House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer has dropped some tantalizing tidbits about the FD-1023 Biden “bribery” form that a whistleblower has revealed the FBI has. The form allegedly says that there was an exchange of money with a foreign national for Biden to make certain policy decisions — that’s why it’s being referred to as a “bribery form” and could be a huge smoking gun.
On May 3, the Committee issued a subpoena for “all FD-1023 forms” created or modified in June 2020 containing the term “Biden” and including any accompanying documents and attachments.
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FBI Director Wray is defying a congressional subpoena for an unclassified record alleging a criminal scheme involving then-VP Joe Biden and a foreign national.
If Director Wray refuses to hand over this record, @GOPoversight will begin contempt of Congress proceedings. pic.twitter.com/mVttLatbJ5
— Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) May 24, 2023
The FBI was supposed to turn over the document on May 10. But the FBI has been stonewalling about turning over the form, as we have reported. Even House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) had to lean on FBI Director Christopher Wray to turn over the document. He said he believed he was going to get it. But so far, Wray is still failing to comply or provide any accommodation by which they might view the document.
Instead, the FBI tried to stall by asking for another meeting. Either they are going to turn it over or not. What is there to talk about, if they’re not going to let Comer even look at it?
Comer and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the guy who the whistleblower first went to, demanded a phone call with Wray and he wouldn’t even do that — that’s how non-compliant and out of line the FBI is on this, at this point.
But one of the things that they discovered in this process was that the FBI said they needed to narrow their request still more — because there were too many pertinent documents for “Biden” and “June 2020.”
There was only one substantive comment regarding the subpoena Despite the Committee’s subpoena being narrowly tailored to June 2020, FBI staff indicated that the search terms were broad because there were many responsive documents containing the term “Biden” in its CHS database for that month. While that new information was alarming, Committee counsel offered to limit the subpoena to be even more precise. FBI staff responded that such limitation was unnecessary because they knew which document was responsive to the subpoena, yet simultaneously would not acknowledge that document’s existence. The FBI’s gamesmanship in holding a meeting about general CHS confidentiality issues instead of addressing the specific FD-1023 form the Committee subpoenaed is unacceptable.
In Comer’s words, that’s “alarming,” to say the least. Why are there so many forms pertaining to “Biden” in just that month? Despite the FBI’s stall tactics, Comer narrowed down the request to “June 30, 2020” and “five million,” which was the bribery amount. Comer also took another shot at the fact that there were so many forms pertaining to “Biden.”
The FBl’s refusal to produce this single document is obstructionist. Nevertheless, to narrow the breadth of the subpoena, we are providing additional terms based on unclassified and legally protected whistleblower disclosures that may be referenced in the FD-1023 form: “June 30, 2020” and “five million.” These terms relate to the date on the FD-1023 form and its reference to the amount of money the foreign national allegedly paid to receive the desired policy outcome. Given the large number of FD-1023 forms with the word “Biden” in June 2020, these terms should assist the FBI in identifying the specific FD-1023 form at issue. Despite the FBI’s unreasonable delay, the Committee will allow FBI six more days to produce the FD-1023 form. To the extent there are numerous documents referencing “Biden” and “five million” dollar payments, please let us know promptly.
Comer is now giving Wray until May 30. He said that if they do not receive the form by then, he will proceed with contempt proceedings. That’s next Tuesday, so Wray doesn’t have a lot of time.
Now, the details that Comer revealed about the amount of money and the date are intriguing. A source told the NY Post it is not believed that it pertains to China. The Post is postulating that it might pertain to Ukraine, the other big arena that had a lot of money flowing out to Hunter Biden.
In a remarkable coincidence, Ukrainian officials held a press conference in Kyiv on June 13, 2020 — 17 days before the FBI tipoff — where they showed off $5 million in cash allegedly offered as a bribe to end an investigation of natural gas company Burisma’s founder Mykola Zlochevsky.
Burisma employed first son Hunter Biden from 2014 to 2019 and an executive from the firm met Vice President Biden at an April 16, 2015, dinner in Washington.
The cash seized by Ukrainian officials in 2020 was paid in American $100 bills that were put on display — and matches the amount that Joe Biden allegedly received years earlier.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine said at the time that three Kyiv bureaucrats, including a current and a former tax official, were arrested and that an additional $1 million was offered to an office-holder working as a middleman.
However, the Ukrainian anti-corruption prosecutor, Nazar Kholodnytsky, said at the time that “Biden Jr. and Biden Sr. do not appear in this particular proceeding.”
Joe Biden did push for support for the natural gas industry in Ukraine when his son was on the board of Burisma, according to former White House stenographer Mike McCormick. He’s been trying to get the U.S. Attorney in charge of the Hunter Biden case to call him before the grand jury to testify about what he knows regarding the matter. He called it a “kickback scheme” yet hadn’t been contacted by Weiss as of April, when we reported on his story.
There was also the infamous story about the leaning on Ukraine to fire the prosecutor. The prosecutor raided the home of the Burisma’s head Zlochevsky on February 2, 2016, and then the prosecutor was fired in March 2016.
So, there are all kinds of possibilities regarding Ukraine. The only problem is because the Bidens were so involved in so many schemes, there are a lot of possibilities, not just Ukraine. But $5 million is a big payday for the “Big Guy,” if that’s true.
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