US House Republicans release contempt resolution against FBI chief

WASHINGTON

Republican House of Representatives Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer released a resolution Wednesday seeking to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress amid an ongoing fight concerning a bureau document.

Comer has been locked in a battle with Wray about a document Republicans believe implicates US President Joe Biden in wrongdoing as part of a bribery scheme with a foreign national while he was serving as vice president during the Obama administration.

Comer has subpoenaed Wray for the document, and the FBI chief allowed him and Jamie Raskin, the committee's senior Democrat, to view it for more than an hour in a secure location at the bureau's Washington, DC headquarters. Comer has said that is insufficient.

"We have been clear that the FBI must produce the unclassified FD-1023 record to the custody of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. To date, the FBI has refused to comply with our lawfully issued subpoena and even refused to admit the record’s existence up until a week ago," he said in a statement.

"Once Director Wray confirmed the record’s existence, the FBI started their coverup by leaking a false narrative to the media. The case is not closed as the White House, Democrats, and the FBI would have the American people believe," he added.

The FD-1023 form includes allegations from a confidential FBI source that has not been corroborated.

In a statement issued after he and Comer viewed the document Monday, Raskin reiterated the FBI's concerns about releasing the document publicly, saying it could put the source's identity at risk and undermine ongoing investigations.

"Rather than acknowledge these legitimate law enforcement concerns, Chairman Comer has declared his intent to hold Director Wray in contempt of Congress to further promote debunked Republican conspiracy theories," he said.

"Chairman Comer’s subpoena is about recycling stale and debunked Burisma conspiracy theories long peddled by Rudy Giuliani and a Russian agent, sanctioned by former President Trump’s own Treasury Department, as part of the effort to smear President Biden and help Mr. Trump’s reelection campaign," he added.

The Oversight Committee is expected to take up the resolution Thursday morning.