Congress
has a constitutional responsibility to ensure that the Executive Branch
executes the law and uses taxpayer money appropriated to it in accordance with
congressional intent.
In
furtherance of that constitutional responsibility, Congress has an obligation
to investigate the Executive Branch for fraud, waste, abuse and gross
mismanagement.
And,
if Congress finds potential wrongdoing, we have an obligation to the American
people to make it public.
Last week, I’ve made public two oversight
letters
that I’ve sent to the Justice Department and FBI.
These
two letters are part of my investigation into political bias infecting the department
and FBI.
They’re
based on information provided to my office by whistleblowers.
They’re
patriots.
They’ve
got guts.
And
Director Wray has personally told me that they won’t be subject to retaliation.
In
those letters, I provided evidence of extreme left-wing bias shown by Tim Thibault.
He’s an Assistant Special Agent in Charge at the FBI’s Washington Field Office.
He’s
since been referred to the Office of Special Counsel for potential Hatch Act violations.
And
he’s at the center of my two letters last week.
The
first letter relates to an FBI investigation that Thibault opened on the Trump
campaign and its advisors.
He
allegedly had help from Richard Pilger, an official in the Justice Department’s
Election Crimes Branch within the Public Integrity Section.
During
Chairman Durbin’s investigation into Justice Department misconduct, Pilger
stood out.
The
committee interviewed Richard Donoghue, the former Principal Associate Deputy
Attorney General during the Trump administration.
He
was also a key January 6 committee witness.
Donoghue
testified to the Judiciary Committee that Pilger’s conduct frustrated the department’s
ability to properly operate the Election Crimes Branch.
Thibault
and Pilger played a major role in opening the criminal investigation into the
Trump campaign.
And
this isn’t a preliminary investigation. It’s a full investigation which
requires heightened standards.
According
to whistleblowers, the opening memo for that investigation is based in
substantial part on liberal news reporting.
That’s
not enough for a full investigation.
The
Washington Post reported on the investigation last Tuesday.
However,
the Post didn’t report that Thibault and Pilger were involved in opening it.
Attorney
General Garland and Director Wray allegedly approved opening the investigation.
Now,
as I’ve said in my letter, if you’re going to open an investigation, you have
to do it the right way.
So,
let’s contrast this investigation with what the FBI has done with information
received from sources relating to Hunter Biden.
Whistleblowers
have told my office that the FBI maintains many sources that have provided
extensive information on Hunter Biden.
That
information allegedly involves potential criminal activity such as money
laundering.
That’s
the same criminal concern that Senator Johnson and I raised in our 2020 Biden Reports.
According
to allegations, the underlying information was verified and verifiable.
However,
instead of green-lighting investigative activity, the FBI shut it down.
So,
how’d they do it?
According
to allegations, in August 2020, FBI Supervisory Intelligence Analyst Brian
Auten opened an assessment.
That
assessment was used by FBI officials to improperly discredit negative Hunter
Biden information as disinformation.
Those
officials allegedly included Thibault.
Then,
in October 2020, an avenue of additional Hunter Biden reporting was ordered
closed at the direction of Thibault.
It’s
been alleged that Thibault and others suggested to FBI agents that the
information was at risk of being disinformation.
However,
according to allegations, the source reporting was either verified or
verifiable via criminal search warrants.
Thibault
allegedly ordered the matter closed without providing a valid reason as
required by FBI guidelines.
In
other words, he shut down an allegedly legitimate avenue of information.
So,
in order to shut down Hunter Biden sources and investigative leads, the FBI
engaged in a disinformation campaign against itself and its own agents.
If
these allegations are true and accurate, the Justice Department and FBI are –
and have been –substantially corrupted.
Before
I conclude, I want to note four things regarding the summer of 2020.
1.The
opening of the Auten assessment in August 2020.
2.Efforts
by FBI officials to shut down Hunter Biden investigative activity.
3.Efforts
by the FBI to provide an unnecessary briefing to me and Senator Johnson in
August 2020. That briefing was purportedly about our Biden investigation, but
it had absolutely nothing to do with it.
4.Leaks
relating to that briefing and the liberal media and Democrats falsely accusing
me and Senator Johnson of advancing Russian disinformation.
