Docs: FBI ‘Suppressed’ Intel On Chinese Meddling In 2020 Election

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) interfered with an investigation into Chinese meddling in the 2020 election to cover for former Director Christopher Wray, who had just testified to Congress that he had seen no evidence of a coordinated voter fraud effort, According to previously classified documents released Tuesday by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

The FBI “suppressed intelligence” of alleged Chinese Communist Party (CCP) interference in the 2020 election, including the production of ‘”tens of thousands’ of fraudulent drivers’ licenses to manufacture mail-in votes for then-presidential candidate Joe Biden,” according to a press release.

“These records smack of political decision-making and prove the Wray-led FBI to be a deeply broken institution. Ahead of a high-stakes election happening amid an unprecedented global pandemic, the FBI turned its back on its national security mission,” Grassley said. “One way or the other, intelligence must be fully investigated to determine whether it’s true, or if it’s just smoke and mirrors. Chris Wray’s FBI wasn’t looking out for the American people – it was looking to save its own image.”

Grassley released the documents after FBI Director Kash Patel declassified them and sent them to the Senate.

The apparent proof of a conspiracy to protect Wray come after Patel in June declassified documents further detailing the attempt from the CCP to produce the fake IDs to be used as validation of mail-in ballots and rig the 2020 election for Biden, as The Federalist reported.

According to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), officers caught 1,513 shipments of fraudulent documents, including 19,888 driver’s licenses, between January and June 2020, the majority of which came from China and Hong Kong.

Records released Tuesday show the FBI’s decision to “recall and suppress” a Sept. 25, 2020, Intelligence Information Report (IIR) from the Bureau’s Albany Field Office, which included information from a Confidential Human Source (CHS) showing evidence of the CCP plot.

Grassley’s office says that the evidence was never investigated further, despite signs of credibility, because of a “sudden and ‘abnormal’” decision to stop further proceedings and “bury the IIR’s existence,” because, as the FBI put it, “the reporting will contradict Director Wray’s testimony.”

“Most concerning to me, is stating the reporting would contradict with Director Wray’s testimony. I found this troubling because it implied to me that one of the reasons we aren’t putting this out is for a political reason, which goes directly against our organization’s mission to remain apolitical and simply state what we know,” an FBI Albany intelligence analyst said. “Likewise, at the field operational level, I do not feel it is our job to assess whether or not our intelligence aligns with the Director. … My concern is that I think it gets dangerous if we cite potential political implications as reasons for not putting out our information.” 

The FBI recalled the report to “re-interview the source,” but also told “recipients” to “destroy all copies of the original report and remove the original report from all computer holdings.”

One day prior to the original report, Wray had testified in a Senate hearing that he had not seen any evidence of wide spready vote-by-mail fraud, but that if he did, it would be something the FBI “would investigate seriously … and aggressively.”

“We have not seen historically any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election, whether it is by mail or otherwise,” Wray testified at the time. “[B]ut people should make no mistake we are vigilant as to the threat and watching it carefully, because we are in uncharted new territory.” 

Apparently not enough to pursue credible evidence of a scheme from the Chinese to rig mail-in ballots in favor of Biden. The rationale provided to Albany staff for the recall was that Headquarters deemed the report not “authoritative,” but this characterization was met with disagreement by those in the Albany office,” a June 27 letter from FBI Assistant Director Marshall Yates to Grassley states. “Albany staff further warned against FBI assuming the role of sole gatekeeper for the Intelligence Community (IC), emphasizing that suppressing field-generated reporting could deprive other IC elements of the opportunity to corroborate or discredit intelligence.”

According to FBI emails released from Grassley, Albany Field Office agents kept asking why the report would not be released, with the response being, “Again, the reporting will contradict Director Wray’s testimony.”

A subsequent reply from an agent stated, “I’m not trying to be a pain on this, but after taking some time thinking this over I just want to voice my opinion and concerns on this issue and make it clear I do not agree with the reasoning for not putting this out.”

“Now’s the time to rebuild the FBI’s trust,” Grassley said. “Director Patel’s willingness to work with me to establish renewed transparency and accountability is a critical part of that process, and I applaud him for his efforts.” 

Breccan F. Thies is a correspondent for The Federalist. He previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.