James Comer Takes Steps to Hold FBI Director Wray in Contempt of Congress for Stonewalling Subpoenaed File Allegedly Linking Joe Biden to $5M Bribery Scheme

FBI Director Christopher Wray listens at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland Th
AP Photo/Markus Schreiber
Wendell Husebo

The House began the process of holding the FBI in contempt of Congress on Tuesday after the bureau refused to provide a subpoenaed informant file to Congress that allegedly details an arrangement involving an exchange of money for policy decisions between now-President Biden and a foreign national.

The FBI had until Tuesday to convey the information file, which contains an unclassified document that is a record of an interview the FBI conducted with an informant. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) subpoenaed the file, but the FBI refuses to comply. The Justice Department does not deny the existence of the record.

“Today, the FBI informed the Committee that it will not provide the unclassified documents subpoenaed by the Committee. The FBI’s decision to stiff-arm Congress and hide this information from the American people is obstructionist and unacceptable,” Comer wrote in a press release.

Although Comer and Wray have a call Wednesday, Comer said the process to hold the FBI in contempt of Congress will begin. He said:

While I have a call scheduled with FBI Director Wray tomorrow to discuss his response further, the Committee has been clear in its intent to protect Congressional oversight authorities and will now be taking steps to hold the FBI Director in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a lawful subpoena.

“Americans deserve the truth, and the Oversight Committee will continue to demand transparency from this nation’s chief law enforcement agency,” he added.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) warned FBI Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday that if he failed to provide the file, he would begin the process to hold him in contempt of Congress.

“I have a message for FBI Director Christopher Wray,” McCarthy posted on Twitter. “If he misses today’s deadline to turn over subpoenaed documents to Congress, I am prepared to move contempt charges against him.”

Last week, the FBI told reporters it is hesitant to release the document because it contains confidential information.

“The FBI’s mission is to protect the American people,” the FBI said last week. “Releasing confidential source information could potentially jeopardize investigations and put lives at risk. The FBI remains committed to cooperating with Congress’s oversight requests.”

Comer’s probe into the Biden family found that the Biden family business over the course of several years received at least $10 million from business schemes in Romania and China. A total of nine Biden family members received payments from the family foreign business ventures, including two of Joe Biden’s grandchildren, he revealed in May.

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.

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