(NewsNation) — Two members of the U.S. House Oversight Committee reviewed a sensitive FBI document relating to a whistleblower’s bribery allegations against President Joe Biden from when he was serving as vice president.
The FBI brought the internal law enforcement document, which House Republicans say might shed light on Biden’s alleged criminal activity from when he was vice president, to Capitol Hill on Monday for House Oversight Chair James Comer and Rep. Jamie Raskin, ranking Democratic member of the committee, to review.
“The claims made in the document are consistent with what we found and disclosed to you all,” Comer said in a news conference following the document review. “It suggests a pattern of bribery where payments would be made through shell accounts and multiple accounts. There’s a name for that. It’s called money laundering.”
Raskin also spoke to the media after reviewing the document, saying there were no criminal charges apparent.
“Not only were there no criminal charges, there was no escalation of the FBI’s investigation that was ordered by Scott Grady or by Attorney General William Barr. They all signed off on ending that investigation,” Raskin said in a news conference.
Comer also added he has initiated contempt of Congress hearings against FBI director, Christopher Wray, for not turning the document over to the committee’s custody. The contempt hearing is set to begin Thursday.
“I’m surprised that my colleague wants to try to litigate this in public, much less hold the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations in contempt for complying with their request when there was a whole process that was undertaken,” Raskin said.
“The FBI has continually demonstrated its commitment to accommodate the committee’s request, including by producing the document in a reading room at the U.S. Capitol. This commonsense safeguard is often employed in response to Congressional requests and in court proceedings to protect important concerns, such as the physical safety of sources and the integrity of investigations. The escalation to a contempt vote under these circumstances is unwarranted,” the FBI said in a statement.
Comer and Raskin received a briefing from the FBI and reviewed the FD-1023 form from behind closed doors in a sensitive compartmented information facility at the Capitol.
This follows a whistleblower’s allegation that the FBI has a document related to an alleged bribe paid to then-Vice President Joe Biden in exchange for certain policy decisions.
The document reportedly details a $5 million bribery scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national.
The form does not contain any verified information or confirm any wrongdoing. It simply details a conversation with an informant.
Comer called the source cited in the document a “trusted, highly credible informant,” who has been used by the FBI for over a decade. In response, Raskin argued the document only provided “secondhand hearsay.”
There was also some disagreement about whether the document was part of an ongoing investigation into Biden.
Comer said, “FBI officials confirmed that the unclassified, FBI-generated record, has not been disproven and is currently being used in an ongoing investigation.”
“I must’ve missed that because I haven’t heard that this is part of any ongoing investigation,” Raskin said in response to Comer’s comments.
