House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) announced on Monday that he would initiate Contempt of Congress hearings for FBI Director Christopher Wray after the FBI again refused to hand over an unclassified record alleging a $5 million bribery scheme between Joe Biden and a foreign national to the custody of the House Oversight Committee.
Comer and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) were allowed to view the FBI-generated file Monday morning in a SCIF on Capitol Hill, but the chairman said that wasn’t good enough. In brief remarks after viewing the document, Comer told reporters that it was essential for the committee to investigate the matter further because “Americans have lost trust in the FBI’s ability to enforce the law impartially.”
Comer issued a subpoena for the now infamous FD-1023 form on May 3, after a whistleblower made legally protected disclosures to Senator Chuck Grassley’s (R-Iowa) office. According to the whistleblower, the FBI form detailed a criminal scheme between then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national involving an exchange of money for policy decisions.
After weeks of resistance, the FBI on Monday finally delivered the document to the House Oversight Committee, allowing Comer and Raskin to review the document alleging that Joe Biden accepted a bribe while he was the vice president.
FBI Director Christopher Wray initially balked at sharing the the form, but late last week, after being threatened with a “Contempt of Congress” vote, he relented. Comer and Raskin reviewed the FD-1023 form in a SCIF on Capitol Hill Monday morning, and also received an FBI briefing.
Afterward, the chairman told reporters that the the whistleblower’s allegations have not been disproven and the form is currently being used in an ongoing investigation. Comer said he was allowed to take notes on the unclassified portion of the document, but not on the classified part.
Comer also noted the confidential human source who provided the information about the criminal bribery scheme “is a trusted highly credible informant who has been used by the FBI for over ten years and has been paid over six figures.”
He added that because the FBI again refused to handover the unclassified record to the custody of the House Oversight Committee, he will now initiate Contempt of Congress hearings starting this Thursday.
“Given the severity and complexity of the allegations contained within this record, Congress must investigate further,” Comer declared.
🚨🚨🚨
The FBI confirmed the unclassified record alleging then-VP Biden engaged in a $5 million bribery scheme is from a highly credible informant & being used in an ongoing investigation.
The FBI refused to hand over the doc.
I will hold Director Wray in contempt of Congress pic.twitter.com/2p1fNdmBJ1
— Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) June 5, 2023
In remarks following the briefing, Rep. Raskin praised Wray for his cooperation and accused the chairman of conducting a fishing expedition to help former President Donald Trump.
“The FBI has made extraordinary accommodations to cooperate with Chmn. Comer’s aimless fishing expedition into the Biden administration, so why is Comer trying to hold the FBI director in contempt of Congress?” Raskin said. “He’s already given up the game: to boost Trump’s poll numbers.”
The FBI has made extraordinary accommodations to cooperate with Chmn. Comer’s aimless fishing expedition into the Biden administration, so why is Comer trying to hold the FBI director in contempt of Congress?
He’s already given up the game: to boost Trump’s poll numbers. pic.twitter.com/lcerF1LKMU
— Rep. Jamie Raskin (@RepRaskin) June 5, 2023
“Americans have lost trust in the FBI’s ability to enforce the law impartially, and demand answers, transparency and accountability,” he added. “It appears that this [FBI] investigation was part of an ongoing investigation which I assume is in Delaware.”
U.S. attorney in Delaware, David C. Weiss, is currently wrapping up his investigation into Hunter Biden.
According to reports, federal prosecutors are considering only four charges against Biden amid the hundreds of crimes and conflicts of interest identified on his “laptop from Hell”: “two misdemeanor counts for failure to file taxes, a single felony count of tax evasion related to a business expense for one year of taxes and a potential felony count on falsifying a form linked to a gun permit.”
Last month, Comer released a report on the committee’s findings thus far in their ongoing investigation into the Biden family’s influence-peddling operation, including transfers of millions of dollars from foreign entities to the Biden family. The report noted that many of these wire transfers occurred while Biden was Vice President “leading the United States’ efforts in those countries.”
Comer said in his brief remarks Monday that “the Oversight Committee will follow the facts and be transparent to the American people.”
Update:
After attending a committee meeting Monday afternoon, House Oversight member Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) tweeted that the FBI claimed [as a justification for their lack of transparency] to be afraid their informant could get killed if their identity is revealed.
“Just left meeting for House Oversight. The FBI is afraid their informant will be killed if unmasked, based on the info he has brought forward about the Biden family,” Luna wrote.
Just left meeting for House Oversight. The @FBI is afraid their informant will be killed if unmasked, based on the info he has brought forward about the Biden family.
— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) June 5, 2023