Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) said Wednesday on CNN’s “The Source” that Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) have asked the F.B.I. He claimed he had been warned that he would talk to Alexander Smirnov, who was falsely indicted. That wasn’t substantiated.
A partial transcription follows:
Collins: Last September, you criticized your party’s impeachment efforts, saying, “Republicans in the House who are looking forward to impeachment are relying on an imagined history.” I did. Did you ever think this great fashion would fall apart?
Buck: Well, Caitlan, it’s more of an imaginary history now. Obviously, this witness, and we were alerted at the time we received the document outlining this witness’s testimony, was alerted that the reliability of this statement was unknown.
And yet, people, my colleagues, have gone out and said how credible this is, how egregious it is, and how it implicates President Biden (then Vice President Biden) in accepting bribes. He told the nation how he had proved it. That appears to be completely false and actually undermines the essence of the accusation. We’ve always looked for connections between what Hunter Biden received financially and Joe Biden’s activities or Joe Biden’s receipt of money. This is clearly not a trusted link at this time.
COLLINS: So James Comer and Jim Jordan knew this was not substantiated information, and yet they released it, talked about it on TV, and used it to further the investigation. Did you use it?
Buck: It seems so. Indeed, other than the statement itself, there was no evidence that it was reliable. And even though Kaitlan has been a prosecutor for 25 years, I would never go public until I could prove the reliability of my statements. Still, the only statements prosecutors make publicly are in the indictment. Before we move on, let’s take a look at what evidence there is and if there is more evidence for this impeachment.
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
