In a Twitter post, the panel announced that Wray had told them the document was real and offered to let them review it, but has failed to produce the document for the Oversight Committee as a whole.
If true, the acknowledgment is the latest in an escalating showdown between House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Wray over the document.
In a May 3 letter, Comer and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) revealed that they received “highly credible unclassified whistleblower disclosures” that the FBI possessed an unclassified record that “describes an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions.”
Comer gave Wray a May 30 deadline to produce the document or face charges for contempt of Congress—a deadline Wray missed. The threat got a boost after it won the support of Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who agreed to hold Wray in contempt if the deadline wasn’t met.
On May 31, Wray met with Comer and others, when he allegedly revealed the truth of the document’s existence.
But he’s failed to turn it over to the panel, prompting Republicans to again warn that they’ll move forward with contempt charges.
“If the FBI fails to hand over the FD-1023 form as required by the subpoena, [Comer] will begin contempt of Congress proceedings,” the Oversight panel wrote on Twitter.
After the announcement, the White House criticized Comer’s investigation into the matter, calling it a “silly charade” and “yet another reminder that his so-called ‘investigations’ are political stunts not meant to get information but to spread thin innuendo and falsehoods to attack the president.
“He has already admitted this isn’t about uncovering facts but about trying to hurt the president’s poll numbers, so the only question left is how long he will waste time, energy, and taxpayer dollars to support a fact-free, politically motivated goose chase simply to get media attention and the Fox News spotlight.”
This is a reference to an earlier comment Comer made, saying, “Look at that polling,” in regard to the public opinion outcome of his investigations into the president’s business dealings.
FBI Reply
Wray’s agency, already facing allegations of weaponization, was accused by several Republicans of withholding the document in order to protect Biden.
In an emailed response to The Epoch Times, the FBI said that it “remains committed to cooperating with the Committee in good faith,” saying that it has made an “extraordinary accommodation” to meet Comer’s request while complying with confidentiality and national security requirements.
“In a letter to Chairman Comer earlier today, the FBI committed to providing access to information responsive to the Committee’s subpoena in a format and setting that maintains confidentiality and protects important security interests and the integrity of FBI investigations,” a spokesperson said.
“Last week, Director Wray scheduled a telephone call for tomorrow to provide additional details of the FBI’s extraordinary accommodation to satisfy the subpoena request.”
The agency dismissed calls to hold Wray in contempt, saying, “Any discussion of escalation under these circumstances is unnecessary.”
The Bidens’ Business Dealings
Due to the FBI’s reluctance to hand over the document, it remains unclear what the exact charges leveled against Biden are. But Republicans have long sought to learn more about possible ethical concerns in the Bidens’ business dealings.
In January 2023, days after Republicans retook control of the House, Comer sent a request for information related to art sales made by Hunter Biden.
Just weeks before the 2020 election, the New York Post published a report documenting findings from Hunter Biden’s laptop, which had reportedly been forgotten at a computer repair shop.
Among other findings, emails on the laptop revealed that while he was still the vice president, Biden had been introduced to a top executive at the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma.
“Dear Hunter, thank you for inviting me to DC and giving me an opportunity to meet your father,” reads an April 17, 2015, email allegedly sent from Vadym Pozharskyi, a Burisma executive, to Hunter Biden.
In December 2015, Joe Biden candidly admitted to the Council on Foreign Relations in 2018 that he threatened to withhold a $1 billion loan guarantee from Ukraine if a prosecutor looking into Burisma was not removed from his post. This threat came about eight months after Pozharskyi allegedly met the elder Biden.
“I looked at them and said: I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money,” Biden said of the affair in 2018.
“Well, son of a [expletive],” Biden continued. “He got fired.”
If true, this would mean that Biden’s oft-repeated claim that he has had no role in his son’s business dealings is false.
‘Don’t Mention Joe Being Involved’
James Gilliar, one of Hunter Biden’s business partners, allegedly told fellow partner Tony Bobulinski in a May 20, 2017, email not to mention “Joe being involved.”
“Don’t mention Joe being involved, it’s only when u [sic] are face to face, I know u [sic] know that, but they are paranoid,” Gilliar told Bobulinski.
Bobulinski, who confirmed the authenticity of the emails in a later statement, replied at the time, “OK, they should be paranoid about things.”
Another email relayed from Gilliar to Hunter Biden, Bobulinski, and a fourth business partner on May 13, 2017, described the breakdown of each member’s shares in a Chinese business venture dubbed Sinohawk.
“’Sino’ for the Chinese side, ‘hawk’ for Hunter’s brother Beau’s favorite animal,” Bobulinski later explained.
Gilliar suggested each of the primary business partners would receive 20 percent. Another participant, called “Jim” by Gilliar, and likely referring to Biden’s brother, apparently was to receive 10 percent. Finally, the other 10 percent would be “held by H for the big guy.”
On Oct. 22, 2020, Bobulinski made a public statement confirming that “the big guy” was indeed a reference to Joe Biden.
The document alleged by whistleblower allegations could give a more solid basis to allegations of Biden’s business dealings if recovered.
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