Sens. Chuck Grassley, Ron Johnson and more are demanding answers from the FBI, DOJ. (AP/Getty Images)
JUDGE RULES NO BAIL RELEASE FOR FBI INFORMANT ACCUSED OF LYING ABOUT BIDEN BUSINESS TIES
Grassley was approached by a whistleblower in 2022 who alleged the FBI was in possession of a document — the FD-1023 — which dated back to 2020 and detailed a bribery scheme between Joe Biden, Hunter Biden and the top executive of Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings.
An FD-1023 form is used by FBI agents to record unverified reporting from confidential human sources. The form is used to document information as told to an FBI agent, but recording that information does not validate or weigh it against other information known by the FBI.
The FD-1023 details claims from FBI confidential human source Alexander Smirnov who told the FBI in June 2020 about meetings he had with Burisma executives years prior, where they supposedly admitted that they hired Hunter Biden to sit on the board of the company to "protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems."
Hunter Biden sat on the board of Burisma while his father was vice president.
The FD-1023 document includes Smirnov’s claims that Burisma executives paid $5 million to Joe Biden and $5 million to Hunter Biden, while Joe Biden was still in office as vice president. Smirnov also claims that the Bidens were paid so that Joe Biden could help to quash criminal investigation into Burisma being conducted by then-Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin.
FBI Director, Christopher Wray (L), arrives to testify during a Congressional full committee hearing on the "The CCP [Chinese Communist Party] Cyber Threat to the American Homeland and National Security" in Washington, DC, January 31, 2024. (JULIA NIKHINSON/AFP via Getty Images)
During that call, Wray informed Grassley and Comer of "the importance of the Confidential Human Source (Smirnov) to the FBI’s investigative work."
"Indeed, in regard to that alleged credibility, the FBI informed the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability that the Confidential Human Source was ‘highly credible,’ trusted, and had worked for the FBI for years and had been paid ‘six figures,’" the letter states, adding that the "FBI further represented to Congress that information from the Confidential Human Source was used in criminal investigations and prosecutions."
Grassley and Johnson also pointed out testimony from top Justice Department officials, like then-U.S. Attorney Scott Brady, who said the FD-1023 and the confidential human source "was vetted against sources of Russian disinformation" and that DOJ officials "found that it was not sourced from Russian disinformation."
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) arrives for a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on judicial nominations on Capitol Hill September 6, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Grassley, on Wednesday, reacted to his request, telling Fox News Digital that the "FBI swore up and down to me and my congressional colleagues that their Confidential Human Source was credible, but when they finally took a look at his information like I asked, they now tell the public he turned up red flags."
"If it weren’t for my oversight, Smirnov would still be spinning tales for the FBI on the taxpayer’s dime," Grassley said. "It is the FBI and DOJ’s job to carry out sensitive investigations in an unbiased, prudent and timely manner. But almost four years after the FD-1023 was created, the Justice Department and FBI have yet to come clean to the American people, confirm they’ve investigated every aspect of it and conclusively say they’ve run the entire matter to the ground once and for all."
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Grassley said this situation is a "prime example of the train wreck that ensues when you let partisan politics get in the way of your constitutional duty, and when the government stiff-arms Congress and the American people."
"The FBI and DOJ ought to be embarrassed by their colossal transparency failures," Grassley told Fox News Digital. "I won’t stop until all those responsible have been held to account and there is fully transparency regarding the government’s conduct in this matter."
Sen. Ron Johnson agreed, telling Fox News Digital that the FBI and DOJ’s "questionable" handling of Smirnov and its "refusal to provide transparency to Congress underscores the scandal of the overall corruption within our federal law enforcement agencies."
The DOJ and FBI confirmed receipt of the letter, but declined to comment further to Fox News Digital.
Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/senators-demand-fbi-agents-testify-highly-credible-source-allegedly-made-up-biden-bribery-scheme