The FBI has caved into the House Oversight Committee’s demands to release documents that claim Joe Biden was involved in a $5million bribery when he was vice president.
The agreement ends a stand off that began on May 3, when Director Christopher Wray was issued with a subpoena to hand over the document.
Wray had refused to share the unverified document with anyone except the chair of the committee, James Comer, and the ranking Democrat, Jamie Raskin.
Comer came out from viewing the document and said it was troubling: Raskin said it was nothing.
Comer wanted all members of the committee to be able to see the document, unredacted: Wray refused. On Monday, Comer threatened to hold him in contempt.
But on Wednesday Comer called off the vote on contempt after Wray agreed to allow the full committee to access a redacted file.
FBI Director Christopher Wray had until May 30 to hand over the document to congressional Republicans: he refused, and James Comer threatened to hold him in contempt of Congress. On Wednesday Wray agreed to allow access to the document
James Comer, chair of the House Oversight Committee, on Wednesday said Wray had ‘caved’ to his threat to hold him in contempt of Congress
Comer praised the agreement, and crowed that Wray had ‘caved’ in to his demands to allow viewing of the FD-1023 record.
The Biden document at the center of the new dispute was written up by a longtime FBI source whom both Republicans and Democrats have described as credible.
In it, the source details an unverified tip received in 2020 about the business dealings of Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, in Ukraine.
Hunter Biden worked on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company.
‘After weeks of refusing to even admit the FD-1023 record exists, the FBI has caved and is now allowing all members of the Oversight and Accountability Committee to review this unclassified record that memorializes a confidential human source’s conversations with a foreign national who claimed to have bribed then-Vice President Joe Biden.
‘Americans have lost trust in the FBI’s ability to enforce the law impartially and demand answers, transparency, and accountability.
‘Allowing all Oversight Committee members to review this record is an important step toward conducting oversight of the FBI and holding it accountable to the American people,’ he added.
All committee members will now be able to view a redacted version of a confidential document.
It alleges a $5 million bribery scheme involving then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national.
Raskin said he was happy Wray and Comer agreed a deal about the document, which Raskin said was made in ‘good faith’.
Wray ‘caved’ in to pressure, Comer said on Wednesday, and agreed to allow access to the document. But the document will be redacted
The unverified document, a FD-1023 record, was written up by a longtime FBI source whom both Republicans and Democrats have described as credible. In it, the source details an unverified tip received in 2020 about the business dealings of Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, in Ukraine
But he said he was concerned about the events leading up to Wednesday’s agreement.
‘Holding someone in contempt of Congress is among the most serious actions our Committee can take and it should not be weaponized to undermine the FBI,’ Raskin said.
The FBI has called the contempt vote unwarranted considering the bureau had ‘continuously demonstrated its commitment to accommodate the committee’s request,’ while protecting the safety of sources and the integrity of ongoing investigations.
But Comer had consistently said for the past month that the only way for the FBI to comply with the subpoena is to provide an unredacted copy of the document.
It is unclear what made him change course at the last minute.
FBI officials have already shown a redacted version of the several-page form to Comer and Raskin during a 90-minute briefing Monday.
The bureau described that briefing as an ‘extraordinary accommodation’ where both men were able to take notes on the document and ask questions.
The whole contempt fight over the document moved at an unusually rapid speed for the House.
Committees often battle for months with an agency or a witness before resorting to contempt proceedings, often haggling over an ‘accommodation’ that is considered compliance with a subpoena.
Republicans moved far faster, arriving at contempt a little over a month after issuing the subpoena to Wray on May 3.
It would have been the first time Republicans had used the contempt power against a federal official since taking control of the House in January, but would be far from a rare occurrence in the House.
Democrats wielded the power of contempt memorably in the last Congress as part of the committee investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, was convicted by a jury on contempt charges last year after a referral from the House Jan. 6 committee.
Another former Trump official, Peter Navarro, is awaiting trial on a contempt charge as well. He has pleaded not guilty.
