The FBI is willing to allow all members of the House Oversight Committee to view the subpoenaed document that alleges President Joe Biden was involved in a criminal bribery scheme, a source familiar told Fox News Digital.
The source familiar said all members of the panel would be able to view the document in question – an FBI-generated 1023 form – in a secure location. It is unclear whether the secure location would be in a SCIF on Capitol Hill or at the FBI’s headquarters.
FBI Director Christopher Wray speaks during a news conference on Aug. 10, 2022, in Omaha, Nebraska. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
The offer comes as House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is set to begin contempt of Congress hearings against FBI Director Wray Thursday for failing to comply with the committee’s subpoena for the document.
The document allegedly describes a $5 million criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions.
The FBI brought the FD-1023 form to Capitol Hill on Monday for Comer, R-Ky., and ranking member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., to review in a secure SCIF (sensitive compartmented information facility), resulting from a back-and-forth between committee Republicans and the bureau over whether it was in compliance with his subpoena.
The FBI initially offered to allow Comer to review the document at FBI headquarters, but amid Comer’s threats to hold Wray in contempt of Congress, the bureau offered additional accommodations to bring the physical document to Capitol Hill.
Representative James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky and chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, speaks during a hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. (Photographer: Anna Rose Layden/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Despite the accommodation, Comer said Monday that the FBI is still not in compliance with the subpoena to turn over the physical document to the committee.
“At the briefing, the FBI again refused to hand over the unclassified record to the custody of the House Oversight Committee,” Comer said in a statement. “And we will now initiate contempt of Congress hearings this Thursday.”
“Given the severity and complexity of the allegations contained within this record, Congress must investigate further,” Comer wrote. “The investigation is not dead. This is only the beginning.”
The FBI, on Monday, said the move to hold the director in contempt is unwarranted, as the bureau has “continually demonstrated its commitment to accommodate the committee’s request, including by producing the document in a reading room at the U.S. Capitol.”
“This commonsense safeguard is often employed in response to congressional requests and in court proceedings to protect important concerns, such as the physical safety of sources and the integrity of investigations,” the FBI said in a statement. “The escalation to a contempt vote under these circumstances is unwarranted.”
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray testifies before the House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Capitol Hill, Thursday, June 10, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Meanwhile, Comer said FBI officials confirmed Monday that the unclassified FBI-generated record “has not been disproven and is currently being used in an ongoing investigation by a confidential human source who provided information about the vice president by being involved in a criminal bribery scheme is a trusted, highly credible informant who has been used by the FBI for over ten years and has been paid over 6 figures.”
Comer added, “These are facts and no amount of spin and frankly, lies from the White House or congressional Democrats can change this information.”
Fox News Digital first reported Friday that the confidential human source who provided the Biden information to the FBI was a “pre-existing” FBI source who has been used in multiple investigative matters separate from the Biden information.
The source told Fox News Digital that the confidential human source was used by the FBI for “at least several years” before the generation of the June 2020 FD-1023 form that detailed the Biden allegations.
The source also told Fox News Digital that the confidential human source has been “consistently reviewed by the FBI” and has been “found to be highly credible.”
The source said the individual participated in investigative matters during the Obama administration.
Biden speaks at an event commemorating womens’ history.
The revelations of the document come after Comer and GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, were approached by a whistleblower who said the FBI was in possession of a document – an FD-1023 form dated June 30, 2020 – that explicitly detailed information provided by a confidential human source who alleged that Biden, while serving as vice president, was involved in a $5 million criminal bribery scheme with a foreign national in exchange for influence over policy decisions.
The information in the FD-1023 form, according to the whistleblower, reveals “a precise description of how the alleged criminal scheme was employed as well as its purpose” and details an arrangement involving an exchange of money for policy decisions.
An FD-1023 form is used by FBI agents to record unverified reporting from confidential human sources. The form is used to document information as told to an FBI agent, but recording that information does not validate or weigh it against other information known by the FBI.
