Republican Senator Chuck Grassley has demanded that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DoJ) answer a DoJ whistleblower’s allegations that the FBI downplayed damning information about Hunter Biden ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
Grassley is the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees the FBI and the DoJ.
In letters to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland, the senator revealed that a “highly credible” whistleblower had come forward alleging a widespread effort by some FBI officials to turn a blind eye to negative evidence on President Joe Biden's son.
“The information provided to my office involves concerns about the FBI's receipt and use of derogatory information relating to Hunter Biden, and the FBI's false portrayal of acquired evidence as disinformation,” the letter, in particular, reads.
Grassley insisted that in October 2020, one month before the US presidential election, “an avenue of derogatory Hunter Biden reporting was ordered closed” by a senior FBI agent at the bureau's Washington Field office.
The senator argued that the allegations obtained by his office “appear to indicate that there was a scheme in place among certain FBI officials to undermine derogatory information connected to Hunter Biden by falsely suggesting it was disinformation.”
According to the Senate Judiciary Committee member, “the volume and consistency of these allegations substantiate their credibility and necessitate this letter.”
DoJ's Hunter Biden Probe Reportedly Reaches Critical Stage
His letter comes after CNN cited unnamed sources as saying last week that the federal probe into Hunter Biden had reached a “critical juncture” and investigators are weighing whether to charge the president's son.
The sources told the broadcaster that prosecutors are now primarily focused on tax- and gun-related charges against POTUS’ son.
The firearm charge relates to at least one false statement made by Hunter in his procurement of a weapon. It is believed Biden’s son should have been prohibited from purchasing a firearm due to his self-professed struggles with drug addiction.
In recent months, prosecutors have discussed the matter with DoJ officials and investigators from both the FBI and Internal Revenue Service (IRS), according to the insiders.
The DoJ’s probe specifically looks into the contents of Hunter Biden's so-called “laptop from Hell”, including compromising emails, naked photos and graphic videos that have been released since 2020, when the New York Post was the first to make public several emails from the device.
The laptop uncovered details about unseemly and potentially illegal activities by the president’s son, ranging from crack cocaine and alcohol-fueled parties with high-priced prostitutes to “business deals” involving the trading of cash for access to the elder Biden during his tenure as Barack Obama’s vice president.
Joe Biden has repeatedly dismissed any knowledge of his son’s business activities, and most news outlets and social media companies successfully shielded him from the laptop’s revelations ahead of the 2020 presidential election campaign, at which time the computer was dismissed as a “Russian disinformation operation.”
Earlier this year, the New York Times and The Washington Post changed course, confirming that the laptop was authentic and that the damning information contained within was real.