FBI to show House Oversight leaders document in Biden probe on Monday

The FBI will let the chair and ranking member of the House Oversight Committee review a document describing an allegation that Joe Biden accepted a bribe as vice president, but will black out information that could reveal the source’s identity, a senior law enforcement official said.

Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., subpoenaed the FBI last month for the FD-1023 form, which he and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, claimed describes an alleged criminal scheme involving Biden “relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions.” Comer has said the scheme involved a $5 million payment from a foreign national in exchange for a policy outcome.

The agency will bring the document to Capitol Hill on Monday and offer a briefing to Comer and ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., a committee spokesperson said. Initially, the FBI had asked the lawmakers to review the document at FBI headquarters.

The senior law enforcement official told NBC News that the FBI and a U.S. attorney appointed by then-President Donald Trump reviewed the allegation when it was made in 2020, along with other information about Biden’s son Hunter Biden's dealings in Ukraine.

The bribery allegation was not substantiated, the official said. Former Attorney General William Barr had asked the U.S. attorney in Pittsburgh to investigate the Biden Ukraine matter.

Grassley, who is also seeking the document, said this week that Republicans “aren’t interested in whether or not the accusations against Biden are accurate or not,” but rather want to make sure the FBI complies with the subpoena.

Christopher Durham, acting assistant director of the FBI, warned in a letter to Comer this week that FD-1023 forms record information told to the FBI, but recording the information "does not validate the information, establish its credibility, or weigh it against other information known or developed by the FBI."

“Investigative reports, such as an FD-1023, include leads and suspicions, not the conclusions of investigators based on fuller context, including information that may not be available to the confidential source,” Dunham wrote.

The FBI has also expressed concerns that turning over the document could risk the life of the source. Republicans have said they are not interested in the informant’s identity, but the subpoena demands the document in full.

The FBI said in a statement Friday that it had requested "commonsense protections" to maintain the confidentiality of sensitive information. Such requests are routinely made by the agency when responding to congressional requests as well as in criminal court proceedings "to protect the physical safety of sources and the integrity of investigations," the agency said, adding that it "remains committed to cooperating with the Committee in good faith."

News of the briefing Monday was first reported by Fox News.

After Comer issued the subpoena to FBI Director Christopher Wray for the document last month, the FBI declined to provide it, saying it had to adhere to Justice Department policy, which limits how confidential human source information can be distributed outside of the FBI.

Comer then said the committee would move to hold Wray in contempt of Congress unless he turned over the document. Following a phone call with Comer, Grassley and Wray on Wednesday, the FBI said Wray had offered to allow the leaders of the committee to review the document "in a secure manner."

Raskin has accepted the FBI's invitation to review the subpoenaed document, a spokesperson said.

"The Ranking Member appreciates the agency’s efforts to accommodate the Committee and the opportunity to review and be briefed on the Trump Justice Department’s follow up on the unsubstantiated tip sheet after weeks of Chairman Comer’s partisan spin," the Raskin spokesperson added.

A spokesperson for the Oversight Committee said that the upcoming briefing and review of the document will not dissuade Comer from moving forward with contempt proceedings against Wray.

“Chairman Comer has been clear that anything short of producing the FD-1023 form to the House Oversight Committee is not compliance with his subpoena,” the spokesperson said.

House Republicans leading key committees have pursued a series of investigations into the Biden family's business dealings since they took over the chamber earlier this year.

The White House has criticized the investigations, arguing the probes are politically motivated and designed to hurt Biden's re-election chances.