A new report claims Rep. James Comer (R-KY) has engaged in some of the same questionable business tactics he has accused President Joe Biden of conducting.
The Kentucky Republican who's leading the impeachment inquiry into the president co-owns six acres of land with a longtime campaign contributor. The Associated Press reported he transferred ownership of that property that he bought in 2015 to Farm Team Properties, a shell company he co-owns with his wife that has exploded in value.
"The AP found that Farm Team Properties functions in a similarly opaque way as the companies used by the Bidens, masking his stake in the land that he co-owns with the donor from being revealed on his financial disclosure forms," wrote national political reporter Bryan Slodysko.
"Those records describe Farm Team Properties as his wife’s 'land management and real estate speculation' company without providing further details."
It's not clear why the lawmaker placed those six acres in the shell company, which he created in 2017, or what other assets might be held by Farm Team Properties, whose value Comer listed as being as much as $1 million — a substantial increase over the $50,000 to $100,000 value he listed in 2016.
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Comer bought the land eight years ago with construction contractor and longtime donor Darren Cleary, who at the time was selling an acre of land to Kentucky so a highway bypass could be built near Tompkinsville. He sold the congressman a 50-percent stake for $128,000 that would end up being adjacent to the highway.
"Marketing materials described the land as 'choice' property and play up its proximity to the bypass," the AP reported. "The partnership sold off about an acre last year for $150,000, a substantial increase over its value when purchased, property records show."
Days after buying the land, Comer announced his first campaign for Congress, and Cleary's businesses have donated about $70,000 to his political campaigns over the years.
The Daily Beast first reported on the existence of Farm Team Properties last month, when its reporting revealed that Comer's brother Chad Comer bought out half of his share of an inherited Kentucky property for $100,000, and the lawmaker and his wife Tamara "TJ" Comer bought the property out in full for $218,000 with their shell company.
