Exclusive: Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson are calling the FBI to investigate what steps the bureau and the Department of Justice took to investigate the FD-1023 form indicting the now-infamous bribery scheme. requesting that Alexander Smirnov’s processing agent and his supervisor be available for an interview. Joe Biden and Ukraine are involved.
Fox News Digital obtained a letter late Tuesday from Grassley, R-Iowa, and Johnson, R-Wisconsin, to Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Special Counsel David Weiss.
“Since October 13, 2022, Congress has requested information and records from the Department of Justice and the FBI regarding FD-1023 and what steps the Department of Justice has taken to investigate this document (if any). (if any) to better understand it,” Grassley and Johnson wrote.
Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson are demanding answers from the FBI and Justice Department. (AP/Getty Images)
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Grassley was contacted by a whistleblower in 2022 about FBI documents dating back to 2020 detailing a bribery scheme between Joe Biden, Hunter Biden and the head of Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma. He claimed to be in possession of “FD-1023.” Holdings.
The FD-1023 form is used by FBI agents to record unconfirmed reports from confidential sources. This form is used to document information conveyed to FBI agents, but recording that information does not allow the FBI to verify or compare the information with other information known to the FBI. There is nothing to do.
FD-1023 details allegations by FBI confidential intelligence source Alexander Smirnov, who told the FBI in June 2020 about a meeting he had with Burisma executives several years ago, in which he is said to have “admitted that he hired Hunter Biden as a director of his company to protect himself.” Through his father, we were freed from all kinds of problems. ”
Hunter Biden served on Burisma’s board while his father was vice president.
The FD-1023 document includes Smirnov’s claims that Burisma executives paid Joe Biden $5 million and Hunter Biden $5 million while Biden was still serving as vice president. Smirnov also said the Bidens were paid to help Joe Biden quash a criminal investigation into Burisma that was being conducted by then-Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin. It is claimed that it was.
Joe and his son Hunter Biden take a walk. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Shokin was ultimately fired, but Joe Biden publicly boasted about it. Biden and his allies said Shokin’s removal was meant to root out corruption in Ukraine. At the time, Joe Biden was leading U.S.-Ukraine policy.
OPINION: FBI failed to vet confidential source claims in a timely manner.
Mr. Smirnov has since been charged with making false statements and creating false and fictitious records related to Mr. Biden’s business relationships in Ukraine. The charges stem from an investigation by Special Counsel David Weiss. Smirnov has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go on trial later this month.
“Mr. Smirnov’s federal indictment reveals how the Justice Department and FBI used this personnel security information for approximately 14 years, paid him hundreds of thousands of dollars, used his information in investigations and prosecutions, and ultimately “It leaves many questions unanswered, including whether they determined he was a criminal based on the facts of the case. He is a liar,” Grassley and Johnson wrote.
Mr. Grassley and Mr. Johnson also said that the FBI had no idea that the They refused to even confirm its existence.”
FBI Director Christopher Wray (left) arrives to testify at the Congressional Committee of the Whole hearing on ‘Communist China’ [Chinese Communist Party] “Cyber Threats to America’s Homeland and National Security,” Washington, DC, January 31, 2024. (Julia Nickinson/AFP via Getty Images)
During that call, Ray informed Grassley and Comer of the “importance of a confidential source (Smirnov) to the FBI’s investigative efforts.”
“Indeed, regarding the credibility of that allegation, the FBI told the House Oversight and Accountability Committee that the confidential source was ‘highly reliable,’ trusted, had worked for the FBI for years, and was in the ‘six figures.’ “The FBI further represented to Congress that the information from confidential sources was used in criminal investigations and prosecutions,” the letter added.
Grassley and Johnson also pointed to testimony from senior Justice Department officials such as then-U.S. Attorney Scott Brady, who said FD-1023 and confidential personnel sources were “scrutinized against Russian disinformation sources.” ”, a Justice Department official said, “found to be a Russian disinformation source.” It doesn’t come from Russian disinformation. ”
Special Counsel David Weiss (Ministry of Justice)
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They also noted Wray’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in December, in which he said, “I learned about 1023 much more recently than what was definitely happening around 2020.” said.
“This answer highlights the problem that the FBI Director was not informed about FD-1023 until years after it was created.” they wrote. “Despite the FBI telling Congress that its confidential sources were ‘highly reliable’ and that it suspected the matter involved a criminal plot with a sitting president. , Why was the FBI director kept in the dark for so long?”
Wray was subpoenaed last year over the document, putting him at risk of being charged with contempt of Congress after the FBI failed to produce it to protect CHS. Mr. Wray eventually took the form to the Capitol for lawmakers to review at the SCIF.
Grassley ultimately released an edited version of FD-1023 to the public in July 2023.
They further asked, “Why were no investigative steps taken, such as interviewing Mr. Smirnov, to determine the veracity of FD-1023 over three years?”
Grassley and Johnson noted that while the FBI eventually interviewed Smirnov, it did so on September 27, 2023, and “was unable to inform Congress of that fact.”
Mr. Grassley and Mr. Johnson said Smirnov’s indictment, filed in February, resulted in Mr. Grassley and Mr. Comer “using force and releasing FD-1023 on July 20, after which the FBI and Weiss “This shows that he did not even have a meeting with Mr. Smirnov until September,” he said. , 2023.
Grassley and Johnson noted that a month later, in late August, FBI agents met with the FBI agent in charge of Smirnov.
“As Sen. Johnson pointed out, the FBI’s questionable handling of this sensitive human source highlights a larger scandal related to systemic corruption within federal law enforcement, the Department of Justice, and the intelligence community. ” they wrote.
Flashback: Biden allegedly ‘forced’ to pay millions of dollars to Burisma CEO to help fire Ukraine prosecutor: FBI form
Mr. Grassley and Mr. Johnson are asking the Justice Department and the FBI to make Mr. Smirnov’s agents and their supervisors available for “full-day transcribed interviews no later than May 7, 2024.”
Those individuals’ names are included in the letter but are completely redacted.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) arrives for a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on judicial nominations at the Capitol on September 6, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Grassley responded to his request Wednesday, telling Fox News Digital, “The FBI swore to me and my colleagues in Congress that we could trust their classified information, but ultimately, as I asked, When they looked into his information, they are now telling the public that he raised red flags.”
“If it weren’t for my supervision, Smirnov would still be spending taxpayers’ dime to spin stories for the FBI,” Grassley said. “It is the job of the FBI and the Department of Justice to conduct sensitive investigations in a fair, careful, and timely manner. However, nearly four years after FD-1023 was created, the Department of Justice and the FBI They have investigated all aspects and finally announced that they had solved the problem once and for all. ”
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Grassley said the situation is “a classic example of the train wreck that happens when the government strangles Congress and the American people, letting partisan politics get in the way of its constitutional obligations.”
“The FBI and the Department of Justice should be ashamed of their own colossal failures of transparency,” Grassley told Fox News Digital. “I will not stop until all those responsible are held accountable and there is full transparency into the government’s actions on this issue.”
Sen. Ron Johnson agreed, saying the FBI and Justice Department’s “problematic” handling of Smirnov and their “refusal to provide transparency to Congress highlight an overall corruption scandal within federal law enforcement.” “I’m doing it,” he told FOX News Digital.
The Justice Department and FBI confirmed receipt of the letter but declined further comment to Fox News Digital.
