(Washington Examiner) Rep. James Comer (R-KY) issued a subpoena to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday ordering him to hand over a bureau form that allegedly describes a “criminal scheme” involving then-Vice President Joe Biden and an unnamed “foreign national.”
Comer, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, described the reasoning behind the subpoena in a letter sent to Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland. The letter was authored jointly with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Comer and Grassley, who are both leading investigations into Hunter Biden and the Biden family generally, did not provide many specifics on the wrongdoing being alleged.
“We have received legally protected and highly credible unclassified whistleblower disclosures,” the congressman and senator told Wray and Garland. “Based on those disclosures, it has come to our attention that the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation possess an unclassified FD-1023 form that describes an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions. It has been alleged that the document includes a precise description of how the alleged criminal scheme was employed as well as its purpose.”
An FD-1023 form is a document the FBI uses to record interviews with witnesses and sources.
An FBI spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that it received the subpoena and the letter, but “we don’t have any additional comment.”
“The information provided by a whistleblower raises concerns that then-Vice President Biden allegedly engaged in a bribery scheme with a foreign national,” Comer said Wednesday. “The American people need to know if President Biden sold out the United States of America to make money for himself. Senator Grassley and I will seek the truth to ensure accountability for the American people.”
Garland said Tuesday that “I stand by my testimony” about U.S. Attorney David Weiss’s independence to criminally investigate Hunter Biden free from political interference, despite IRS whistleblower claims contradicting his sworn testimony.
In early February 2021, President Biden asked nearly all Senate-confirmed U.S. attorneys for their resignations, with Weiss as an exception, who was asked to stay on as he investigates the president’s son.Garland has repeatedly vowed to ensure that Weiss would be insulated from any political pressure, and he said Tuesday that was still true.
Grassley had sent an October letter to Wray, Garland, and Weiss arguing that the FBI is in possession of “significant, impactful, and voluminous evidence” of “potential criminal conduct” by Hunter Biden related to his overseas business dealings with China and Ukraine.
The whistleblower allegations released late last year related to Hunter Biden, as well as James Biden, the president’s brother, regarding the duo’s dealings with the Chinese government-linked energy conglomerate CEFC China Energy. They also related to the younger Biden’s work for Ukrainian gas giant Burisma Holdings. Grassley said his staff “reviewed the unclassified records” supporting the whistleblower claims.
“We believe the FBI possesses an unclassified internal document that includes very serious and detailed allegations implicating the current President of the United States,” Grassley said Wednesday. “What we don’t know is what, if anything, the FBI has done to verify these claims or investigate further. The FBI’s recent history of botching politically charged investigations demands close congressional oversight.”
