House Republicans seek FBI document they say alleges 'scheme involving' Biden
The White House on Wednesday denounced as "anonymous innuendo" a subpoena issued by the powerful House Oversight Committee demanding the FBI produce a record related to an alleged "criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national."
The subpoena, was which was obtained by ABC News, was sent by Oversight Chairman James Comer and his committee to FBI Director Christopher Wray.
Comer is seeking an unclassified FD-1023 document, which is generally defined as a report from an informant.
The subpoena sets a May 10 deadline for all FD-1023 forms that were "created or modified in June 2020" containing the word "Biden," along with related attachments and other documents.
A Department of Justice spokesperson told ABC News they have received the letter and subpoena but declined to comment further.
The subpoena represents a considerable escalation of the Oversight Committee's ongoing investigation of Biden and his family. Comer has made it clear since taking over the panel that probing the president would be a main priority.
"The American people need to know if President Biden sold out the United States of America to make money for himself," Comer said in a statement, adding that he and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, "will seek the truth to ensure accountability for the American people."
Wednesday's subpoena comes alongside a letter sent that same day to Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland from Comer and Grassley, who wrote that based on "highly credible unclassified whistleblower disclosures" they believe the Department of Justice and FBI "possess an unclassified FD-1023 form that describes an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions."
Both the letter and subpoena, however, provide little information on the nature of this explosive allegation, including further information on the background of the purported whistleblower.
The committee is also not revealing the identity of the foreign national.
Comer and Grassley wrote in their letter that they believe the document they seek includes some of these details. The subpoena cites a need for information to inform possible legislation around ethics and financial disclosure for presidents, vice presidents and their families.
An FD-1023 form could be generated in a variety of situations involving someone presenting themselves as a "source" with claims of wrongdoing.
The June 2020 timeframe detailed in the subpoena was at the height of the last presidential campaign, between Biden and Donald Trump
A White House spokesperson dismissed the subpoena as a partisan smokescreen.
"For going on five years now, Republicans in Congress have been lobbing unfounded, unproven, politically-motivated attacks against the President and his family without offering evidence for their claims or evidence of decisions influenced by anything other than U.S. interests," Ian Sams said. "That’s because they prefer floating anonymous innuendo, amplified by the megaphone of their allies in rightwing media, to get attention and try to distract and deflect from their own unpopular ideas and lack of solutions to the issues the American people actually care about."
"When it comes to President Biden’s personal finances, anybody can take a look: he has offered an unprecedented level of transparency, releasing a total of 25 years of tax returns to the American public," Sams said.
The Oversight Committee's ranking member, Jamie Raskin, also attacked the subpoena in a statement.
“Committee Republicans are recycling unsubstantiated claims floated by Senate Republicans .... Given Chair Comer’s commitment to ‘dismantle’ the FBI, it’s no surprise that he would rely on these unverified tips to attack President Biden in one more baseless partisan stunt," Raskin said, in part.
In his own statement, Grassley said, "We believe the FBI possesses an unclassified internal document that includes very serious and detailed allegations implicating the current President of the United States. What we don’t know is what, if anything, the FBI has done to verify these claims or investigate further."
