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A top Republican has threatened to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress after the bureau has refused to turn over a document subpoenaed by his committee that purportedly contains damning evidence against President Joe Biden.
“House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer is threatening to hold FBI Director Chris Wray in contempt of Congress for failing to hand over an internal document that Republicans claim shows … Biden was involved in a ‘criminal’ scheme with a foreign national,” the UK’s Daily Mail reported.
According to remarks from other Republicans, there are allegations that the internal unclassified FD-1023 form contains information outlining an alleged “arrangement” involving the exchange of money in return for policy decisions.
“If Wray fails to produce the record by May 30, the committee said it will initiate contempt of Congress proceedings,” the outlet noted further.
In a letter addressed to Wray on Wednesday, Comer stated that he is taking steps to narrow the scope of the subpoena for the document. As part of this effort, he has included two additional terms, namely “June 30, 2020” and “five million,” which may be referenced in the record.
“The FBI’s refusal to produce this single document is obstructionist,” Comer’s letter noted.
In a statement to the Daily Mail, the FBI relied on a claim of national security that critics find dubious.
“The FBI’s mission is to protect the American people. Releasing confidential source information could potentially jeopardize investigations and put lives at risk,” the bureau’s statement said. “The FBI remains committed to cooperating with Congress’s oversight requests on this matter and others as we always have.”
Staffers for the Oversight Committee who are working on the “influence-peddling” investigation met with FBI officials on Monday, but they refused to provide the subpoenaed document.
The outlet noted further:
The meeting Monday came after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said over the weekend that the FBI was poised to hand over the potentially damning document.
McCarthy said he spoke with Wray last week and believed that after their conversation, Republicans would “get this document.”
“I explained to the director that we will do everything in our power, and [that] we have jurisdiction over the FBI – that we have the right to see this document,” McCarthy (R-Calif.) said.
The latest FBI obstruction came in the wake of a second whistleblower from the IRS stepping forward to allege that he was marginalized in the Hunter Biden investigation after voicing concerns about the preferential treatment being afforded to the president’s son.
Per documents obtained by DailyMail.com on Monday, the as-yet-unidentified case agent involved in the Hunter Biden investigation said he was terminated last week without any explanation. The agent had been working on the investigation since 2018, as outlined in the documents provided to congressional leaders.
“This is the second whistleblower to come forward in recent days on the matter. According to documents, he informed Congress last week about backlash he suffered for acting as a whistleblower and alleged unfair retaliatory treatment,” the Daily Mail reported further.
“He sent an email last Thursday to senior IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel and several other officials alleging that he was ousted for raising concerns that the Department of Justice was ‘acting inappropriately’ in its handling of the investigation into the president’s son,” the outlet added.
In an interview with Fox News earlier this week after the FBI refused to hand over the document, Comer said: “They don’t respect anyone in Congress. They’ve been able to get away with this for a long time. The media continues to turn a blind eye. The Senate Republicans continue to fund the FBI. Why would you change your business model when you’re getting everything you want?”
