A House committee plans to vote Thursday on a contempt of congressional resolution against FBI Director Christopher Wray, escalating the Republican-led probe into President Joe Biden’s actions as vice president.
The dramatic movement comes when that is said Wray is refusing to fully comply with a subpoena to turn over a non-classified FBI-held document or documents that Republicans say link Biden to a $5 million “bribery scheme.” Involvement of an unknown foreigner.
If a majority of the Oversight Committee approves a contempt for Wray, the measure would go to the House of Representatives plenary for a vote and likely referral to the Justice Department.
The FBI said in a statement Monday it had “demonstrated its determination to honor the committee’s request, including presenting the document in a reading room at the U.S. Capitol.”
“An escalation to a contempt vote is not warranted under these circumstances,” the FBI said in the statement.
A spokesman for the Justice Department declined to comment. On the other hand, A White House spokesman, Ian Sams, said in May that efforts to obtain the document were part of a Republican campaign to launch “baseless, unproven, and politically motivated attacks on the President and his family, with no evidence of theirs.” submit allegations”.
Law officials are unlikely to prosecute Wray, but there could be a protracted civil court battle between two branches of government.
Kentucky Rep. James Comer, the committee chair, announced the hearing Thursday after saying the FBI refused to release a document from a “confidential” source at a meeting Monday.
“It’s not really complicated. We want the document,” he said, adding that the committee would vote on it on Thursday.
“The confidential human source that provided information that then-Vice President Biden was involved in a criminal bribery scheme is a highly credible, trusted whistleblower who has been employed by the FBI for more than a decade and has been paid in excess of six figures.”said Eat.
Both Comer and Maryland’s Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the committee, were able to confirm the document’s existence at FBI briefings Monday, and both said they did indeed have access to all or part of it.
In a statement Monday night, Raskin said the document detailed the FBI informant’s conversations with the FBI “about conversations he had with individuals in Ukraine.”
“The source, described by the FBI as highly credible, advised the FBI that it could not comment on the underlying accuracy of the information provided by these Ukrainian individuals,” Raskin said in the statement.
He said Attorney General William Barr, who served in the Trump administration, reviewed the same information and found “no corroborating evidence” for the allegations by Rudy Giuliani, an ally of then-President Donald Trump.
Raskin added that the FBI warned Comer that release of the document “could put the confidential human source at grave risk and undermine the integrity of future FBI programs and investigations.”
Raskin had previously described the document as “second-hand hearsay.” The FBI informant was not directly involved, he added.
Speaking to reporters later Monday, spokesman Kevin McCarthy said the point was that all members of the oversight committee — not just the chair and senior member — should have access to the document.
“Every member of this committee has a responsibility to take oversight,” McCarthy said, explaining that if that doesn’t happen, the attempt at contempt will continue..
“At least everyone has to see it,” he said.