FBI Records Allege 'Criminal Scheme' Involving Joe Biden and 'Foreign National,' House Committee Says
Congressional Republicans are trying to get their hands on a whistleblower form that makes allegations about the conduct of President Joe Biden while he was the vice president during the administration of former President Barack Obama.
Biden was vice president from January 2009 through January 2017. That time period overlaps with some of the controversial foreign business activities of Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, who dabbled in various international business ventures with China, Russia and Ukraine — particularly during the final years of that time frame.
Since 2020, when the contents of Hunter Biden’s former laptop computer were revealed, officials have been investigating alleged connections between the activities of father and son. Although some emails have implied a connection between the vice president and Hunter Biden’s activities, Joe Biden has said he had no connection to his son’s business dealings.
🚨🚨🚨@RepJamesComer & @ChuckGrassley reveal the existence of an FBI record alleging then-VP Biden engaged in a bribery scheme with a foreign national.
According to a whistleblower, this record details an alleged arrangement involving an exchange of money for policy decisions.… pic.twitter.com/6yLwPLi8Hw
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) May 3, 2023
With that as the background, on Wednesday, Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley of Iowa and House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer of Kentucky demanded the FBI produce an unclassified record that claims a “criminal scheme” existed between a foreign national and the then-vice president, according to a news release posted on the website of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray, Grassley and Comer explained the issue.
“We have received legally protected and highly credible unclassified whistleblower disclosures. Based on those disclosures, it has come to our attention that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) possess an unclassified FD-1023 form that describes an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions,” the letter said.
“It has been alleged that the document includes a precise description of how the alleged criminal scheme was employed as well as its purpose.”
The letter voiced concern over what was done with the information, saying that “it would appear that the DOJ and the FBI have enough information to determine the truth and accuracy of the information contained within it. However, it remains unclear what steps, if any, were taken to investigate the matter.”
“The significant public interest in assessing the FBI’s response to this information, as well as growing concern about the DOJ and the FBI’s track record of allowing political bias to infect their decision-making process, necessitate exacting congressional oversight,” the letter said, admonishing the FBI and Justice Department that they “failed to disclose to the American people” that they had the information.
In a seperate letter to Wray, Comer said the FBI has been subpoenaed to produce the documents needed for the panel to determine the truth of the allegation and what was done about it.
The letter said the information is necessary because it is “considering legislation aimed at deficiencies in the current legal framework regarding disclosure of financial interests related to vice presidents and presidents (and the family members thereof) — deficiencies that may place American national security at risk.”
The letter said the panel wants to reform disclosure laws to “provide necessary transparency into a vice president’s or a president’s (and their immediate family members’) income, assets, and financial relationship with foreign and domestic companies.”
“Public corruption, influence peddling, federal ethics/financial disclosures regulations, and national security matters are directly within the purview of the Committee’s oversight authorities,” Comer noted to Wray in the letter.
In the release, Grassley and Comer said they do not know enough yet to form conclusions about the allegation but said it must be thoroughly explored.
“We believe the FBI possesses an unclassified internal document that includes very serious and detailed allegations implicating the current president of the United States. What we don’t know is what, if anything, the FBI has done to verify these claims or investigate further. The FBI’s recent history of botching politically charged investigations demands close congressional oversight,” Grassley said.
“The information provided by a whistleblower raises concerns that then-Vice President Biden allegedly engaged in a bribery scheme with a foreign national. The American people need to know if President Biden sold out the United States of America to make money for himself. Sen. Grassley and I will seek the truth to ensure accountability for the American people,” Comer said.
The release noted that the House panel is currently investigating to determine “if the Biden family has been targeted by foreign actors, if President Biden is compromised, and if there is a national security threat.”
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