The Republican-led House Oversight Committee has demanded access to an internal FBI document that, according to a whistleblower, outlines a bribery scheme involving then-Vice President Joe Biden with a foreign national seeking influence over U.S. policy -- a document the FBI has been steadfastly resistant to turning over.
Now a member of that committee, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), has suggested that the reason for the resistance is concern among the FBI that an informant who provided the information contained in that document could be killed if publicly exposed, the Conservative Brief reported.
In a tweet posted Monday, the Florida congresswoman wrote, "Just left meeting for House Oversight. The @FBI is afraid their informant will be killed if unmasked, based on the info he has brought forward about the Biden family."
Last week, Fox News reported that House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) had previously been informed by an FBI whistleblower of the existence of what is known as an FD-1023 form that documented an alleged bribery scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national.
Such forms are used to document unverified information received from confidential human sources and don't necessarily validate said information, though according to the whistleblower, this particular FD-1023 outlined "a precise description of how the alleged criminal scheme was employed as well as its purpose," and even provided details on alleged arrangements for a transfer of $5 million in exchange for influence over unspecified policy decisions.
That Fox News report further stated that, according to its own sources who were "familiar" with the form -- which is dated June 30, 2020 -- the information contained therein was provided by a "pre-existing" FBI informant who had been involved in numerous other prior investigations for "at least several years" dating back to the Obama administration.
The informant was further described as having been "consistently reviewed by the FBI" and was repeatedly "found to be highly credible" in terms of the confidential information provided to the Bureau.
The Fox News report also noted that a spokesperson for Sen. Grassley told the outlet, "We know the FBI has very serious allegations against then-Vice President Biden. The question is what did they do with it. Did they investigate the leads or sweep it under the rug?" and added, "This is exactly why we need transparency into the document and what the FBI did with it? That’s what Sen. Grassley has sought from the start."
Chairman Comer, who has subpoenaed the FD-1023 form but was repeatedly denied actually seeing it by FBI Director Chris Wray -- ostensibly over concerns that confidential "sources and methods" might be revealed -- told Fox News last week, "FBI Director Wray confirmed the existence of the FD-1023 form alleging then-Vice President Biden engaged in a criminal bribery scheme with a foreign national."
"This form, generated by the FBI from a highly credible human informant with years of experience, tracks closely with what we are seeing in our investigation into the Biden family’s influence-peddling schemes," he added. "The Committee has been clear in its intent to protect Congressional oversight authorities and is prepared to hold the FBI Director in contempt of Congress if the agency refuses to comply with a lawful subpoena."
Fox News also reported at that time that the FBI had offered to allow Chairman Comer and Sen. Grassley to review the form themselves, then further offered to allow other committee members to also review the document and receive a briefing on it in a secure facility on Monday.
That seemingly occurred, as per the tweet from Rep. Luna, as well as a statement issued by Comer on Monday, though it was made clear that Director Wray is far from off the hook for his prior refusal to fully comply with the committee's subpoenas.
"Today, FBI officials confirmed that the unclassified, FBI-generated record has not been disproven and stated several times the information contained within it is currently being used in an ongoing investigation," Comer said. "The confidential human source who provided information about then-Vice President Biden being involved in a criminal bribery scheme is a trusted, highly credible informant who has been used by the FBI for years. These are facts and no amount of spin, and frankly lies, from the White House or Congressional Democrats can change this information."
"At the briefing, the FBI again refused to hand over the unclassified record to the custody of the House Oversight Committee and we will now initiate contempt of Congress proceedings," he added. "Given the severity and complexity of the allegations contained within this record, Congress must investigate further. Americans have lost trust in the FBI’s ability to enforce the law impartially and demand answers, transparency, and accountability. The Oversight Committee must follow the facts for the American people and ensure the federal government is held accountable."
