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Wray Misdirects Congress Over FBI’s Burying Of Credible Biden Bribery Report
Federalist, ^ | DECEMBER 06, 2023 | Margot Cleveland

Posted on 12/07/2023 5:20:22 AM PST by george76

Wray opting for misdirection instead of transparency suggests he knows precisely what the FBI did in response to evidence implicating the Bidens in a bribery scandal: nothing..

FBI Director Christopher Wray alleged on Tuesday that he did not learn of the confidential human source’s (CHS) claim that the Ukrainian energy giant Burisma had bribed the Bidens until “much, much, much more recently than anything around 2020.” Wray’s testimony cannot be squared with earlier testimony from whistleblowers and the Pittsburgh U.S. attorney — unless those investigating Hunter Biden buried the CHS’s reporting.

On Tuesday, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, drilled the FBI director on the bureau’s handling of reporting from June 2020 of a longtime, “highly credible” CHS that implicated the Biden family in a bribery scandal. At the time, at the direction of then-Attorney General William Barr, the U.S. attorney’s office in Pittsburgh was screening evidence related to Ukrainian corruption. As part of that review process, then-U.S. Attorney Scott Brady requested that FBI agents reinterview a CHS who had previously made a passing reference to Hunter Biden and his service on Burisma’s board of directors.

Further questioning of the CHS resulted in the explosive FD-1023 that Grassley released in July. That FD-1023 summarized the CHS’s reporting that Burisma had paid Hunter and Joe Biden each $5 million in bribes so the then-vice president would “protect” Burisma “from all kinds of problems.” Those alleged bribes were in addition to the more than $4 million in total Burisma reportedly paid to Hunter Biden and his business partner Devon Archer for sitting on Burisma’s board of directors.

When did Wray first learn about the FD-1023 that Grassley inquired about during Tuesday’s Judiciary Committee hearing? And what steps were taken to investigate the substance of the CHS’s allegations?

Wray failed to provide a specific time frame for when he learned about the existence of the FD-1023, but he said it was “much, much, much more recently than anything around 2020, that’s for sure.”

But how can that be? After all, when questioned by the House Judiciary Committee, Brady testified that FBI headquarters was required to “sign off for any investigative steps that FBI Pittsburgh was asked to take by” his office. The former Pittsburgh U.S. attorney reiterated this point, testifying: “It was my understanding that they could not take any steps absent the approval, the review and approval of FBI headquarters, not just the leadership of FBI Pittsburgh.” And later, when asked to elaborate on challenges with the FBI, Brady noted: “It was my understanding that FBI headquarters had to sign off on every assignment, no matter how small or routine, before they could take action.”

Brady further testified that every 30 days, the FBI had to renew the assessment it had opened to assist the U.S. attorney’s office in screening the material related to Ukraine. And while normally local supervisors could reauthorize the assessment, in the case of the Pittsburgh assessment, Brady testified that “it required 17 different people, including mostly at the headquarters level to sign off on it before the assessment could be extended.”

The IRS whistleblowers have similarly claimed FBI headquarters held a firm hand on all aspects of their investigation.

Given the high-profile nature of the investigation and the extensive oversight by FBI headquarters over both the Pittsburgh and the Delaware FBI offices, Wray’s stated lack of knowledge about the FD-1023 until recently suggests someone was burying that damning report.

One would hope Wray’s response would be outrage, but the FBI director seemed unbothered.

Worse still, when it came time to answer Grassley’s second question concerning what investigative steps the FBI had taken in response to the CHS’s reporting, the FBI director implied that Brady’s office was responsible for investigating the FD-1023 and had ended the investigation by closing out the assessment.

Regarding that assessment being run out of Pittsburgh, Wray testified, it was “my understanding … that there was agreement among the team about what steps needed to be taken, and with the closing of that assessment.”

This response wrongly suggests that the failure to investigate the FD-1023 somehow is the fault of the former U.S. attorney and that the “closing of that assessment” ended the matter.

But as The Federalist previously reported, Brady testified before the House Judiciary Committee that the Pittsburgh office had corroborated several details contained in the FD-1023 but lacked the authority to take further investigative steps. Instead, Brady’s team provided the Delaware U.S. attorney’s office with the FD-1023, and Brady’s lead assistant U.S. attorney briefed the Delaware office about it.

Among other things, the Pittsburgh lead assistant U.S. attorney told the head Delaware prosecutor on the Hunter Biden investigation that the FD-1023 “was from a credible CHS that had a history with the FBI, and that it was not derived from any of the information from Mr. Giuliani.” Further, in briefing the Delaware U.S. attorney’s office, Brady’s team confirmed that they believed the FD-1023 had indicia of credibility that merited further investigation.

The lead lawyer from the Pittsburgh U.S. attorney’s office also made “recommendations about possible investigative avenues that we would recommend that they take,” Brady said. When the House Judiciary Committee pushed Brady on this point, he confirmed that as part of the briefing, his office recommended certain actions, but he did not elaborate on the recommendations.

Brady further testified that the FBI closed its assessment because the agents had finished assisting him in the screening of the Ukrainian evidence and that the FD-1023 was sent to Delaware for further investigation.

Wray’s raising of the closing of the assessment in Pittsburgh in response to Grassley’s question about what steps the FBI took to investigate the FD-1023 was a clear effort to misdirect his audience. It was an irrelevant reference that ignored Grassley’s core question, which concerned what Delaware did once it received the FD-1023.

The FBI director opting for misdirection instead of transparency suggests he knows precisely what the bureau did in response to evidence implicating the Bidens in a bribery scandal: nothing.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: biden; bidenbribery; bribery; christopherwray; fbi; fbidirector; irs; irswhistleblowers; whistleblowers; wray
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1 posted on 12/07/2023 5:20:22 AM PST by george76
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To: george76

I curse this man.


2 posted on 12/07/2023 5:21:34 AM PST by combat_boots ( )
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To: combat_boots

Why? He is just a stooge for the uniparty and Fedzilla. I think you should focus your rage at repealing the 17th Amendment or eliminating the senior executive service..


3 posted on 12/07/2023 5:50:56 AM PST by Article10 (Roger That)
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To: george76
The IRS whistleblowers have similarly claimed FBI headquarters held a firm hand on all aspects of their investigation.

Two corrupt agencies pissing on each other.

4 posted on 12/07/2023 5:57:22 AM PST by unixfox (Abolish Slavery, Repeal the 16th Amendment)
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To: george76
At least 98% of federal employees whose offices are within 30 miles of the Washington Monument are Rat Party hacks and co-conspirators.. And that,of course,includes Wray.
5 posted on 12/07/2023 6:07:14 AM PST by Gay State Conservative (Proudly Clinging To My Guns And My Religion)
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To: All

Biden’s FBI Director, Christopher Wray, alleges that (cue laugh machine )
“he did not learn” of the Bidens being bribed WRT Ukraine’s Burisma’s activities
until “much, much, much more recently than anything around 2020.”

Surprise.

Wray’s testimony does not square w/ earlier testimony
from whistle-blowers and Pittsburgh’s US attorney —
unless those investigating Hunter Biden buried it.

Nah......snx.


6 posted on 12/07/2023 6:07:23 AM PST by Liz (Women have tremendous power — their femininity, because men can't do without it. Sidney Sheldon)
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To: george76

FORT MARCY PARK needs another “Suicide”.


7 posted on 12/07/2023 8:48:10 AM PST by ridesthemiles
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To: Gay State Conservative; Liz; Article10
Painfully obvious he has to be in the line up to the scaffold while I not knit but get gaming done. They can take me up there themselves but not until after Level 10 is complete.

Seriously though, it's become a dilemma when the mass media has brainwashed so many for so long that they have citizens believing that patriotic resistance is criminal while devotion to a usurpation of our government is rewarded.

And as so many keep asking: Where are the Republicans correcting all this America-destroying crap? Get a spine or get out of the way of people who will do the job you were elected to do.

8 posted on 12/07/2023 8:54:49 AM PST by MikelTackNailer
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To: MikelTackNailer

SURPRISE-—Biden’s FBI Director, Christopher Wray, alleges that (cue laugh machine )
“he did not learn” of Biden father and son being bribed WRT Ukraine’s Burisma’s activities
until “much, much, much more recently than anything around 2020.”


.......it’s become a dilemma............
<><>the mass media has brainwashed so many for so long
<><>they have citizens believing that patriotic resistance is criminal
<><>while devotion to a usurpation of our government is rewarded.


9 posted on 12/07/2023 9:01:03 AM PST by Liz (Women have tremendous power — their femininity, because men can't do without it. Sidney Sheldon)
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To: george76

Misdirects=lied to.


10 posted on 12/07/2023 9:38:25 AM PST by themidnightskulker
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To: Liz

Did these FBI guys train under Manudo, I mean Maduro of the Southern California of South America?


11 posted on 12/07/2023 10:31:08 AM PST by Colt1851Navy (What was wrong with Nixon?)
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To: Colt1851Navy

Probably.


12 posted on 12/07/2023 10:33:57 AM PST by Liz (Women have tremendous power — their femininity, because men can't do without it. Sidney Sheldon)
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To: GOPJ; poconopundit; Jane Long; Diana in Wisconsin; Grampa Dave; Godzilla; Vaduz; null and void; ...

p


13 posted on 12/07/2023 11:15:20 AM PST by Liz (Women have tremendous power — their femininity, because men can't do without it. Sidney Sheldon)
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To: Liz

Wray seems more like a high level useful idiot than a person’s who in on what’s happening. What’s your take on him?


14 posted on 12/07/2023 4:17:13 PM PST by GOPJ
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To: GOPJ
The IRS decides to audit Grandpa, and summons him to the IRS office.

The IRS auditor was not surprised when Grandpa showed up with his attorney.

The auditor said, 'Well, sir, you have an extravagant lifestyle and no full-time employment, Which you explain by saying that you win money gambling. I'm not sure the IRS finds that believable.'

I'm a great gambler, and I can prove it,' says Grandpa. 'How about a demonstration?'

The auditor thinks for a moment and said, 'Okay. Go ahead.'

Grandpa says, 'I'll bet you a thousand dollars that I can bite my own eye.'

The auditor thinks a moment and says, 'It's a bet.'

Grandpa removes his glass eye and bites it. The auditor's jaw drops.

Grandpa says, 'Now, I'll bet you two thousand dollars that I can bite my other eye.'

Now the auditor can tell Grandpa isn't blind, so he takes the bet.

Grandpa removes his dentures and bites his good eye.

The stunned auditor now realizes he has wagered and lost three grand, with Grandpa's attorney as a witness. He starts to get nervous.

'Want to go double or nothing?' Grandpa asks 'I'll bet you six thousand dollars that I can stand on one side of your desk, and pee into that wastebasket on the other side, and never get a drop anywhere in between.'

The auditor, twice burned, is cautious now, but he looks carefully and decides there's no way this old guy could possibly manage that stunt, so he agrees again.

Grandpa stands beside the desk and unzips his pants, but although he strains mightily, he can't make the stream reach the wastebasket on the other side, so he pretty much urinates all over the auditor's desk.

The auditor leaps with joy, realizing that he has just turned a major loss into a huge win.

But Grandpa's own attorney moans and puts his head in his hands.

'Are you okay?' the auditor asks.

'Not really,' says the attorney. 'This morning, when Grandpa told me he'd been summoned for an audit, he bet me twenty-five thousand dollars that he could come in here and piss all over your desk and that you'd be happy about it!

Don't Mess with Old People!!

15 posted on 12/11/2023 8:37:14 AM PST by Osage Orange (I miss Rush)
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To: george76

“at the direction of then-Attorney General William Barr, the U.S. attorney’s office in Pittsburgh was screening evidence related to Ukrainian corruption…”

“Trust Barr!” Croaked the QBalls.

Frauds. Every last one of them.

L


16 posted on 12/11/2023 8:39:52 AM PST by Lurker ( Peaceful coexistence with the Left is not possible. Stop pretending that it is. )
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To: Osage Orange; Liz; poconopundit; Grampa Dave; null and void; Godzilla; SunkenCiv

The IRS decides to audit Grandpa, and summons him to the IRS office.

The IRS auditor was not surprised when Grandpa showed up with his attorney.

The auditor said, ‘Well, sir, you have an extravagant lifestyle and no full-time employment, Which you explain by saying that you win money gambling. I’m not sure the IRS finds that believable.’

I’m a great gambler, and I can prove it,’ says Grandpa. ‘How about a demonstration?’

The auditor thinks for a moment and said, ‘Okay. Go ahead.’

Grandpa says, ‘I’ll bet you a thousand dollars that I can bite my own eye.’

The auditor thinks a moment and says, ‘It’s a bet.’

Grandpa removes his glass eye and bites it. The auditor’s jaw drops.

Grandpa says, ‘Now, I’ll bet you two thousand dollars that I can bite my other eye.’

Now the auditor can tell Grandpa isn’t blind, so he takes the bet.

Grandpa removes his dentures and bites his good eye.

The stunned auditor now realizes he has wagered and lost three grand, with Grandpa’s attorney as a witness. He starts to get nervous.

‘Want to go double or nothing?’ Grandpa asks ‘I’ll bet you six thousand dollars that I can stand on one side of your desk, and pee into that wastebasket on the other side, and never get a drop anywhere in between.’

The auditor, twice burned, is cautious now, but he looks carefully and decides there’s no way this old guy could possibly manage that stunt, so he agrees again.

Grandpa stands beside the desk and unzips his pants, but although he strains mightily, he can’t make the stream reach the wastebasket on the other side, so he pretty much urinates all over the auditor’s desk.

The auditor leaps with joy, realizing that he has just turned a major loss into a huge win.

But Grandpa’s own attorney moans and puts his head in his hands.

‘Are you okay?’ the auditor asks.

‘Not really,’ says the attorney. ‘This morning, when Grandpa told me he’d been summoned for an audit, he bet me twenty-five thousand dollars that he could come in here and piss all over your desk and that you’d be happy about it!

Don’t Mess with Old People!!


I started laughing about the half way mark - thanks so much Osage Orange...that’s a keeper


17 posted on 12/11/2023 9:01:30 AM PST by GOPJ (Does Hannity have a DNC connected dominatrix feeding him questions? It would explain a lot.)
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To: GOPJ

Cute.


18 posted on 12/11/2023 9:03:53 AM PST by Liz (Women have tremendous power — their femininity, because men can't do without it. Sidney Sheldon)
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To: GOPJ
I got more...ha!!

Back in January, a group of HELLS ANGELS South Carolina bikers, were riding east on 378 when they saw a girl about to jump off the Pee Dee River Bridge. So they stopped.

George, their leader, a big burly man of 53, gets off his Harley, walks through a group of gawkers, past the State Trooper who was trying to talk her down off the railing, and says, "Hey Baby . . . whatcha doin' up there on that railin'?"

She says tearfully, "I'm going to commit suicide!"

While he didn't want to appear "sensitive," George also didn't want to miss this "be-a-legend" opportunity either so he asked, "Well, before you jump, Honey-Babe . . . why don't you give ol' George here your best last kiss?"

So, with no hesitation at all, she leaned back over the railing and did just that . . . and it was a long, deep, lingering kiss followed immediately by another even better one.

After they breathlessly finished, George gets a big thumbs-up approval from his biker-buddies, the onlookers, and even the State Trooper, and then says, "Wow! That was the best kiss I have ever had!

That's a real talent you're wasting there, Sugar Shorts. You could be famous if you rode with me.

Why are you committing suicide?"

"My parents don't like me dressing up like a girl."

It's still unclear whether she jumped or was pushed.

19 posted on 12/11/2023 9:11:54 AM PST by Osage Orange (I miss Rush)
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To: GOPJ
The finals of the National Poetry Contest last year came down to two finalists.

One was a San Francisco State University graduate from an upper-crust family; well-bred, well-connected and all that goes with it.

The other finalist was a redneck from Texas A & M.

Go figure. The rules of the contest required each finalist to compose a four-line poem in one minute or less, and the poem had to contain the word “Timbuktu.”

The San Francisco State graduate went first. About thirty seconds after the clock started he jumped up and recited the following poem:

“'Slowly across the desert sand

Trekked the dusty caravan.

Men on camels, two by two

Destination -- Timbuktu.

The audience went wild! How, they wondered if the redneck could top that?!

The clock started again and the redneck sat in silent thought. Finally, in the last few seconds, he jumped and recited:

“Tim and me, a-huntin' went.

Met three whores in a pop-up tent.

They was three, we was two,

So I bucked one and Timbuktu”

20 posted on 12/11/2023 4:06:27 PM PST by Osage Orange (I miss Rush)
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