Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley alleged on the Senate floor Monday that the foreign national with whom President Joe Biden is accused of striking a bribery deal has 17 audio recordings of his conversations with the president and his son, Hunter Biden.
House Republicans have accused the president of bribery and corruption from his time as vice president in connection to an unclassified FD-1023 form that includes an unverified allegation from a human source. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, alongside Grassley, subpoenaed the FBI for access to the form last month, and House members were finally able to view the document behind closed doors last week after Comer threatened to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress.
According to a report from NBC News, the FBI and a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney reviewed the allegations against the Biden family when they were first made in 2020. However, law enforcement officials found the claims to be unsubstantiated.
Lawmakers were offered a chance to view a redacted version of the FD-1023, and according to a description from Georgia GOP Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, the document contains details about Hunter Biden's time as a board member with the Ukrainian oil company, Burisma Holdings. The form also accuses two unnamed Biden family members of accepting a $10 million bribe to oust former Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin in 2016, who had previously launched an investigation against Burisma.
Although Comer pulled back on plans to hold a contempt vote of Wray after lawmakers were given access to the form, Grassley called on the FBI to release the FD-1023 to the American public "without unnecessary redactions" as well, during a Senate session on Monday.
"Now, accordingly, Congress still lacks a full and complete picture with respect to what that document really says," Grassley said on the Senate floor. "That's why it's important that the document be made public without unnecessary redactions for the American people to see. Can you believe redacting an unclassified document?"
"So now, let me assist for the purposes of more transparency on this subject," the senator continued. "The 1023 produced to the House committees redacted reference that the foreign national who allegedly bribed Joe and Hunter Biden allegedly has audio recordings of his conversation with them. 17 such recordings."
According to Grassley, the foreign national in question has possession of 15 audio tapes of phone calls between himself and Hunter Biden and two audio recordings of conversations with then-Vice President Joe Biden.
"Special Counsel Jack Smith has used a recording against former President [Donald] Trump," Grassley added. "Well, what is U.S. Attorney [David] Weiss doing with respect to these alleged Joe and Hunter Biden recordings that are apparently relevant to the high-stakes bribery scheme?"
Weiss, a Trump-appointed attorney, is leading the yearlong DOJ probe into Hunter Biden's taxes. Smith oversaw the investigation into Trump's handling of classified documents that he took with him upon leaving the White House, which resulted in federal charges against the former president last week.
The White House has previously denied the bribery allegation against Biden, dismissing it as a "politically motivated attack" from Republicans that lacks evidence. Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin, ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, has also been given access to the FD-1023 and said the accusations are "part of the effort to smear President Biden and help Mr. Trump's reelection campaign."
Newsweek has reached out to the White House via email for comment.
After news broke that Trump is facing 37 federal charges in connection to the Justice Department's classified documents investigation, several Republican lawmakers accused the federal government of releasing Trump's indictment as a way to distract from the accusations against Biden. Lawmakers were given access to the FD-1023 form a few hours before Trump's lawyers were notified of his charges.
The former president maintains that he is innocent in the Justice Department probe.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Kaitlin Lewis is a Newsweek reporter on the Night Team based in Boston, Massachusetts. Her focus is reporting on national ... Read more
