GOP Oversight chair goes on Newsmax and promises to 'investigate' DirecTV for dropping them

The newly-appointed Republican Chair of the House Oversight Committee went on Newsmax and promised to "investigate" satellite provider DirecTV's decision to stop carrying their channel, reported The Daily Beast on Friday.

"During a Newsmax appearance on Friday morning, House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-KY) pledged a commitment to the network that his committee would look into DirecTV removing the network from its service," reported Justin Baragona. "'So, DirectTV pulling Newsmax off the air Tuesday night, making Newsmax the second major cable network to be pulled from DirectTV in the last year,' Newsmax anchor Rob Finnerty said, referencing the provider dropping little-watched far-right channel One America News. 'Congress didn't hold hearings a year ago for OAN because it was OAN and not CNN, and Democrats were in charge in Congress. You're in charge now. Are you gonna hold hearings for Newsmax?'"

“Yes,” said Comer. “There's gonna be a committee that's gonna hold hearings. We're sitting, we're gonna meet later today and try to discuss which committee's gonna do what. That's certainly on the agenda. I'm very concerned by this.”

This comes after a number of other House Republicans, including frequent Newsmax guest Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX), have demanded an investigation. It also comes, according to the report, after Comer "claimed to McClatchy that he wouldn’t threaten an investigation or hearing just because conservative media figures suddenly become outraged about something."

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Despite Newsmax's chyron claiming the network is being "censored," the decision by DirecTV — which is jointly owned by AT&T and Texas Pacific Group — has nothing to do with politics, said the report: "Newsmax, which had been with DirecTV since the channel’s launch in 2014, was dropped by the pay-TV carrier this week after demanding license fees in a new deal. DirecTV balked at the request, noting that the network provided it on-air content for free on several different platforms and its own app." In fact, DirecTV signed a contract with a different right-wing cable network, The First, to replace Newsmax.

All of this comes as Newsmax faces a $1.6 billion defamation suit by Dominion Voting Systems, a manufacturer of elections equipment, over Newsmax's post-2020 promotion of conspiracy theories that they helped rig the election against former President Donald Trump.