BUTLER
COUNTY, IOWA – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Ranking Member of the Senate
Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), ranking member of the
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, sent a letter to Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Bradley
Benavides and FBI Intelligence Analyst in Charge of the Washington Field Office
Intelligence Division Nikki Floris requesting their appearance for a transcribed
interview to explain the FBI’s interference in the senators’ Hunter Biden
investigation.
On
August 6, 2020, Ms. Floris and Mr. Benavides provided Sens. Grassley and Johnson
an unnecessary briefing on behalf of the FBI and Intelligence Community on
matters purportedly related to the senators’ investigation into Hunter Biden.
The briefing led to a leak that falsely labeled the investigation as advancing
Russian disinformation.
The senators wrote, “FBI officials
initiated a scheme to downplay derogatory information on Hunter Biden for the
purpose of shutting down investigative activity relating to his potential
criminal exposure by labeling it ‘disinformation’” and “whistleblowers have
also alleged that local FBI leadership instructed employees not to look at the
Hunter Biden laptop immediately after the FBI had obtained it.”
Sens.
Grassley and Johnson have previously requested additional records related to
the briefing, but have not received a sufficient response from FBI Director
Christopher Wray. “The FBI has consistently failed to respond in full to each
request and failed to provide those critical records which casts further doubt
on the true purpose for the briefing,” said
the senators.
Read
the senators’ September 2020 report
here
and November 2020 supplemental report
here.
The
full text of the letter can be found HERE.