Grassley to FBI Director Wray: Whistleblower Info Shows ‘Deeply Rooted Political Infection’ in FBI
Grassley wants to know why the FBI constantly investigates Trump and ignores verified and legit information about Hunter Biden.
Senate Judiciary Ranking Member Chuck Grassley informed FBI Director Christopher Wray that the information given to him by a bunch of whistleblowers shows an “infection” within the department.
The information has Grassley concerned about the Washington Field Office (emphasis mine):
Starting on May 31, 2022, I’ve written three letters to you regarding political bias that has infected the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Two of those letters provided specific and credible allegations based on numerous whistleblowers that have approached my office with information that one can only conclude is indicative of a deeply rooted political infection that has spread to investigative activity into former President Trump and Hunter Biden. As I’ve noted both in my public letters and public statements, the FBI approved investigative activity into Trump based in substantial part on liberal news articles and information derived from a liberal non-profit yet shut down investigative activity and sources, which included verified and verifiable information, relating to Hunter Biden. The FBI has not refuted these serious allegations. Thus far, the FBI has failed to address the concerns that I’ve raised and failed to produce the requested records. The consistent failure to respond to Congress continues to erode trust in the FBI.
Grassley reminded Wray that he told the Iowa Republican when any valid tips or information goes to a U.S. Attorney’s office or local FBI field office, “we want to make sure those tips and leads are passed to the responsible office.”
So now Grassley wants Wray to answer a few simple questions:
- How can verified and verifiable information relating to Hunter Biden’s potential criminality be shared with U.S. Attorney Weiss if it is shut down?
- How can the Hunter Biden criminal investigation be full and complete if the FBI improperly shut down verified and verifiable information and sourcing relating to potential criminal activity?
- How can Congress and the American people trust the results?
“In light of the FBI’s failure to respond to my legitimate oversight requests, please provide a comprehensive organization chart for the Washington Field Office,” wrote Grassley. “The purpose of this request is to better understand how the Washington Field Office is staffed, who is responsible for the units and squads within the office and to prepare for future congressional interviews.”
I wonder if Wray will give Grassley the information. Then again, he might have to use the FBI plane for a weekend getaway.
But this is on the long list of problems at the FBI presented to him by Congressional Republicans.
In July, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member told Wray that whistleblowers said they’re being pressured to reclassify some cases as “domestic violent extremism.” Jordan said that “the revelation that the FBI may be padding domestic terrorism data is scandalous.”
Whistleblowers also told Grassley about a “widespread effort to downplay or discredit negative information” about Hunter Biden.
Don’t forget that Jordan said 14 more FBI whistleblowers went to the Republicans after the raid of Mar-a-Lago: “There are lots of good people in the FBI. It’s the top that is the problem. Some of these good agents are coming to us, telling us … what’s going on—the political nature now of the Justice Department … talking about the school board issue, about a whole host of issues.”
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Comments
Grassley’s great at running his mouth.
But it all ends at bark.
There is never any bite, and everybody knows it.
That’s a fact. All mouth, no motion. We’re I Wray I’d have checked my watch while he was talking.
Just like his protege Grahamnesty.
Nothing but a talk show tough guy.
FBI- Follow Biden’s Instructions
So tiring. These people need to be replaced by others who act.
Grassley can’t personally do anything BUT bark. What do you think he has the power to personally or in his role as a Senator DO? He can’t shut down the FBI, he can’t fire anyone at the FBI, he can’t DO anything but bring this all out and hope against hope that the public hears and understands it and pressures their own Congresscritters and presidential primary interviewees to address the very real problems he is bringing to light.
This whole idea that any Senator or House member has ANY power to affect any change on their own or even as part of the relatively small Freedom or Progressive Caucus is just not logical. Our Constitution gives individual members of Congress no power to act against any agency of the Executive. That power lies with the Executive or with a supermajority in both Houses sufficient to override a presidential veto, and the only power Congress really has is to deny funding, and even that is harder to do than it sounds.
Now if there were a majority in both Houses of Congress that wanted to completely restructure or even eliminate the FBI and there was a president willing to sign that into law (or a supermajority in Congress sufficient to override a presidential veto), then yes, Congress could do something beyond investigate, hold hearings, and make the people aware.
But you all know all this, so that’s why it’s really puzzling that you get upset, angry, frustrated, whatever that Grassley (or Cruz or the Pauls, or pick someone, anyone) don’t single-handedly fix everything they know is wrong. Even Trump, as president, wasn’t completely free to fix all these problems, though with things like Schedule F he was heading that way. But he failed, too, and he had far more power than any individual Senator or Representative. Our Constitution just doesn’t provide presidential power to members of Congress nor legislative powers to the Executive, and that is actually a good thing.
When we give them a majority, they become Democrat closers. The Democrats lurch to the left when in power and the Republicans just sit there claiming they can’t do anything. And when it’s their turn to be in power, they consolidate the Democrat gains and that becomes the new political “center”. If the Republicans had 100 senators, they would still find a way to lose by one vote.
Does that help?
I’m not sure it helps, but I do take your point. They should have repealed ObamaCare when they had the chance, for sure. That definitely stunk of oligarchy over country. That said, you didn’t address my main question which is what do you think that Grassley can DO? What powers do you imagine he has?
Trump has done amazing things for the American people and for the GOP. They are finally starting to realize, about a decade late, that the neocon crap of big spending, big government “compassionate conservativism” is NOT a winner with the base. That is why Liz Cheney was kicked out of House leadership, not because there aren’t some squishies still there, but because the tide has turned.
Are there still crap Republicans in Congress? Yes. And there always will be. We don’t have to replace them all (and couldn’t if we wanted to since many are in “moderate” or purple states), we just have to replace enough to take over. Trump gets this, that’s why he’s not doing a third party.
If we keep denying that Trump made any headway at all with the GOP, we are on a kamikaze path, not a path to victory.
Does that help?
It seems that there are plenty of Republican senators who are grandstanding with the same outrage over this issue. Why can’t they get together and act? Launch a national campaign on issues. Not for re-election but for rallying the troops to get behind them.
The Squad started out as a 5-woman operation fighting everyone and look how far they got. They FIGHT! Republicans whine and preach and then cave. The Republicans never seem to be able to FIND a way. They just go through the motions as individuals, each scheming in hopes of becoming POTUS, then doing nothing or voting the opposite way.
Today, they need to get behind Trump. You hitch you wagon to the fastest and most powerful horse. And it isn’t DeSanti… yet. They need to be part of what is already working and gaining momentum. Make winning inevitable. At least, do something that has a chance of succeeding. Guys like Grassley, Graham, Cornyn and the rest (just about all of them) make me sick.
Nothing ever EVER happens with these guys. When the time comes when they could do something, they kick the can down the road again. How stupid do we have to be to keep voting for these guys? Thank God for Trump!
Exactly right, Fuzzy. On a related note, too much time on this board is spent decrying RINOs, who are defined as elected Republicans whose ideology does not match up exactly with that of the person casting the RINO aspersion. Much like the Left, these people want an ideological purity test.
In 2015 a governor governing the way DeSantis is right now would have been castigated as a RINO.
We already have an ideological purity test. It’s encased in argon at the national archives. Very few Republicans pass it.
This is perhaps the biggest problem that Trump, or any Republican following his lead, faces. Trump keeps saying that he wants to take over the GOP, but all some of his more fervent admirers hear is that he . . . oh, who even knows or can pretend to know what they think? Trump backs or has backed (or hired and never fired) every single one of the people these Trump followers claim are the problem.
Run down the list, Trump has backed McConnell, McCarthy, and on. He’s appointed or allowed to serve at his discretion, not just Barr, but Comey for too long, the genocidal Fauci gnome for far too long, and everyone else that is really the “resistance.”
To the Trump faithful, these failures are not failures, just more proof of . . .oh, who knows? It all gets crazy and stupid at some point. Just stay sane and stay the course. That’s all any of us can do.
So all this is great. BUT, congress has the power of subpoena and contempt. If I was in his shoes, after asking for the information, I would subpoena the info, and if not forthcoming- Wray goes to jail.
Well, no, that is not quite right, the ruling party who controls committee appointments has those powers. The GOP is not the ruling party in either House of Congress, so it does NOT have those powers at this time.
And just a useful reminder, Trump appointed Wray. No one else, not Grassley, not any other GOP, Trump. But yeah, that’s okay because. Stupid. But not really stupid. Because 3-D chess. And stuff!
VERY WELL STATED
“Grassley can’t personally do anything BUT bark. What do you think he has the power to personally or in his role as a Senator DO?”
Maybe he needs to figure that out, instead of wasting all our time on things he can’t do. If the only benefit of this noise is to “wake voters up,” in a world where nothing he says will ever be given airplay, why are we paying him?
“the ruling party who controls committee appointments has those powers. The GOP is not the ruling party in either House of Congress, so it does NOT have those powers at this time.”
And when he was part of the ruling party, in charge of an investigation of Fast and Furious, he investigated and investigated until the clock ran out, and we got nothing.
Oh yeah. He subpoena’d Eric Holder, got him on contempt of congress for totally ignoring them, and… we got nothing there, either.
“The only reason that Merrick Garland is NOT a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court is because of Chuck Grassley. He blocked him.”
Then voted to confirm him as AG when it would have cost nothing for him to have voted no.
So, my question stands: what exactly do you want and/or expect Grassley to DO? What is it that you imagine he can do and isn’t? Or that he can do and won’t? I am seriously puzzled because we pretty much all understand the role of Congress and of each of its Houses, so I just can’t figure out what it is you think he should, can, and/or won’t do.
List the actions you think Grassley should take, that are actually within his purview. You can’t possibly be just now figuring out that Congresscritters aren’t kings.
The only reason that Merrick Garland is NOT a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court is because of Chuck Grassley. He blocked him. All you have ever done is pound keys on a keyboard.
As far as you know.
Even if the GOP is given a majority in the Senate and the House the GOPe will block any attempt to do anything about it.
All talk. No action.
The GOPe, our moral superiors (along with the Dems), believes feigning outrage should be enough to appease the rowdy peasants. Or as Carville refers to them… the stupid ignorant evil racists in the GOP.
For them whatever it takes to Get Trump! is acceptable — Their morally righteous end justifies their means.
I’d love to be wrong about this. But their track record sucks. See Pence’s and Hutchinson’s latest latest statements about the FBI, for example. And you just know McConnell agrees with them.
As is true with the GOP in general. They have being the minority party in their DNA. Make a lot of noise, don’t have to do anything.
Anyone remember “Repeal and Replace”?
Be nice if some repubs grew backbones like the women in the House.
Grassley wants to know why the FBI constantly investigates Trump and ignores verified and legit information about Hunter Biden.
He knows, we know.. nothing will happen. The last part is the worst, because that is what the FBI knows.
This definitely makes you wonder what task the FBI was given when USAG Barr asked them to look into election irregularities immediately after the election and came back with “nothing”
And what did you do about the corruption and rampant FISA abuse when you were ‘head’ of the Judiciary Committee, you decrepit RINO relic?
Oh that’s right. You did absolutely NOTHING.
“There are lots of good people in the FBI. It’s the top that is the problem…..”
And if they are just following orders from the rotten at top, they become part of the problem.
America deserves impartial law enforcement that doesn’t leave journalists standing in a public hallway in his underwear and in handcuffs. There won’t be any improvement in the tactics and the respect for American citizens under Wray. De-fund and impeach, even though Puddin’ Joe’s handlers won’t allow him to do what is right . A whole lot of the corruption will come to light in the process.
I’m honestly tired of this fantasy of ‘impartial’.
They’ve NEVER been impartial, and never will be.
What we need is an organization that understands that if they step out of line they will face swift and meaningful consequences.
… but when they claim to be impartial, they will be held against that standard
Nazi underlings said they were just following orders. They too were tried and executed.
Enough talk.
I want to hear *Exactly* what kinds of reforms Grassley would like to make to ensure this crap doesn’t happen again. And then to apply it to the federal bureaucracy as a whole. You know if it were the Democrats they would have filed 5 separate bills on how to forcibly balance the institutions to be at least facially neutral. Probably through hiring quotas or indoctrination classes or purges or something. I want it filed and I want to read it or this party is dead to me.
As someone young enough I’ll have to live with the consequences of this decrepit wretch’s inability to accomplish anything beyond rolling over like a certain worthless turtle, his motor mouth isn’t appreciated.
FBI = Democrat Party’s Gestapo
Has been since its inception
“There are lots of good people in the FBI. It’s the top that is the problem…..”
This is nonsense. We’ve seen many times where politically motivated prosecutions are initiated by US Attorneys and the FBI storm troopers they use come out of the field offices, not FBI HQ in DC.
Disagree. It’s not like Hannity keeps claiming, 99% of the FBI employees are the “salt of the earth” but there are plenty of patriots in there and it doesn’t take a majority to take the system down. They just have to step up and hope that these people in Congress aren’t just luring them out to eliminate them.
The majority of senators are pounding the table with the same message. Why don’t they unite and DO SOMETHING FOR ONCE!!!! Oh yeah, they are one short of a majority. Politics is all about math. Well they should be learning something from Trump who is blowing away their math and winning while taking on the whole world that is against him.
The GOP had the majority, based in part on “Repeal and Replace”. Then, they somehow just couldn’t do anything.
If the good FBI folks resign the left will be happy to replace them.
Keeping their heads down and avoiding the assignments that might challenge their integrity is a survival mechanism which allows them to continue to do legitimate work.
Kind of like what is being said about our Congressmen and Senators.
They’re just following orders. /sarc
An old quote–don’t remember who: “The corrupt in DC give the other 10 percent a bad name.”
Same old game. Talk, talk, talk. Promises of investigations and threats of doing “something” later. But now is never EVER the right time to do the right thing. In the end, what gets done is a bipartisan lurch to the left.
Republicans are programmed to lose. That’s why Trump keeps getting more and more popular. The smart Republicans and independents are gravitating to Trump and once they do, they stay there. Everything makes sense from that vantage point. Fake news, kabuki theater, organized destruction of the Western world,.. The Uniparty is a mirage of poseurs and grifters lining their pockets.
So if Grassley is “uniparty,” why even mention this? Why not just keep his head down and go with the will of the (imaginary) uniparty? He could just NOT share with the public what is happening, right? He could just keep his mouth shut and let the “uniparty” rack up wins.
Funny how he’s NOT doing that, right? I mean, what kind of a “uniparty” player is he if he’s shouting from the rooftops about DOJ/FBI corruption? Weird.
Correct. Grassley isn’t “uniparty”, he’s just old enough to remember a different era when the game was played differently.
Fuzzy: Grassley voted for confirmation of Garland to AG. I must say, you speak like this is all a game of nice people speaking politely and when they accomplish nothing for their own voters, that’s okay so long as they say the right things. Well, that is YOUR Republican party. That is what WE are trying to change. Explain to me how Trump manages to take on the entire Uniparty (which includes McConnell’s gang of 18 to which Grassley consistently votes with) and gets big things done. You keep blaming Trump for all of the backstabbing traitors he appointed at the recommendation of the “conservatives” like McConnell etc… Funny how so many RINO commenters here forget that they didn’t feel that way when they were first appointed. But the masks drop and one after the other stabs Trump in the back (Pence was the worst one by far) and it’s Trump’s fault.
Your way of doing things has failed. Why do you insist on defending these windbag weasel grifters?
Grassley thought Garland would be a very different person to who he actually is; as did many.
Pence by the way never stabbed Trump in the back (see Prof. Jacobson’s takedowns here on the concept he could have stopped the vote count which was an explicitly moronic concept).
I can’t speak for Fuzzy but I like reality, I like actually fighting back IRL instead of fighting to make sure Democrats win so we could cry victim, and I like fighting back at last against the FBI and MIC which Grassley unlike you is doing.
“Grassley thought Garland would be a very different person to who he actually is”
I’ll be fascinated to learn how you can reconcile such a statement with the fact that Grassley first voted AGAINST him, then FOR him.
“Pence by the way never stabbed Trump in the back”
Really? He did it AGAIN just a few weeks ago, when he endorsed the McCain Mafia pick for AZ governor. (Trump’s America First pick won.)
If you don’t peep every so often, the momma bird never feeds you.
Endorsing different candidates is not a stab in the back, see Prof. Jacobson’s takedown of the idea that Mike Pence was god for a day, and Grassley thought Garland would be horrible for the supreme court (off the top of my head we all know he would have voted to keep Roe) but that he would be least bad for Biden’s possible DOJ picks.
He learned he was wrong about the latter idea and is working to fight back and rectify his mistake. Perhaps you should support that instead of self defeating rhetoric?
If we lose this midterm Biden gets an extra 2 years of judges, an extra 2 years of not even having a theoretical chance for oversite, another 2 years of a rubber stamp for new candidates for everything…..the stakes are high.
Phil
I do read you 5 x 5 and honestly agree in principle if not in reality.
I have looked at the situation for a while ( probably through a similar lens as you are) but maybe see a few nuanced differences.
I don’t believe the “Republicans” (I put that in quote because that requires a very specific definition f that term) are the problem.
I believe the “puppet masters” have bought/paid for a select group and position them in power positions where they are “just enough” to get the point across while giving the illusion that its the “Republicans”.
The pattern I have notices is that its always “the usual suspects” selling us out and those suspects usually wind up in the influential positions.
IF my observations are representing the true state then an influx of legitimate MAGA types in parallel with a significant RINO/GOPe culling could make a significant difference in a very short time.
Yep. There are 12 to 20 r Senators who consistently align with McConnell and his goals. This goals are to preserve the grift by preserving the problem. One can’t fundraise and make speeches promising to do something about X if legislation fixing X was passed in the last Congress.
Additionally this group of Senators is philosophically closer to the d/prog Senators such as Manchin and Tester than the current philosophical underpinning of the current r base. They still believe govt is capable of offering solutions and solving problems outside a very narrow focus. They approve of a far more expansive role of govt than we do.
This carries over into the HoR. See Cheney among others. There a plenty of big govt r if not BIG govt r. That’s to say they believe in a govt of a size and power and hold a faith in those agencies and institutions that is far closer to d/prog than us. See Dan Crenshaw.
McConnell recently said in essence that the odds of taking the Senate were low because r primary voters picked candidates like JD Vance instead of moderates. This demonstrates how out of touch he is. Even if does believe that why would he provide ammunition to their opponents? Why wouldn’t he jump in feet first with pushing campaign funds to support these r candidates? They answer is McConnell doesn’t want them to win. More Senators who won’t be his lap dogs and who might actually vote the way campaign scares the hell out of him.
These whistleblowers will be targeted for destruction by the left.
The problem with the repub party is that they are afraid to throw out the leadership class of the party after they fail to produce. Part of this lies at the feet of Trump and some of his bad personnel decisions, Priebus was running the RNC in 2016 and Trump promotes him to Chief of Staff ( bad call). Then he picks Ronna Romney McDaniel to replace Priebus to run the RNC, another failure. Paul Ryan while running the house was a failure, he bailed out on the party. I do believe that Trump learned very tough lessons in regards to who he picks for his inner circle and would do a much better job if re-elected.
Then after losing Congress party leadership keeps McConnell in place, McCarthy is picked to run the house for the repubs and seems very uninspiring to me. The heartbeat of the party is in the south or midwest not the interior of California.
The repubs need to overturn their leadership and get rid of the fossils in leadership positions with younger, new blood. The new leadership must be carefully selected, the answer is not the Graham’s of the senate.
The only real power the repubs have is preventing any legislation that requires 60 votes to pass from passing. There are a bunch of bills passed by the house that are dead because they require 60 senate votes, the other power is the slow walking of all appointments that require confirmation votes.. Keep any activity that requires unanimous consent to a minimum, make the senators get out of their offices and come to the floor for debate and votes one nominee at a time.
My proposed solution to fix the mismatch problem.
Recalibrate how the national r party leadership is elected. Give every State party a vote share proportional to their success in electing r candidates.
Example
Alabama has 7 CD, two Senators, Gov, LT Gov, AG. All are held by r except one CD. Total of 11/12.
NY has 27 CD with 7 r. No r holds any of those statewide offices. Total of 7/32.
Put in these terms it is easy to see success and failure. So the criteria for power should be to add the five listed statewide offices and the number of CD. Then subtract the number of offices not held by r. That’s a fair measure of the effectiveness of the state r party. NY shouldn’t get an outsize proportion of influence when the State party isn’t delivering outsize results.
That’s my minimum. I would prefer to go further and base it on the performance v the average level of success to further reward State r parties who deliver exceptional results above the average. This also serves as a disincentive for failure theatre while moving the platform and policies of the National party far closer to alignment with the base r voters.
The FBI has been corrupted since the get-go. Read any bio of J. Edgar Hoover. His name is on their building.
Liz Cheney has formed a PAC to keep Trump away from the White House. The quip of the day–not mine–“Why form a PAC when we have the DOJ”?
Meanwhile, an FBI agent has pleaded guilty to intentionally destroying evidence in order to send someone to prison for 18 years.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/08/fbi-agent-pleads-guilty-destroying-evidence-frame-pro-trump-political-prisoner/
I expect he will be sternly admonished, and given probation. All while his victim completes his 18 year prison sentence.
“I expect he will be sternly admonished, and given probation.”
You misspelled promotion.
I’m sorry, Senator, but after 41 years in the Senate, and 56 years all together in US congress, I think you’re likely every bit aware of the problems. Hell, you were in the Senate when Ruby Ridge, Whitey Bulger, Waco Seige and a plethora of other issues raised their heads. Yet…what? You get good sound bites, do a couple of news interviews, and vote safe status quo votes. You had times in the past to pass laws, budgets, etc that could have reined in this monstrosity, but did you?
No, you made it worse- https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1071/vote_107_1_00313.htm
https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1102/vote_110_2_00168.htm
I’m still convinced a majority of the Republican party is actually just a controlled opposition party, like Just Russia was for Putin.
Joe Biden appreciates you endorsing the Democrats for continued control of congress.
Joe Biden is shocked that you are a fake Republican, Barack Obama losing the congress meant he couldn’t get a single law passed beyond Obamacare and failed to get any budget for a long time, while his losing the senate meant he failed to get a single judge confirmed after 2014.
Joe Biden is thrilled that you are helping him remake the judiciary and the country because he has plenty more legislative agenda items he wants to pass and radicals he wants to appoint to the judiciary.
You may cost us the culture, drive inflation, illegal immigration, and crime through the roof but remember you have integrity to stick it to the Republican Party.
Grassley is a toothless tiger. This is a made-for-TV feint.