Deal reached on FBI Joe Biden document: FBI Director Christopher Wray will not be charged with contempt of Congress after a deal was reached between the FBI and Congress.
Joe Biden and the Bribery Allegations?
In recent weeks, Republicans in Congress have been trying to make hay out of a document, in the FBI’s possession, which shows that an accusation was made that President Joe Biden, when he was vice president, had engaged in a foreign bribery scheme.
The document, by all accounts, does not constitute proof of such a scheme, but rather that an accusation has been made about one.
Media reports have stated that the same accusations were investigated back in 2020, by the Trump Justice Department, after it was uncovered by Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani, and no charges were pursued.
Per the New York Times, “the bribery allegation against Mr. Biden, which dates to 2020, was never elevated to a preliminary investigation.”
Republicans on the House Oversight Committee had issued a subpoena to the FBI to gain the document itself. Still, the FBI had refused, only allowing the committee chairman and ranking member, James Comer and Jamie Raskin, to view the document earlier this week. Even after that, the Republicans on the committee continued to threaten FBI Director Christopher Wray with contempt of Congress charges.
Now, we know that won’t happen because Congress and the FBI have reached a deal. According to CNN, the FBI has allowed “all members on the House Oversight panel to view the internal law enforcement document he initially subpoenaed,” in exchange for Congress dropping the contempt process.
In addition, two more documents will be available to Comer and Raskin only.
CNN added that the FBI had refused to hand over the document previously because “it contains unverified information from a confidential human source.”
“Allowing all Oversight Committee members to review this record is an important step toward conducting oversight of the FBI and holding it accountable to the American people,” Comer said in a statement. He added, per the New York Times, that “The F.B.I. has caved.”
Raskin was less conciliatory in his own statement.
“Chairman Comer’s acceptance of these further accommodations comes after he has spent weeks attacking the FBI despite its extraordinary efforts to provide Committee Republicans the information they claim to seek.”
MAGA Has Thoughts
Among those allowed to view the document Thursday was Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), a member of the Oversight Committee, who posted tweets of herself both entering the SCIF room where the document was located and speaking after viewing it.
Greene later told the media that after viewing the document, she believes Biden should be impeached – which is not a surprise, considering she has introduced numerous resolutions to impeach the president, going back to his first full day in office. Greene has also, of late, moved to impeach FBI Director Wray, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and other top administration officials.
The document, per Greene, “implicates Joe Biden in a pay-to-play scheme bribery scheme to get a prosecutor fired that was investigating Burisma where Hunter Biden sat on the board.”
“This is an impeachable document. President Biden should be impeached. Secondly, he should be prosecuted. This is unbelievable. It’s a pay-to-play scheme. He took a bribe from a from a foreign national in a foreign country that paid millions of dollars,” the Congresswoman added. “He needs to be prosecuted for this, and I would argue that he should serve jail time.”
She added that she took “very detailed notes,” despite having been instructed not to do so.
Punchbowl News reporter Andrew Desiderio reported Thursday that it appeared there was a “Gang of 8” briefing — a term for the leaders of Congress itself, and of the chairs and ranking members of each Intelligence committee — on the Hill on Thursday afternoon. It wasn’t clear if the briefing was in connection with the FBI document, with the possible imminent indictment of former President Trump, or some other issue.
Expertise and Experience: Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
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