Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate are seeking information from the FBI related to what they call a "criminal scheme" involving President Joe Biden.
Senator Chuck Grassley and Representative James Comer, who is chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, are demanding that the FBI produce an unclassified record "alleging a criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national."
However, the Republicans have not made specific allegations against Biden or named the foreign national they say was involved in the alleged criminality. It's also not clear what information the records they're seeking might contain.
The two Republicans issued a joint statement about the matter on Wednesday and Comer also issued a subpoena to the FBI seeking an unclassified FD-1023 document relating to the alleged "criminal scheme."
"We believe the FBI possesses an unclassified internal document that includes very serious and detailed allegations implicating the current President of the United States. What we don't know is what, if anything, the FBI has done to verify these claims or investigate further. The FBI's recent history of botching politically charged investigations demands close congressional oversight," Grassley said.
Comer added that "information provided by a whistleblower raises concerns that then-Vice President Biden allegedly engaged in a bribery scheme with a foreign national."
The subpoena seeks all FD-1023 forms that were "created or modified in June 2020" and that contain the word "Biden," as well as any related documents and attachments.
An FD-1023 form is generally a report about an informant and may involve someone speaking to the FBI about alleged crimes.
Newsweek has reached out to Grassley's and Comer's offices via email for comment.
The White House strongly criticized the investigation in an emailed statement to Newsweek on Wednesday.
"For going on five years now, Republicans in Congress have been lobbing unfounded, unproven, politically-motivated attacks against the President and his family without offering evidence for their claims or evidence of decisions influenced by anything other than U.S. interests," Ian Sams, a White House spokesman, told Newsweek in the statement.
"That's because they prefer floating anonymous innuendo, amplified by the megaphone of their allies in right-wing media, to get attention and try to distract and deflect from their own unpopular ideas and lack of solutions to the issues the American people actually care about," Sams said.
"When it comes to President Biden's personal finances, anybody can take a look. He has offered an unprecedented level of transparency, releasing a total of 25 years of tax returns to the American public," he added.
Chad Pergram, senior congressional correspondent for Fox News, reported further comments from Grassley on Twitter on Wednesday.
"I can't verify whether or not it's really criminal activity, but I do have faith in the whistleblowers that this document exists," Grassley reportedly told Pergram.
He added: "We have a rough idea of what's in the document, and I just want to do what congressional oversight responsibilities I have to see what the FBI is and the DOJ has done to follow up on it."
Sams retweeted the post from Pergram on Wednesday, writing: "Headline of Grassley press release: 'Grassley, Comer Demand FBI Record Alleging Criminal Scheme Involving Then-VP Biden' Grassley a few hours later to Fox: 'I can't verify whether or not it's really criminal activity.'"
"Innuendo and insinuation masquerading as investigation," Sams wrote.
The Republicans' move has also come in for criticism online. Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti responded to a tweet from Grassley in which the senator mentioned his belief that the FBI possesses a document containing serious allegations about Biden.
"What is the basis of Grassley's belief? A staffer told him? He heard it on a radio show?" Mariotti wrote.
"'Allegations': Made by whom? A Republican Congressman? An old friend? His tweet is deliberately vague and could mean almost anything," he added.
Former President Donald Trump was in office during the time period specified in the subpoena, June 2020. Biden effectively won the Democratic presidential nomination on June 5, 2020, when he secured the necessary number of delegates.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more
