Rep. Jamie Raskin, top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, wrote to the FBI on Friday urging them to clarify that Joe Biden is not under investigation for bribery and and the agency is no longer looking into the subpoenaed FD-1023 form.
The form documents a conversation with an FBI informant who detailed claims of a $5 million ‘arrangement’ of an exchange of money for policy decisions between then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national. Hunter Biden was part of the arrangement and allegedly also cashed in on $5 million.
Raskin, who along with Oversight Chair James Comer viewed the unclassified form and participated in a closed-door briefing on the matter, said senior FBI officials informed him that they had looked into the findings of the FD-1023 form but decided there was a lack of sufficient evidence to prove the claims and ceased their probe.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, wrote to the FBI on Friday urging them to clarify that Joe Biden is not under investigation for bribery and and the agency is no longer looking into the subpoenaed FD-1023 form
Oversight Chair James Comer insisted that the information in the FD-1023 did not come from Giuliani and the form is part of an active investigation
Raskin now wants the FBI to set the record straight— as the ranking member and chairman of the powerful committee are locked in a ‘he said, he said’ situation.
‘At no point during the briefing did the FBI state or suggest in any way that “Joe Biden is currently under investigation for bribery,”‘ Raskin’s letter said.
‘I appreciate that the FBI accommodated the Committee’s request and made the form available to all Members of the Committee. However, I believe our Members would also benefit from the additional, non-classified information provided in the briefing and request that the FBI reiterate this information in writing,’ Raskin wrote.
The FBI has kept close watch over the unclassified FD-1023 – refusing to allow Oversight members to view it until threat of holding FBI Director Chris Wray in contempt of Congress.
Raskin said that during his June 5 meeting the FBI confirmed that former Attorney General Bill Barr assigned the case Scott Brady, the then-U.S. Attorney in Pittsburgh, to review the allegations made by Rudy Giuliani that President Biden and Hunter Biden were involved in a corruption scheme with Ukrainian energy firm Burisma.
Raskin said that during the June 5 meeting the FBI confirmed that former Attorney General Bill Barr assigned the case Scott Brady, the then-U.S. Attorney in Pittsburgh, to review the allegations made by Rudy Giuliani that President Biden and Hunter Biden were involved in a corruption scheme with Ukrainian energy firm Burisma
According to Raskin, as part of the investigation into Giuliani’s claims, Brady’s team interviewed a confidential human source (CHS) — the source that provided the claims in the FD-1023. Raskin said the FBI explained that much of the information provided by the CHS had already been provided by Giuliani.
Trump sent Giuliani to Ukraine to dig up dirt on the Bidens as president. Giuliani has long alleged the Bidens were involved in corrupt payouts from Burisma.
In August 2020, eight months after Brady’s team opened an investigation into the Biden corruption claims, the probe was closed due to ‘insufficient evidence to warrant escalating,’ according to Raskin’s retelling.
Oversight Chair James Comer insisted that the information in the FD-1023 did not come from Giuliani and the form is part of an active investigation.
‘It doesn’t matter how many times Ranking Member Raskin repeats the lie, it’s still a lie. The information contained in the FBI’s FD-1023 form did not originate with Rudy Giuliani,’ Comer said Friday.
Comer said the FD-1023 was not ‘closed’ but forwarded on to the U.S. Attorney in Delaware ‘for further investigation.’ Hunter Biden’s tax affairs are currently under investigation by that office.
Comer said that FBI Director Christopher Wray told him and Sen. Chuck Grassley that the form is ‘related to an ongoing investigation.’
Comer pointed to Attorney General Bill Barr’s claims that the case was not shut down last week.
‘It’s not true. It wasn’t closed down,’ Barr told the Federalist. ‘On the contrary, it was sent to Delaware for further investigation.’
The FBI has not allowed the general public to view the claims made in the 1023 document – and redacted claims the source made about 17 audio recordings between the Bidens and the Burisma executive that prove the corruption exist.
Grassley made the bombshell claim that the foreign national who allegedly paid Biden the bribe saved the audio recordings as ‘insurance.’ No one in Congress has actually heard the audio recordings and it’s not clear whether they truly exist.
Republicans have been ramping up their probes into the Biden family business dealings in light of the indictment of former President Trump over his handling of classified documents.
