Aiexpress – Republicans recently discovered that a confidential human source had informed his FBI handler in 2020 about a Ukrainian oligarch admitting to bribing Joe Biden. Consequently, they have demanded that the Justice Department provide them with the FD-1023 form, which serves as documentation of this crucial tip.
The Justice Department has responded to a subpoena by stating that the documents in question should not be made public. They have expressed concerns about the potential risks to their sources and have emphasized that the forms typically contain unverified and incomplete information, as relayed to an FBI agent.
In a letter to House Oversight Committee chair James Comer (R-Ky.) in May, Christopher Dunham from the FBI’s office of congressional affairs emphasized that recording information does not automatically validate or establish the credibility of the information. Furthermore, he highlighted that the recording process does not involve weighing the information against other known or developed information by the FBI.
According to Dunham, the presence of such a document would not provide much evidence other than the fact that a confidential human source gave information and the FBI documented it. He further emphasizes that the FBI frequently receives information from sources who may have strong biases, motivations, and knowledge, such as drug traffickers, members of organized crime, or even terrorists.
Republicans ignored the warning.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) received the form from an undisclosed source and shared it on his Senate website. The form detailed the informant’s recollection of a conversation with Mykola Zlochevsky, the head of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, as well as other Burisma officials. During the conversation, Zlochevsky allegedly stated that he had paid both Hunter and Joe Biden $5 million in bribes.
The allegation of bribery, which was not verified, quickly became a central focus of the House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into the president. According to this narrative, Joe Biden, during his tenure as vice president in 2015, allegedly pressured Ukraine to dismiss its prosecutor general to shield Burisma from a criminal investigation. It is worth noting that Hunter Biden, the president’s son, served on Burisma’s board during that period.
According to a document released by Republicans during their impeachment inquiry last fall, they claimed that President Biden was directly involved in a bribery scheme related to Burisma.
Last week, the bribery accusation crumbled in a dramatic manner as the Justice Department unveiled charges against the informant. They identified him as Alexander Smirnov, a citizen of both the United States and Israel. The department accused Smirnov of fabricating the claim due to his personal dislike for Joe Biden.
“We were cautioned when we received the document containing this witness’s testimony that its credibility was uncertain,” stated Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), who has been skeptical of the impeachment proceedings. He emphasized that despite this warning, some of his colleagues publicly portrayed the statement as credible, damning, and evidence of President Biden’s (then Vice President Biden’s) involvement in bribery.”
Democrats are urging Republicans to halt their impeachment inquiry.
According to Comer, the FBI tip did not play a central role in the impeachment inquiry, which also looked into whether Joe Biden was involved in his son’s business dealings.
As a senator, Grassley has not actively participated in the impeachment push, although he was the one responsible for obtaining the FBI document. In 2020, along with Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), he conducted his own investigation into the Bidens and Burisma. Their findings highlighted the lack of clarity regarding whether Hunter Biden’s job had any impact on U.S. foreign policy.
In October 2022, Grassley expressed his primary focus on the thoroughness of the FBI investigation rather than the truth of the bribery allegation. He requested the FBI to provide him with documents pertaining to the Bidens and Zlochevsky.
According to a spokesperson for Senator Grassley, since October 2022, Senator Grassley has been focused on one goal: making sure that the DOJ and FBI conducted an investigation into the FD-1023. The spokesperson stated that the DOJ’s indictment clearly shows that, without Senator Grassley’s oversight and the exposure of the FD-1023, the agency would have continued to neglect its responsibilities and fail to provide the transparency that the American people deserve.
Last year, Comer expressed his dissatisfaction with the apparent lack of investigation by the FBI regarding the allegation.
During an October interview, a former U.S. attorney in charge of reviewing derogatory material from Ukraine informed lawmakers that the bribery allegation held “indicia of credibility.” The information was then passed on to David Weiss, a federal prosecutor overseeing an ongoing investigation involving Hunter Biden. However, it was revealed that Weiss only pursued the tip after Republicans made the document public. Prosecutors also mentioned that investigators were able to discredit Smirnov’s story by crosschecking it with travel records.
Several Republicans expressed immediate skepticism about one aspect of Smirnov’s report: his assertion that Zlochevsky possessed recordings of conversations involving Joe and Hunter Biden. According to conservative media, these Republicans admitted to being unsure about the existence of such recordings.
“We cannot verify the legitimacy of the documents, but the foreign national claims to possess them,” Comer informed Newsmax in June. He emphasized that the lack of investigation by the FBI is a significant concern.
According to Hunter Biden and individuals who have spoken to him, one possible reason for skepticism regarding the existence of secret tapes featuring Zlochevsky conversing with Joe Biden is the fact that Zlochevsky does not speak English.
