House Oversight Chair James Comer, R-Ky., said Tuesday that the committee is moving forward with a vote to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in criminal contempt of Congress for failing to hand over a document in the panel’s investigation into the Biden family’s business dealings.
Comer subpoenaed the FBI this month for a FD-1023 form that he and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, claim “describes an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions,” without providing further details. The FBI declined to provide the document, saying that it is bound by Justice Department policy, which “strictly limits when and how confidential human source information can be provided outside of the FBI.”
Comer last week threatened to hold Wray in contempt if the FBI didn’t provide the information by Tuesday. In a statement Tuesday, the House Oversight chair said the FBI informed the committee that “it will not provide the unclassified documents subpoenaed” by the panel.
“The FBI’s decision to stiff-arm Congress and hide this information from the American people is obstructionist and unacceptable,” he said.
Comer said he was scheduled to speak with Wray on Wednesday about the agency’s refusal to hand over the information, but the committee is preparing to take the punitive step ahead of their conversation.
“While I have a call scheduled with FBI Director Wray tomorrow to discuss his response further, the Committee has been clear in its intent to protect Congressional oversight authorities and will now be taking steps to hold the FBI Director in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a lawful subpoena,” he said. “Americans deserve the truth, and the Oversight Committee will continue to demand transparency from this nation’s chief law enforcement agency.”
The acting assistant director of the FBI, Christopher Dunham, on Tuesday sent a letter to Comer, prior to his contempt threat. In the letter, obtained by NBC News, Dunham explains why the bureau can’t comply with the committee’s subpoena due to the need to protect human sources.
“As we also have said previously, information provided by confidential human sources also implicates other longstanding Department confidentiality interest,” Dunham wrote. “The Department’s law enforcement and intelligence authorities enable us to collect significant amounts of information, but only subject to strict constitutional, statutory, and policy limits essential to the rule of law.”
The letter also outlines how the FBI explained to Comer and his staff the way FD-1023 forms were used and how they are vetted by agents to ensure their accuracy.
“Investigative reports, such as an FD-1023, include leads and suspicions, not the conclusions of investigators based on fuller context, including information that may not be available to the confidential source,” Dunham wrote. “As we have explained, an FD-1023 form documents information as told to a line FBI agent. Recording the information does not validate the information, establish its credibility, or weigh it against other information known or developed by the FBI.”
“Further, the public’s perception of the impartiality of the law enforcement process could be damaged if sensitive material is distributed beyond those necessary in the investigative process,” he added.
An FBI spokesperson said in a statement that the bureau “remains committed to cooperating with the committee in good faith.”
“In a letter to Chairman Comer earlier today, the FBI committed to providing access to information responsive to the Committee’s subpoena in a format and setting that maintains confidentiality and protects important security interests and the integrity of FBI investigations,” the FBI spokesperson said. “Last week, Director Wray scheduled a telephone call for tomorrow to provide additional details of the FBI’s extraordinary accommodation to satisfy the subpoena request. Any discussion of escalation under these circumstances is unnecessary.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., ranking member on the Oversight Committee, asked to be a part of Comer’s call with Wray on Wednesday afternoon, but Comer denied his request, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News.
In a statement to NBC, an Oversight Committee spokesperson argued Raskin’s inclusion on the call would not be productive.
“This call is not another opportunity for Ranking Member Raskin to minimize whistleblower revelations and undermine the authorities of the very institution he represents,” the spokesperson said.
The Justice Department enforces any contempt citation, meaning that it’s unlikely that it would pursue the House Oversight’s plans to hold Wray in contempt.
In an interview with “Fox and Friends” Wednesday morning, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., predicted Comer was ready to move forward with a vote to hold Wray in contempt. McCarthy said he personally called Wray and told him he needs to comply with the subpoena.
“If he misses the deadline today, I am prepared to move contempt charges in Congress against him,” McCarthy said. “We have jurisdiction over this. He can send us that document.”
“We have the right to look at that, Republicans and Democrats alike in that committee,” he added. “And if he does not follow through with the law, we will move contempt charges against Christopher Wray and the FBI.”
#House #Oversight #chair #prepares #hold #FBI #director #contempt #document #Biden #probe
