By Steve Neavling
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy threatened Tuesday to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress if he refuses to produce documents that he believes is related to President Biden and his family.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky, subpoenaed Wray earlier this month and warned that Wray would face the potential for contempt if he refused to comply.
Comer claimed that the FD-1023 forms, which are records of interactions with confidential sources, contain information related to “an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions.”
“So let me not just tell you. Let me tell Director Christopher Wray, right here, right now: If he misses the deadline today, I am prepared to move contempt charges in Congress against him,” McCarthy said Tuesday on Fox News.
In a letter to Wray on May 24, Comer said he was frustrated with the FBI’s unwillingness to produce the records.
“Instead of working with the Committee, the FBI has refused to even acknowledge whether the FD-1023 form exists. And the agency has made no attempts to engage in a reasonable accommodation process,” Comer wrote in the letter. “The FBI’s refusal to produce this single document is obstructionist.”
McCarthy said he told Wray to produce the document.
“Comer subpoenaed the document that he has requested. We have jurisdiction over the FBI, which they seem to act like we do not. I personally called Director Wray and told him: He needs to send that document. Today is the deadline,” McCarthy said on Fox News.
He added, “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, and if he does not follow through with the law, we will move contempt charges against Christopher Wray and the FBI. They are not above the law.”
In a statement, the FBI told the Associated Press that it plans to cooperate with lawmakers in “good faith” and that “any discussion of escalation under these circumstances is unnecessary.”
The FBI added that it offered to provide “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.”
