals that the vast majority of its money comes from the Sixteen Thirty Fund, which received $24,930,000 from George Soros in 2021 alone.
Another prominent target of the Congressional Integrity Project is Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Under Jordan, the committee is currently leading probes into corruption and political bias at the FBI.
It’s important to note that Brad Woodhouse, a longtime Democratic strategist who works as a senior advisor for the Congressional Integrity Project, was present at a September meeting of Democratic operatives held at the White House — clearly demonstrating that the group’s attacks on Jordan and Comer are approved of by the Biden administration.
In short, Biden and his friends would rather go after elected representatives seeking the truth than cooperate with them.
