Republican congressional investigators say FBI Director Christopher Wray has confirmed the existence of an FBI form alleging then-Vice President Joe Biden engaged in a “criminal bribery scheme” with a yet-unnamed foreign national.
Rep. James Comer (R-KY), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) spoke with Wray on Wednesday, and the FBI chief acknowledged that the FD-1023 confidential human source form in the bureau’s possession does indeed exist, but Comer said Wray still faces possible contempt of Congress for his continued refusal to comply with a congressional subpoena demanding the form be handed over to the GOP-led committee.
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“Today, FBI Director Wray confirmed the existence of the FD-1023 form alleging then-Vice President Biden engaged in a criminal bribery scheme with a foreign national. However, Director Wray did not commit to producing the documents subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee,” Comer said in a statement to the Washington Examiner on Wednesday afternoon. “While Director Wray — after a month of refusing to even acknowledge that the form existed — has offered to allow us to see the documents in person at FBI headquarters, we have been clear that anything short of producing these documents to the House Oversight Committee is not in compliance with the subpoena.”
Comer, who is conducting an investigation into Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings, added that “if the FBI fails to hand over the FD-1023 form as required by the subpoena, the House Oversight Committee will begin contempt of Congress proceedings.”
Comer had sent a letter to Wray last week threatening to initiate contempt proceedings if the FBI director did not cooperate, and Wray quickly scheduled a phone call for Wednesday in response, but Comer and Grassley still demanded that the FBI hand over the document by Tuesday or face possible contempt. The FBI director has again refused to do so.
“While the FBI has apparently leaked classified information to the news media in recent weeks, jeopardizing its own human sources, it continues to treat Congress like second-class citizens by refusing to provide a specific unclassified record," Grassley said Wednesday afternoon. "Director Wray confirmed what my whistleblowers have told me pursuant to legally protected disclosures: the FBI-generated document is real, but the bureau has yet to provide it to Congress in defiance of a legitimate congressional subpoena."
Comer and Grassley have been pushing the FBI not just on the existence of the document laying out the alleged scheme but also on what, if anything, the bureau did to investigate the claims.
The FBI released a statement Tuesday, calling Comer's escalation before the planned Wednesday phone call "unnecessary."
“The FBI remains committed to cooperating with the Committee in good faith. In a letter to Chairman Comer earlier today, the FBI committed to providing access to information responsive to the Committee’s subpoena in a format and setting that maintains confidentiality and protects important security interests and the integrity of FBI investigations," the FBI statement said.
"Last week, Director Wray scheduled a telephone call for tomorrow to provide additional details of the FBI’s extraordinary accommodation to satisfy the subpoena request," the bureau added. "Any discussion of escalation under these circumstances is unnecessary.”
The FBI did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
Wray spoke with Comer on Wednesday despite ignoring the Tuesday deadline and admitted the existence of the confidential human source form.
Comer had sent the FBI a letter in early May telling the bureau that “whistleblower disclosures” indicated that the FBI and Justice Department are “in possession” of an FD-1023 form that describes an “alleged criminal scheme” involving Joe Biden and a foreign national “relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions.”
The GOP chairman fired off a May 3 subpoena to the FBI to hand over “all FD-1023 forms, including within any open, closed, or restricted access case files, created or modified in June 2020, containing the term ‘Biden’, including all accompanying attachments and documents to those FD-1023 forms.” The FBI had until May 10 to turn the document over, but it has repeatedly refused despite Comer's staff meeting with FBI staff on May 15 and May 23.
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Comer last week narrowed the subpoena document request with two new terms: “June 30, 2020” and “five million." Those terms were a "reference to the amount of money the foreign national allegedly paid to receive the desired policy outcome," according to Comer's office.
Grassley said Wednesday that Wray has failed to comply with a legitimate congressional subpoena and warned that "this failure comes with consequences."