By Steve Neavling
The FBI on Wednesday declined a request from House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer to provide an internal law enforcement document that some Republicans claim will show President Biden was involved in an illegal scheme when he was vice president.
In a subpoena and a letter to the FBI on May 3, Comer demanded access to a record involving “highly credible unclassified whistleblower disclosures” detailing “an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions.”
In a letter Wednesday, the FBI responded that it was committed to “beginning the constitutionally mandated accommodation process,” but said the bureau must abide by a Justice Department policy that “strictly limits when and how confidential human source information can be provided outside of the FBI,” NBC News reports.
“Often, even confirming the fact of the existence (or nonexistence) of an investigation or a particular piece of investigative information can risk these serious harms,” Christopher Dunham, the acting assistant director for congressional affairs wrote.
Comer criticized the bureau for failing to turn over the information.
“It’s clear from the FBI’s response that the unclassified record the Oversight Committee subpoenaed exists, but they are refusing to provide it to the Committee,” he said in a statement. “We’ve asked the FBI to not only provide this record, but to also inform us what it did to investigate these allegations. The FBI has failed to do both.”
An FBI spokesperson said the reported “is used by FBI agents to record unverified reporting by a confidential human source.”
“Documenting the information does not validate it, establish its credibility, or weigh it against other information verified by the FBI,” the spokesperson said in a statement, adding that providing such information could harm investigations and judicial proceedings and “unfairly violate privacy or reputations.”
