FBI document does NOT say Biden received payments: Hours before Donald Trump was indicted on federal charges, Republicans claimed that the FBI’s document showed that Joe Biden received a $5 million bribe. One report says that’s not true.
Joe Biden and the Bribe
On Thursday, following a deal between the FBI and the House Oversight Committee, all members of the Committee were permitted to view a notorious document that is in the FBI’s possession, in exchange for Congress dropping its push to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress.
Republicans made some serious claims about the document, an FD-1023 form, in which an unknown person made an accusation that President Biden was part of a $5 million bribery scheme involving Ukraine.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) said after viewing the document that it “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.”
She also called for Biden to be both impeached and prosecuted, although Greene has been trying to impeach Biden continuously for his entire presidency.
Joe in the Clear?
However, it appears that the document only shows that the accusation has been made that Biden participated in bribery, and not that the accusation is true.
Indeed, Congressional correspondent Chad Pergram of Fox News reported Thursday that “Source familiar with the FBI document reviewed by Oversight Cmte [members] today tells Fox the following: ‘To be clear, the document does not say Joe Biden received any payments.’” Republicans, however, are alleging the opposite.
This is consistent with much of what has been alleged so far by the Republicans on the Oversight Committee, who have studied voluminous documents, made numerous comments about the “Biden crime family,” but have yet to uncover any evidence that the president himself either received improper payments, or took any action in office to help anyone who was in business with his relatives.
“There [were] two separate transactions, one that went to Joe Biden for $5 million, one that went to Hunter Biden for $5 million,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) told Fox News’ Pergram Thursday. “There’s no doubt in my mind that Joe Biden is guilty of bribery.”
After all, if Biden had received a bribe of some amount in the millions, there would likely be evidence that he received that large amount of money.
Biden, per The Daily Mail, described the allegations as “a bunch of malarkey.”
“Where’s the money?” he asked reporters.
A few hours later, once the pending indictment of Trump was announced, some of his allies questioned the timing, coming on the same day as the revelations about the Biden document.
“THE REGIME STRIKES BACK: On Same Day Document Is Released that Shows Joe Biden Taking $5 Million Bribe from Ukraine – Biden DOJ Announces Trump’s Federal Indictment on Junk Charges,” pro-Trump website Gateway Pundit wrote.
“The exact same day that the FBI is forced to turn over to Congress absolutely damning and credible allegations regarding Joe Biden’s illegal, egregious, and treasonous corruption, Joe Biden weaponizes his Department of Justice to indict Donald Trump,” Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), the House GOP Conference chair, said Thursday, per Fox News.
However, there’s no evidence that Jack Smith’s investigation made any of its moves in reaction to the Biden document, and it was reported as long ago as last week that a Trump indictment could be imminent.
What’s next? NBC News reported that the House Oversight Committee is planning to subpoena bank records, while asking the FBI to make the document in question public.
“Comer’s actions prove that his interest in issuing this subpoena was never about seeking the truth, but was always about weaponizing the powers of this Committee,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said Thursday, per NBC News.
Per Fox News, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), the House Minority Leader, went on to describe the Oversight Committee as “a complete and total embarrassment right now.”
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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