House Republicans escalate their standoff against the FBI over a document they have not released, which they claim ties former Vice President Joe Biden with a “bribery plan” – without providing key details on the explosive allegations behind it.
After a meeting behind closed doors with FBI officials, chair Jamescomer said that the Oversight Committee would vote on Thursday to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray for contempt of Congress because the bureau refused to provide lawmakers a copy.
Comer stated that “at the briefing the FBI refused to give the unclassified records to the House Oversight Committee.” Congress should investigate the seriousness and complexity of the allegations in this document.
A committee contempt motion would intensify the conflict between House Republicans and the FBI. The FBI has been under fire for years, ever since the GOP gained the majority. This would also signal the beginning of a new phase in Comer’s investigations into Biden’s affairs. Republicans are hoping to establish a direct link between President Biden’s decisions and payments made to his family.
The Republicans have control of the oversight committee, so they can move forward with the contempt resolution if most of their members remain united. Speaker Kevin McCarthy vowed that it would be brought to the floor. Even if Wray is found guilty of contempt by the whole House GOP, it’s unlikely that Biden will use his Justice Department’s power to file criminal charges.
Republicans are not providing any details on the allegations contained in the Biden Document, even as they move ahead with an historic contempt motion — the FBI director hasn’t faced a contempt vote in at least 40 years.
Comer stated Monday that the document has not been “disproven”, and that it is part of his larger investigation, which has focused primarily on payments Biden’s family members received from companies and foreign governments.
Comer didn’t respond to questions regarding the country involved in the charge of the document or whether it is related to Burisma – a Ukrainian Gas Company where First Son Hunter Biden was on the board. This company has been the focus of the GOP for years on the Biden family.
Comer stated that “we feel that this allegation is consistent with the pattern we see, quite frankly, in other nations.”
Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin who attended the briefing along with Comer said FBI officials informed both of them the document had been vetted during the Trump era DOJ, by then-U.S. Attorney Scott Brady. Brady was given the task of vetting Rudy Giuliani, then-attorney for Donald Trump.
Raskin stated that the Trump DOJ “determined there were no grounds for escalating from an initial assessment to a pre-investigation.”
He added: “If there’s a complaint, it should be directed at Attorney General William Barr, Trump Justice Department, and the team the Trump administration has appointed to investigate the matter.” “I am surprised that my colleagues would want to litigate in public.”
Raskin refused to comment when asked if FBI officials had confirmed to him or Comer that this document was related to Ukraine. The Democrat said that Brady was given the document because it was similar to the allegations made by Giuliani against Biden, which the U.S. Attorney was tasked to investigate and vet.
Comer’s spokespersons did not immediately respond to an inquiry about Raskin’s remarks.
Early May, Comer and Sen. Chuck Grassley(R-Iowa), stated that FBI material outlined an alleged criminal plot involving Vice President Biden at the time and a foreigner relating to money exchanged for policy decisions.
Comer simultaneously served the FBI with a subpoena to compel it to turn over all so-called FD-1023 documents — the formal name for records that describe confidential conversations with a human source — that date back to June 2020 and contain the word “Biden.”
Even if the forms are tainted, they do not constitute evidence. Comer is aware of the document in question but does not possess it.
Comer told the bureau that the search could be narrowed to June 30, 2020 and the term “five millions” added. The Republican explained that this was “a reference to the amount the foreign national paid in order to achieve the desired outcome.”
Comer and Grassley provided little information at first about the identity of a “highly credible whistleblower” who informed them of the document or how this person could have been aware of an FBI document detailing a discussion with a confidential resource.
Comer clarified a few things after the briefing on Monday, saying the FBI had called the informant who created the document as “trusted and extremely credible,” and that the person in question was paid six-figures by the Bureau. Comer stated that the document appears to be used in a “current investigation,” which he assumed to be the federal probe that has been ongoing for years involving Hunter Biden.
Republicans have stated that they would like to release the document publicly if it is given to the committee by the FBI. The FBI countered by saying that revealing unverified information could potentially have a range of negative effects, including harming ongoing investigations or informants as well as affecting court cases or prosecutions.
The FBI warned that these forms were used to “record unverified reporting from a confidential source”. Documenting information did not “validate, establish credibility or compare it with other information verified by FBI.”
