(CNSNews.com) - "What I'm about to tell you sounds like it is out of some fiction spy thriller," Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told the newly formed House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government on Thursday. But, he added, "it actually happened."
Grassley, along with Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), has been investigating alleged Biden family influence-peddling since August 14, 2019, when -- as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee -- Grassley wrote a letter to the Treasury Department about "a questionable financial transaction" involving the Biden family.
Grassley said the legitimate oversight performed by him and Sen. Johnson was undermined by "the FBI, the partisan media," and Democrats, at various times and in various ways, which he described in detail in his lengthy opening statement to the committee.
"The partisan media and Democratic leadership ought to be ashamed of themselves for fake information that they spread about our investigation," Grassley said, noting that "in the end, they all failed to stop Senator Johnson and me."
Grassley and Johnson have released two reports (see below), along with Treasury and banks records, that establish "financial relationships between Hunter and James Biden and Chinese nationals connected to the communist regime," including the Chinese government, military, and intelligence services, Grassley noted.
"We also acquired business records with Hunter and James Bidens' signatures alongside those same Chinese nationals. How were they supposed to be paid? According to bank records, there were wires from companies linked to the Communist regime," Grassley said.
"In three floor speeches, we made those bank records public and asked this question to our partisan detractors...are these official bank records Russian disinformation? We also shared hundreds of pages of bank records with U.S. Attorney (in Delaware, David) Weiss. He failed to respond.”
‘Political infection’
Grassley said he and Johnson have heard from a number of whistleblowers about FBI efforts to "improperly discredit negative Hunter Biden information as...disinformation.”
"Other whistleblower disclosures to my office made clear that the FBI has within its possession very significant, impactful and voluminous evidence with respect to potential criminal conduct by Hunter and James Biden.
“These disclosures also allege that Joe Biden was aware of Hunter Biden’s business arrangement and may have been involved in some of them. We still aren't sure what's been done with this information.
“The FBI's track record doesn't create much faith that the information is going to be followed up on.”
In fact, Grassley said it appears that FBI "investigative activity" has ceased.
“It's clear to me that the justice Department and the FBI are suffering from a political infection, that if it's not defeated, will cause the American people no longer to trust these storied institutions. It will also threaten the American way of life.
"Unfortunately, what you've heard from me, this story of government abuse and political treachery, is scarier than fiction. It really happened.
“But Mr. Chairman, your committee here, so assembled, has an opportunity to help us write the last chapter in this real-life drama. You must relentlessly pursue the facts and the evidence. Senator Johnson and I will do the same, and are willing to work with you."