Advertisement

FBI Ignores Congressional Subpoena For Hunter Biden Docs, Claims ‘National Security’

Advertisement

OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


The FBI has blown off a subpoena issued by a committee in the Republican-led House in regard to allegations that, as vice president, Joe Biden took bribes.

The subpoena was sent by House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), and it requests a file on an informant who allegedly supplied the information.

On May 3, Comer served a subpoena demanding that the FBI release a file by noon the following day along with a letter that was also sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray.

However, the agency did not respond to the subpoena and instead sent a six-page letter outlining the reasons why they could not release the requested document.

“This letter responds to your subpoena, authorized on May 3, 2023, demanding the production of documents within one week. As this was your first communication with the FBI seeking this information, please know that the FBI is committed to beginning the constitutionally mandated accommodation process,” the response letter from FBI acting assistant director for congressional affairs Christopher Dunham, who went on to argue that informant reports have to be kept private in order to protect sources.

Advertisement

“The FBI is committed to working to provide the Committee information necessary for your legitimate oversight interests, while also protecting executive branch confidentiality interests and law enforcement responsibilities. The FBI appreciates this opportunity to inform you of our confidentiality interests so that we can ‘seek optimal accommodation through a realistic evaluation of’ each other’s needs and ‘avoid the polarization of disputes.’ We are committed to working together through this process,” it added.

“Information from confidential human sources is unverified and, by definition, incomplete,” Dunham continued.

“As is clear from the name itself, confidentiality is definitional to the FBI’s Confidential Human Source program,” Dunham added. “Confidential human sources often provide information to the FBI at great risk to themselves and their loved ones. The information they provide also can create significant risks to others who may be referenced in their reporting.”

In conclusion, the letter said: “We … hope this helps you understand that keeping this kind of source information free from the perception or reality of improper influence — and preventing the redirection of this information for non-law enforcement or non-intelligence uses — is necessary for the FBI’s effective execution of our law enforcement and national security responsibilities.”

Comer blasted the FBI for failing to produce the subpoenaed file, the New York Post reported.

“It’s clear from the FBI’s response that the unclassified record the Oversight Committee subpoenaed exists, but they are refusing to provide it to the Committee,” Comer said.

Advertisement

“We’ve asked the FBI to not only provide this record, but to also inform us what it did to investigate these allegations,” he added. “The FBI has failed to do both. The FBI’s position is ‘trust, but you aren’t allowed to verify.’ That is unacceptable. We plan to follow up with the FBI and expect compliance with the subpoena.”

The file being requested is an unclassified FD-1023 form. The Post noted that an FBI spokesperson told the outlet something similar.

Test your skills with this Quiz!

“An FD-1023 form is used by FBI agents to record unverified reporting by a confidential human source. Documenting the information does not validate it, establish its credibility, or weigh it against other information verified by the FBI,” the spokesperson said.

“Revealing unverified or possibly incomplete information could harm investigations, prejudice prosecutions or judicial proceedings, unfairly violate privacy or reputations, create misimpressions in the public, or potentially identify individuals who provide information to law enforcement, placing their physical safety at risk,” the official continued.

“Information from confidential human sources and members of the public is critical to the work of the FBI and we are also committed to protecting the confidentiality of anyone who comes forward,” the official added.

Advertisement