House committee threatens to hold FBI in contempt

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer Jr. said Wednesday he would hold the FBI in contempt of Congress if it doesn’t hand over a document describing an informant’s unverified criminal allegations against then-Vice President Joe Biden. In a letter to the FBI, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Comer, R-Ky., said the file contains claims that Biden was involved in a bribery scheme. The FBI said the file must be kept private to protect the bureau’s sources.

How did they find out about the document? A whistleblower told Grassley about the file, he said. The FBI did not investigate the allegations because of “political bias,” the senator said. The lawmakers subpoenaed the document earlier this month and gave the FBI a May 10 deadline. The new deadline for the FBI to produce the file is Tuesday.

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta’s report in The Stew on what the Durham report says about the politicization of the FBI.