On Wednesday, Congressman James Comer (R-Ky.) threatened to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress if he does not hand over information relating to an alleged bribery scheme involving Joe Biden, to the tune of millions.
As reported by the New York Post, Comer claims that information he is trying to retrieve from the FBI proves that Biden is guilty of participating in a bribery scheme while he was vice president, to the tune of at least $5 million. In the letter Comer sent to Wray on Wednesday, he threatened contempt proceedings if Wray does not follow through with a subpoena request issued on May 3rd.
Comer is seeking an informant file dated June 30th, 2020 which appears to back up claims of a Biden bribery scheme that was directly tied to the family’s overseas business deals.
On June 13th, just 17 days before the FBI was tipped off by the informant, Ukrainian government officials held a press conference revealing that they had been offered $5 million in cash, as a bribe to end an investigation that was being carried out at the time against Mykola Zlochevsky, the founder of energy company Burisma Holdings. One of the board members of Burisma was Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s son. The bribery cash in question was displayed in $100 bills.
Although the Ukrainian officials at the time tried to claim that neither of the Bidens were involved, the FBI “created or modified” the informant’s filing that accused Biden himself of being involved in a bribery scheme.
Hunter’s tenure at Burisma remains one of the central focuses of ongoing investigations into the Biden family’s corruption, via overseas business deals and political influence-peddling. When Ukraine’s then-Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin announced a corruption investigation against Burisma, Biden himself threatened to withhold up to $1 billion worth of American aid to Ukraine unless Shokin was fired, which he ultimately was; Biden later boasted about this at a foreign policy panel several years later.
Despite Comer’s subpoena on May 3rd, the FBI refused to hand over the documents on May 10th, claiming that it was in the interest of protecting informant confidentiality.
“As previously stated, the whistleblower disclosures indicated that the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) are in possession of an FD-1023 form describing an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions,” Comer said in his letter to Wray.
“The FBI’s refusal to produce this single document is obstructionist,” he continued. “Nevertheless, to narrow the breadth of the subpoena, we are providing additional terms based on unclassified and legally protected whistleblower disclosures that may be referenced in the FD-1023 form: ‘June 30, 2020’ and ‘five million.’”
“Your response to the subpoena is due May 30, 2023,” Comer warned. “If the FD-1023 form is not produced by that date, the Committee will initiate contempt of Congress proceedings.”