Top Democrat Urges FBI to Publicize Evidence in Biden Corruption Probe.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the leading Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, is demanding transparency from the FBI regarding allegations of bribery involving President Joe Biden. Raskin has asked the FBI to release evidence that would confirm Biden is not under federal investigation.
The allegations stem from an FBI informant’s claims documented in form FD-1023, which accuses then-Vice President Biden of participating in a $5 million bribery scheme with a foreign national. The informant also alleged that Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, benefited from the arrangement.
Raskin and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) were briefed on the matter and viewed the FD-1023 form during a closed-door meeting with senior FBI officials. While Comer believes the investigation is ongoing, Raskin argues that there is insufficient evidence to support the claims.
In response to the conflicting accounts, Raskin has written a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray, requesting written confirmation of the information provided during the briefing. He wants the FBI to publicly disclose the evidence by June 23 to counter Comer’s assertions that the investigation is still active.
Former Attorney General Bill Barr has also weighed in on the matter, stating that the investigation has not been closed and has been sent to the Delaware U.S. attorney’s office for further examination. The Delaware office is currently investigating Hunter Biden’s tax affairs.
The dispute over the Biden bribery investigation continues, with Raskin seeking clarity and transparency from the FBI. The ongoing controversy surrounding these allegations raises questions about the credibility of the claims and the potential impact on the Biden administration.
Put It In Writing
On Friday, Raskin wrote a letter (pdf) to FBI Director Christopher Wray, asking him to confirm in writing the non-classified information provided to himself and Comer at the briefing.
“The statements made by the FBI are critical to fully assess the credibility and validity of the double hearsay allegations set forth in the Form FD-1023,” Raskin wrote, requesting that the FBI “reiterate in writing” and provide by June 23 the evidence the agency has provided to him and Comer.
Raskin suggested the reason he’s asking for the public disclosure of the evidence is to confirm that Biden is not under investigation by the FBI on bribery allegations and so to counter claims made by Comer that the agency may, in fact, be continuing its FD-1023 investigation.
Conflicting Accounts
Raskin’s letter is part of an ongoing dispute over whether the Biden bribery investigation continues, or has been shut down.
During the June 5 meeting, senior FBI officials answered Raskin’s and Comer’s questions for about an hour and gave “crucial context” to understand FD-1023 and the related FBI investigation, the Democrat lawmaker wrote in the letter to Wray.
Raskin said that, in the briefing, the FBI explained that this form was created as part of an “assessment” that then-Attorney General Bill Barr assigned to Scott Brady, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, with the aim of examining corruption claims leveled against Biden by Rudy Giuliani, a former New York City Mayor who was given Hunter Biden’s laptop by a Delaware computer repairman.
Giuliani had alleged that Biden pressured Ukrainian officials to fire top Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin by threatening to cut off $1 billion in guaranteed loans to the Eastern European country because Shokin was planning to investigate Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian energy company that employed his son, Hunter Biden.
Shokin was fired in April 2016, amid long-standing charges of corruption. However, Shokin told a European court in a sworn affidavit that he was removed because he refused to drop the investigation into Burisma.
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