FBI reneges on doc handover

The FBI yesterday refused to hand over a Form FD-1023 detailing credible allegations that then-Vice-President Joe Biden took foreign bribes. Accordingly, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee will hold contempt-of-congress hearings beginning this Thursday.

The FBI drama continues

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had agreed last Friday to hand over the document, which details information from a paid informant. Yesterday Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, announced the refusal in a press conference.

Comer made the following points in this video:

• The FBI has not been able to disprove the allegations in the Form FD-1023.
• They are in fact using it “in an ongoing investigation.”
• The FBI has used the informant involved for more than ten years and paid him “over six figures.”
• During a briefing yesterday morning, the FBI reneged on its earlier promise to hand over the document.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has called for Congress to remove FBI Director Christopher Wray by impeachment.

She also added her own perspective on the document, which, she says, both Comer and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Ranking Member, have seen.

An hour later, Rep. Greene accused the FBI and the Department of Justice on focusing on bringing charges against former President Donald J. Trump, allegedly for “seditious conspiracy” in the January 6 event.

A Form FD-1023 holds information from paid informants, that has not been vetted at the time of its creation.

If Raskin has seen the form, that’s significant in light of his denials (according to The Epoch Times) of its probative value.

Dispute over the document

Rep. Raskin alleged over the weekend that the informant’s information had its basis in “allegations that went nowhere.” He also suggested that holding Wray in contempt was the Republican’s real goal. The Epoch Times confirmed that he did see the document yesterday – and didn’t change his mind.

Chairman Comer reminded everyone the document is not classified, and suggested releasing it to the public.

Spokespeople for the FBI said the agency routinely retains such documents and offers them for viewing in secure reading rooms. In fact the agency now says their informant could be the target of an assassination for exposing the bribery scheme. That last comes from podcaster and influencer Tim Pool.

Update

Late this morning, Dick Morris reviewed the sequence of events surrounding the Ukrainian official at the heart of the case. He concluded that Joe Biden did take the bribe, to do a favor for this official, who worked for Burisma, the notorious Ukrainian natural gas company. Nothing else, he says, can explain the sequence.