FBI to James Comer: Pound Sand

During a Monday meeting with House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY), the FBI refused once again to turn over an FD-1023 (a report from an informant) that allegedly details a bribery scheme between then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national. Comer issued a subpoena for this document three weeks ago.

In a May 3 letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee and Comer wrote that an FBI whistleblower had informed Grassley about an unclassified FD-1023 document in the bureau’s possession that “describes an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions.”

According to Grassley and Comer:

Based on the alleged specificity within the document, 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.

Comer’s subpoena, which set a compliance deadline of May 10, can be viewed here.

In a six-page letter to Comer dated May 10, the FBI explained they are concerned because the FD-1023 “is unverified and based on informants who must be kept private.”

Frustrated by the FBI’s obstruction, Comer sent a new letter to Wray on Friday.

In an appearance on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told host Maria Bartiromo he had spoken by phone with Wray on Friday. He said, “I explained to the director that we will do everything in our power, and we have the jurisdiction over the FBI, and we have the right to see this document. I believe after this call, we will get this document.”

Apparently not.

So, where to go from here?

Comer joined Jesse Watters on Monday night and said the FBI had been very patronizing during their meeting, but that he remains determined to obtain the document.

If need be, he will use the power of the purse. He told Watters he plans to work with Senate Republicans to hold the FBI’s budget “hostage” until the agency gets new leadership or provides the document.

They don’t respect anyone in Congress. They’ve been able to get away with this for a long time. The media continues to turn a blind eye. The Senate Republicans continue to fund the FBI. Why would you change your business model when you’re getting everything you want?”

What we’re going to have to do in this House is demand that the senators get our backs like they’re doing as we speak with these debt ceiling negotiations. And hold their budget hostage until they get new leadership at the FBI or produce the document that we want.

I think we need to look at contempt. … We need to take extreme measures on trying to get this whistleblower to come forward publicly and say what exactly is in this document.

House Republicans must use every tool at their disposal to obtain this document from the FBI. Comer was eventually able to acquire copies of approximately 170 Suspicious Activity Reports involving transactions in Biden family and Biden family-associated bank accounts from the Treasury Department after more than two months of stonewalling.

And Wray’s obstruction likely motivates the GOP more than ever.

Wray’s credibility and that of the agency he runs have taken some serious hits lately. Shockingly, even NBC News’ Chuck Todd, the far-left host of “Meet the Press,” sees it. Here’s what he told viewers on Sunday:

We need a real [Sen. Frank] Church [D-ID] Committee. Like this is a moment when the J. Edgar Hoover FBI clearly was no longer helping the American people, there was a moment. It feels like we might be in one of those moments. … It seems like we have to do something to restore trust.

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