House Republicans are threatening to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress if he continues to defy their lawful request for documents.
House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) issued a Congressional subpoena on May 3 demanding that the FBI produce “very serious and detailed allegations” made in an internal document describing a criminal bribery scheme involving the then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national.
Comer issued the subpoena after a whistleblower made legally protected disclosures to Senator Chuck Grassley’s (R-Iowa) office. According to the whistleblower, the document is an FBI-generated FD-1023 form and it details an arrangement involving an exchange of money for policy decisions.
Earlier this month, Grassley, a long-time whistleblower advocate said: “We believe the FBI possesses an unclassified internal document that includes very serious and detailed allegations implicating the current President of the United States.”
“What we don’t know is what, if anything, the FBI has done to verify these claims or investigate further,” the senator added. “The FBI’s recent history of botching politically charged investigations demands close congressional oversight.”
Comer’s request for a response by May 10 was ignored by the FBI and now the unclassified record is two weeks past due.
According to Oversight Committee Republicans, FBI staff complained that the search terms in the subpoena were too broad “because there were many responsive documents containing the term ‘Biden’ in its confidential human source database for June 2020.”
In response, Chairman Comer narrowed the breadth of the subpoena by providing two additional terms that may be referenced in the record: “June 30, 2020” and “five million.”
“If Director Wray fails to produce the record by May 30, 2023, the Oversight Committee will initiate contempt of Congress proceedings,” Comer announced on Twitter Wednesday afternoon.
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FBI Director Wray is defying a congressional subpoena for an unclassified record alleging a criminal scheme involving then-VP Joe Biden and a foreign national.
If Director Wray refuses to hand over this record, @GOPoversight will begin contempt of Congress proceedings. pic.twitter.com/mVttLatbJ5
— Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) May 24, 2023