The top House Oversight Committee Republican is losing patience with FBI Director Christopher Wray’s refusal to comply with a subpoena for a document that allegedly shows details of a “criminal scheme” involving bribery between then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national, information that if it exists, could potentially deal a major blow to the deeply unpopular leader’s reelection hopes.
According to a whistleblower who came forward to congressional Republicans, the document “describes an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions,” Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) wrote in a May 3 letter to Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland. The Oversight Committee chair also issued a subpoena to the FBI boss which, three weeks later, has gone unanswered.
“The FBI’s refusal to provide this single document is obstructionist. Whistleblower disclosures that Joe Biden may have been involved in a criminal bribery scheme as Vice President track closely with what we are seeing in our investigation into the Biden family’s influence peddling schemes. Congress and the American people need to know what, if anything, the FBI did to verify the allegations contained within this record. If Director Wray refuses to hand over this unclassified record, the Oversight Committee will begin contempt of Congress proceedings,” Comer said in a Wednesday statement.
FBI Director Wray is defying a congressional subpoena for an unclassified record alleging a criminal scheme involving then-VP Joe Biden and a foreign national.
If Director Wray refuses to hand over this record, @GOPoversight will begin contempt of Congress proceedings. pic.twitter.com/mVttLatbJ5
— Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) May 24, 2023
“The FBI has continued to tie itself in knots to ignore a legitimate subpoena from Congress, which has a constitutional duty of oversight. The Bureau’s developed a serious reputation problem through its spate of failures and overreach, and leadership is doing it no favors by attempting to stiff-arm Congress,” Senator Grassley said. “The FBI knows exactly what document Chairman Comer and I are seeking, and if they know us at all, they know we will get it, one way or another. If FBI leadership truly cares about protecting the agency’s reputation, they’d cooperate. These needless delays only harm the Bureau,”
Wray, who was tabbed by former President Donald J. Trump to replace the disgraced James Comey after he was fired, has presided over the agency at a time when the Bureau is viewed with distrust if not outright loathing by millions of Americans who have seen it become a politicized secret police serving the interests of the Democratic Party, a far cry from the decades when it was universally respected.
The release of the long-awaited report by special counsel John Durham documenting how the FBI framed Trump over the Russiagate hoax only added to the lack of public trust for an agency that was viewed by 50 percent of Americans as being Joe Biden’s “personal Gestapo” in a poll published early last year. The number has almost certainly risen with the heavy-handed treatment meted out to foes of the regime and Wray’s leadership has been strongly criticized by Republicans.
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