The Republican Chairman of the House Oversight Committee issued a contempt order against FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday over the panel’s demand for a document which allegedly described Joe Biden taking a bribe while vice president.
Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) has subpoenaed FBI for a document called FD-1023 that he, along with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), allege describes an alleged criminal conspiracy involving Vice President Biden, a foreigner and the exchange of money in return for policy decisions. Comer said that the scheme involved a 5 million dollar payment by a foreign national for a specific policy outcome.
The FBI refused to provide the document stating that it was bound by Justice Department Policy, which “strictly restricts when and how confidential information about human sources can be provided outside the FBI.”
Comer then promised to proceed in holding Wray as contempt of Congress until he handed over the document. Wray offered during a telephone call last week with Comer and Grassley to let the leaders of committee review the document in a “secure manner,” according to the FBI.
The FBI gave Comer, and the ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md. ), a briefing on Capitol Hill Monday to allow them to review the document. Last week, a senior law enforcement official said that the FBI will redact any information which could reveal the identity of the source.
Comer told reporters after the briefing on Monday that “the FBI again refused to give the unclassified records to the custody” and the committee plans to examine the contempt measure for Congress Thursday.
He said that “FBI officials have confirmed that the FBI’s unclassified record generated by them has not been disproven, and it is being used as part of an ongoing investigation.”
In a statementWednesday Comer claimed that the FBI had not complied with the subpoena. He also accused the FBI of “covering up by leaking false narratives to the media.”
He said, “The case isn’t closed, as the White House and Democrats would like the American people to believe.” The FBI created this document based on the information of a credible informant, who worked with FBI for more than a decade. He was paid six figures.
Comer said that the unnamed informant “had first-hand conversations” with the foreign national who is alleged by Biden to have bribed him, and former Attorney General Bill Barr stated that the record had been given to the U.S. Attorney in Delaware as part of that office’s investigation into the Biden family business dealings.
Comer stated that “Americans no longer trust the FBI to enforce laws impartially. They demand transparency and accountability.” The Oversight Committee is responsible for ensuring that the federal government and the American public are held accountable.
A senior official in law enforcement told NBC News that the FBI and Scott Brady (then-U.S. Attorney for Western Pennsylvania) reviewed the allegation in 2020, as well as information about Hunter Biden’s dealings with Ukraine. Officials said that the bribery allegations were not substantiated.
When asked for comment by NBC News on Wednesday, Oversight Committee Democrats pointed to Raskin’s statement after the FBI briefing last week: “Comer’s actions prove his interest in issuing a subpoena never was about seeking the truth but was always about weaponizing this Committee’s powers to hold Director Wray as contempt, as part of MAGA Republicans’ efforts to discredit, and ultimately ‘dismantle,’ the FBI.”
NBC News did not receive a response from the FBI or White House immediately.
In recent statements, the FBI said that it was cooperative with Comer and that “the escalation of a contempt voting under these circumstances is not warranted..”
The White House has criticized the investigations of the committee, saying that the investigations are political and intended to harm Biden’s chances for reelection.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told NBC News Wednesday that “the full House” would consider the contempt measure against Wray, “right after” a committee had approved the measure.
Kyle Stewart contributed.
