by Ben Whedon
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley on Wednesday fumed as the FBI failed to meet a subpoena deadline to provide congressional investigators with a form that allegedly details a bribery scheme between then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national.
The Republicans revealed in early May that the FBI had an FD-1023 in its possession detailing the allegations and confirmed they had issued a subpoena to obtain the document. Comer and Grassley learned of the form’s existence from a whistleblower. The form allegedly includes a “precise description” of the scheme and its purpose.
The FBI, however, did not honor the subpoena by the deadline by providing the lawmakers with the document, prompting the pair to question why the agency has not acted.
“While the FBI has failed to produce the specific document by the subpoena deadline, their offer to provide an accommodation process in response to our legitimate request indicates the document is real,” Grassley said in a statement. “So the question remains, what did the FBI do to investigate very serious allegations from an apparent trusted FBI source implicating then-Vice President Biden?”
“Today’s letter from the FBI raises additional questions, including whether the FBI has an open investigation based on these allegations. The American people pay the FBI’s salaries, and they’re entitled to a fulsome response,” he continued.
Comer, meanwhile, affirmed his belief in the document’s existence and insisted that the bureau was refusing to cooperate with the Oversight Committee’s investigation.
“It’s clear from the FBI’s response that the unclassified record the Oversight Committee subpoenaed exists, but they are refusing to provide it to the Committee,” he insisted. “We’ve asked the FBI to not only provide this record, but to also inform us what it did to investigate these allegations.”
“The FBI has failed to do both. The FBI’s position is ‘trust, but you aren’t allowed to verify.’ That is unacceptable. We plan to follow up with the FBI and expect compliance with the subpoena,” he declared.
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Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News.
Photo “James Comer” by James Comer. Photo “Chuck Grassley” by Chuck Grassley. Background Photo “DOJ Building” by Coolcaeser. CC BY-SA 3.0.
Why does the FBI think they don’t have to respond to a Supeana? They are not above the Law.