Kevin McCarthy Throws Support Behind Holding FBI Director in Contempt of Congress

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AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) threw his support behind the House Oversight Committee’s intent to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress.

The committee’s chair James Comer (R-KY) announced a Thursday vote to hold Wray in contempt after the FBI refused to hand over custody of an unclassified subpoenaed file during a Monday meeting.

Comer

Rep. James Comer (R-KY), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, on January 30, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The file allegedly details a $5 million bribery scheme involving policy decisions between now-President Joe Biden and a foreign national.

The FBI possesses a file from an interview it conducted with the informant, who is reportedly a “highly credible” bureau source with a history dating back to the Obama administration era. A source told Fox News the informant was a “pre-existing” FBI source with a long track record dating back “at least several years.”

WATCH: “Give Me a Break, Man” — Biden SNAPS at Reporter Asking About Family’s Business Relations in China:

The White House

“At the briefing, the FBI again refused to hand over the unclassified record to the custody of the House Oversight Committee and we will now initiate contempt of Congress hearings this Thursday,” Comer told reporters.

Speaking with reporters, McCarthy supported Comer’s decision.

“Everybody on that committee has the responsibility of oversight,” McCarthy said. “[Wray] needs to supply it to everybody on the committee. If not we will move forward.”

Comer scheduled the contempt vote for Thursday at 9 a.m., triggering the FBI to release a statement in response.

The Associated Press

FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the House Appropriations subcommittee Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies budget hearing for Fiscal Year 2024, on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

The statement omitted the bureau’s failure to comply with the subpoena to allow all members of the Oversight Committee to review the document. In Monday’s meeting, the FBI only permitted Comer and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) to view the file.

“The FBI has continually demonstrated its commitment to accommodate the committee’s request, including by producing the document in a reading room at the U.S. Capitol,” the FBI said in a statement. “This commonsense safeguard is often employed in response to congressional requests and in court proceedings to protect important concerns, such as the physical safety of sources and the integrity of investigations. The escalation to a contempt vote under these circumstances is unwarranted.”

WATCH: Comer: Legislation Needed on Relatives of High-Ranking Government Officials Doing Business with Adversaries:

The FBI’s continued refusal to hand over the file met GOP criticism. Oversight Committee member Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) said the FBI refused to provide the document to the full committee because the informant’s information is incredibly damning.

“Just left meeting for House Oversight,” Luna (R-FL) posted on Twitter. “The @FBI is afraid their informant will be killed if unmasked, based on the info he has brought forward about the Biden family.”

Anna Paulina LunaAnna Paulina Luna appears on a panel discussion during a taping of “Candace” Hosted By Candace Owens on January 4, 2022, in Nashville, Tennessee. (Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)

“When we subpoena information there is a reason why. And we expect to get that information,” Comer told Hannity on Fox News. “The House Oversight Committee was created to have oversight over the federal government. ”

Democrats pushed back against Republicans’ contempt vote. Election Denier and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) told MSNBC it would be “lawlessness and disorder” to hold the FBI director in contempt.

Raskin told reporters the informant’s information “found no evidence” to corroborate the allegations against Joe Biden.

John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, denied the Biden family’s business schemes represent a national security threat despite admitting he had not read the House Oversight Committee report on the matter.

President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden step off Air Force One, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, N.Y. The Bidens are in Syracuse to visit with family members following the passing of Michael Hunter, the brother of the president's first wife, Neilia Hunter Biden. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, step off Air Force One on February 4, 2023, at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, New York. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.

4 COMMENTS

  1. I can’t believe McCarthy caved on the debt ceiling bill. I’m very disappointed! He should have known the way biden tries to put the pressure on. IF biden was a decent president he would have met to negotiate 3 months before he did but we all know he isn’t. biden waited till the last minute to meet with McCarthy to put the pressure on. That’s the way the democrats work. McCarthy should have known that & stood his ground and not given in to biden at all and made biden accept the bill that was passed. If it would have gone into default Americans would have blamed biden. biden is “running” for president & knows if it would have gone into default it would hurt his chances of “winning”

  2. Why don’t they show the video of Biden admitting to Quid Pro Quo in getting the lead investigator, investigating the company Hunter “worked” for, fired in exchanged for American Aid money??? If they were serious they would use that video to prove at least one illegal act by Joe!

  3. None of these proceedings are bring shown on MSNBC, NBC, PBS, or other Leftist news outlets. Interesting how it is playing out. When it comes to DJT every man and his dog jumps on the band wagon. Shameful!

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