The FBI allegedly covered up information provided about the Biden family by its own confidential human sources by labeling it “foreign disinformation,” according to new information provided Wednesday by Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley.
Grassley wrote a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday detailing how the FBI allegedly undermined its own sources on “criminal information” related to Joe, Hunter and James Biden. (RELATED: FBI Received ‘Criminal Information’ On Joe And Hunter Biden From Over 40 Confidential Sources, Sen Grassley Finds)
Here is the full letter from Sen. Grassley with explosive allegations from protected whistleblowers detailing how the FBI attempted to shut down investigative activity into the Biden family. These details represent a massive FBI & DOJ coverup @DailyCaller https://t.co/wDwNfFQaUB pic.twitter.com/1I0vQ0LWAn
— James Lynch (@jameslynch32) October 26, 2023
“This letter is based on years of investigation, including the provision of information, records, and allegations from multiple Justice Department whistleblowers that indicate there is — and has been — an effort among certain Justice Department and FBI officials to improperly delay and stop full and complete investigative activity into the Biden family, including but not limited to FD-1023s referencing the Biden family,” Grassley wrote.
“As just one initial example, I’ve been made aware that at one point in time the FBI maintained over 40 Confidential Human Sources that provided criminal information relating to Joe Biden, James Biden, and Hunter Biden,” he continued.
“It’s been alleged that the basis for shutting the investigative activity down was an August 2020 assessment created by FBI Supervisory Intelligence Analyst Brian Auten. That assessment was used by an FBI HQ team to improperly discredit negative Hunter Biden information as disinformation and caused investigative activity to cease.”
READ THE LETTER:
Supervisory Intelligence Analyst Brian Auten allegedly conducted an assessment, according to Grassley, of information provided by a confidential human source in an FBI FD-1023 form alleging that Ukrainian oligarch Mykola Zlochevsky, founder of Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, bribed Joe and Hunter Biden $5 million each to have Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin fired.
The FBI used Auten’s assessment and an August 2020 briefing with lawmakers to discredit the bribery allegations as “foreign disinformation,” Grassley alleges. (RELATED: FBI, DOJ Officials Were ‘Openly Mocking’ Congressional Inquiries Into Hunter Biden Investigation, Memo Alleges)
“The precise basis for how the FBI HQ team selected the specific information for inclusion in Auten’s assessment is unknown, but the focus of the FBI HQ team’s attention involved derogatory information about Hunter Biden and Joe Biden,” Grassley stated.
“In August 2020, and possibly earlier, Supervisory Intelligence Analyst Brian Auten opened the aforementioned assessment, which was used by the Foreign Influence Task Force to seek out CHS holdings at FBI Field Offices across the country relating to the Biden family and falsely discredit them as foreign disinformation,” Grassley stated.
“Also, in August 2020, the Foreign Influence Task Force improperly briefed me and Senator Johnson with respect to our Biden family investigation after pressure from congressional Democrats. That improper briefing was used by Democrats and the partisan media to falsely claim our investigation, which was based on Obama/Biden administration records, was impacted by foreign disinformation.”
Likewise, the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office conducted an assessment from March to September 2020 about information related to the bribery allegations that the FBI portrayed as coming from former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, despite the fact that it came from a confidential human source, according to Grassley.
“In February 2020, a meeting took place at the FBI Pittsburgh Field Office with FBI HQ elements. That meeting involved discussion about investigative matters relating to the Hunter Biden investigation and related inquiries, which most likely would’ve included the case against Zlochevsky. Then, in March 2020 and at the request of the Justice Department, a ‘Guardian’ Assessment was opened out of the Pittsburgh Field Office to analyze information provided by Rudy Giuliani,” Grassley wrote.
“On September 3, 2020, the Pittsburgh Assessment was closed — after a mere six months — and on September 14, 2020, the Foreign Influence Task Force communicated with the handling agent for the Biden family 1023. According to information provided to my office, the Foreign Influence Task Force attempted to shut down that reporting by falsely saying it was subject to foreign disinformation,” Grassley added.
“It should be emphasized that the basis for trying to shut down the Biden family 1023 has been described to my office as highly suspect and is contradicted by other documents my office has been told exist within the Foreign Influence Task Force, FBI Seattle Field Office, FBI Baltimore Field Office, and FBI HQ holdings.”
After the Pittsburgh office’s assessment concluded, the FD-1023 allegations were vetted by former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania Scott Brady, who submitted a report on the form to a Department of Justice (DOJ) official with a summary of the findings.
Zlochevsky was the subject of a kleptocracy investigation by the FBI from January 2016 to December 2019 and the confidential source provided an FD-1023 in March 2017 related to the investigation, according to Grassley. The confidential human source’s initial FD-1023 was discovered during the Pittsburg office’s information assessment and the source was interviewed by his FBI handler after the form was discovered, Grassley stated.
“Eventually, that re-interview took place and the Biden family 1023 about the alleged criminal scheme between then-Vice President Biden, Hunter Biden, and Zlochevsky was created in June 2020,” Grassley’s letter reads.
“Accordingly, claims that the Biden family 1023 was part of the information provided by Giuliani are incorrect. The information in the Biden family 1023 was obtained separate from Giuliani from a long-standing, high-paid FBI CHS who’s been used in other investigative matters by the FBI, as the Zlochevsky case illustrates.”
Grassley’s letter concludes by requesting records related to his allegations and informing the DOJ and FBI of his plan to interview 25 people allegedly involved with the whistleblower accusations his letter details. He released the document in a press release Wednesday night.
Burisma paid Hunter Biden more than $80,000 per month as a member of its board, according to bank records released in August by the House Oversight Committee. Hunter Biden had no prior experience with Ukraine or the energy sector when he was hired by Burisma.
The Biden family and its business associates received more than $24 million from Ukraine, Russia, China, Romania and Kazakhstan from 2014-19, according to a House memo circulated prior to the first impeachment inquiry hearing into President Joe Biden.
The FBI previously referred to the Daily Caller to special counsel David Weiss, who is actively investigating Hunter Biden’s taxes. Joe Biden called the bribery allegations “malarkey” in June before the FD-1023 form was released to the public.