Journalist Jacqueline Alemany has shared a letter from the FBI to the House Oversight Committee’s chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) that expresses serious concerns about the conduct by certain members of the panel around the early June review by these members of a sensitive investigative file. The doc in question outlined allegations of millions of dollars worth of bribery implicating the Bidens, including the president and his son Hunter.
No evidence has emerged to substantiate the bribery claims, though Republican elected officials have consistently promoted the notion anyway, sometimes taking the allegations as effectively legitimate. After participating in the committee’s review of the investigative file, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) publicly shared specific details that she recalled from her involvement, seemingly in violation of the basic expectations established for handling the information that the FBI had made available. Privately and publicly, Justice Department personnel have expressed concerns about sharing the information contained in the file because of potential security impacts affecting those behind the claims.
The letter shared by Alemany and originating with an acting assistant director at the FBI does not specifically name Greene but relates to conduct by the Georgia Republican and others. “We are concerned that Members disregarded the Committee’s agreement that information from the document should not be further disclosed,” the official’s letter to Comer said. “Several Committee Members publicized specific details regarding their recollection of confidential source reporting purportedly referenced in the document… The conduct of some Committee Members during the June 8 review flagrantly disregarded our agreement and has the potential to cause grave harm.”
The FBI sought Comer’s help in better ensuring compliance with the established standards for secured information. In general, though, leading Republicans are maintaining their broadly antagonistic stance towards the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, founded in part in these investigators’ occasional targeting of Trump and others in Republican politics, which observers and insiders have insisted is in line with the established rule of law.
In light of Grassley’s disclosure, this is notable: the FBI sent a letter to GOP Chairman Comer last month after lawmakers were briefed in a SCIF on the FD-1023 document & proceeded to disregard “security restrictions” around the briefing & document: pic.twitter.com/WTGyEU53rF
— Jacqueline Alemany (@JaxAlemany) July 20, 2023
