A top congressional investigator is offering new clues about a suspected criminal “bribery” scheme involving President Joe Biden.
In a letter sent Wednesday to FBI Director Christopher Wray, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) revealed more specific terms for the bureau to find a record he demanded in a subpoena with a deadline that passed two weeks ago.
A particular FD-1023 form, according to Comer, may reference some variant of “five million” and “June 30, 2020.” “These terms relate to the date on the FD-1023 form and its reference to the amount of money the foreign national allegedly paid to receive the desired policy outcome,” he wrote.
The newly revealed date lands on the calendar about two weeks after Ukrainian officials announced there had been a $5 million bribe aimed at ending an investigation into the founder of Burisma Holdings, the same Ukrainian gas company at which Biden’s son, Hunter, served on the board for several years.
At the time, Ukrainian anti-corruption prosecutor Nazar Kholodnytsky said a handful of suspects had been detained but stressed that “Biden Jr. and Biden Sr. do not appear in this particular proceeding,” according to Reuters.
No reference to Ukraine nor any other country appears in Comer’s letter to Wray, but the chairman explained that he was providing more information because the FBI had failed to acknowledge the existence of the document and bureau staff “indicated” the search terms in his subpoena were too broad.
“To the extent there are numerous documents referencing ‘Biden’ and ‘five million’ dollar payments, please let us know promptly,” Comer wrote.
Comer said whistleblower disclosures have led him and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to believe the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI have an unclassified FD-1023 form describing the alleged scheme involving the elder Biden, dating back to his time as vice president, and a foreign national.
The FBI, which says such a form is used to record claims from confidential human sources, has cautioned against the disclosure of unverified information from informants.
“The FBI’s mission is to protect the American people,” the FBI told the New York Post on Thursday. “Releasing confidential source information could potentially jeopardize investigations and put lives at risk. The FBI remains committed to cooperating with Congress’s oversight requests on this matter and others as we always have.”
Comer insisted the oversight panel does not seek the identity of the confidential human source who may have provided the Biden-related allegations. “Furthermore, there are reasonable accommodations that would alleviate the FBI’s concerns about exposing CHS (confidential human source) information, including appropriate redactions,” he wrote.
Offering some leniency, Comer told Wray the deadline for a response to his subpoena had been extended to May 30. “If the FD-1023 form is not produced by that date, the Committee will initiate contempt of Congress proceedings,” he warned.
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