Incoming Oversight Chair Comer Marks New Majority With a Two-Word Statement to the Other Party's White House: 'Lawyer Up'

WASHINGTON — The congressman expected to chair the House Oversight Committee in January released his statement on his party's new majority Tuesday night. It was two words long. "Lawyer up," Rep. Comer wrote, in a press release that did not require a second page.

Comer has said administration officials could face subpoenas on "day one," that the panel will focus on the first family's business dealings, including its cryptocurrency ventures, and that corporate donors to the president's ballroom and companies that did deals with the president's relatives are expected to be among the first witnesses called. A source described the coming weeks as "a flurry" of letters, some addressed to private individuals and companies.

The president, whose business ventures reported more than $2 billion in revenue last year, has said there is "nothing illegal" about any of it. Comer has not said whether he agrees, only where the hearings will be held.

Colleagues were supportive. "A lot of people in this administration should not sleep well at night," one senior member said, in a sentence the party has previously described, when the other side said it, as "weaponization."

The Press's Oversight desk applies the standard test. When an incoming chairman of the other party greeted a new majority with "lawyer up," the phrase "witch hunt" appeared in a fundraising email within the hour and "abuse of power" on the morning shows. Under Comer it is "accountability." The subpoena form is identical, and so is the signature line.

At press time the statement had not been expanded, on the grounds that it did not need to be.