[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 184 (Wednesday, November 30, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6874-S6875]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           FBI Investigations

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, on November 25 of this year, the Justice 
Department and the FBI purported to respond to six of my oversight 
letters, but the really strange thing about it is that they are 
responding to six oversight letters with just a single letter. Whenever 
I see one letter that aims to answer six, I know the government's 
letter will most likely be hogwash at best. The FBI's November 25 
letter doesn't even meet the definition of ``hogwash.''
  My May 31, 2022, letter was about then-Assistant Special Attorney in 
Charge Thibault's political bias. The FBI's letter failed to provide 
any requested records.
  My July 18, 2022, letter was about Thibault and then-Election Crimes 
Branch chief Richard Pilger being involved in an open criminal 
investigation into former President Trump. That letter was based on 
whistleblower allegations about the defective opening of the 
investigation. That FBI letter failed to address the concerns I raised 
in my letter.
  My July 25, 2022, letter was about Thibault and others at the FBI 
shutting down investigative avenues into Hunter Biden separate from the 
ongoing U.S. Attorney Weiss investigation. That letter also noted that 
the investigative avenues were based on verified and verifiable 
information. That, too, was based upon whistleblower allegations. The 
FBI failed to provide any requested records.
  The August 17, 2022, letter built off of the July 25 letter and 
requested an organizational chart from the FBI's Washington Field 
Office. It seems like a very easy request to answer. It also posed a 
series of questions about Hunter Biden's investigation, including, how 
can Hunter Biden's criminal investigation be full and complete if the 
FBI improperly shut down verified and verifiable information and 
sourcing relating to potential criminal activities? There was no answer 
on that point from the FBI.
  The FBI did produce to me an organizational document for the 
Washington Field Office; however, it failed production because it 
wasn't what I asked for. For example, out of the entire Washington 
Field Office, the FBI included only six names in the document. 
Obviously, there are more people involved in that organization. There 
are dozens of subunits and squads within the Washington Field Office, 
and they only provided six names and even redacted some information.
  Congress and the American people have every right to know how 
taxpayers' dollars are used to support the Washington field office of 
the FBI.
  Then, going to my September 26, 2022, letter, that related to the 
FBI's retaliation against whistleblower Stephen Friend. Mr. Friend 
raised concerns to his superiors about breaches of FBI policy and 
procedure in domestic terrorism assessments and in those same terrorism 
investigations.
  As part of their retaliation to this whistleblower, the FBI placed 
Mr. Friend on what is called absent-without-leave status. They also 
took away Mr. Friend's badge, gun, and suspended his clearance.
  The FBI's letter didn't even mention Mr. Friend by name, yet 
purported to respond to my and Senator Johnson's letter about Mr. 
Friend.
  The October 13, 2022, letter--and this is the sixth letter that I 
have been referring to--related to Hunter Biden's criminal 
investigation. My letter noted that allegations from whistleblowers 
indicated that the information provided by Tony Bobulinski to the FBI 
about Hunter Biden formed a sufficient basis to open a full field 
investigation on pay-to-play grounds. However, it is unclear if the FBI 
took the appropriate action.
  The letter also noted that records within the FBI's possession and 
reviewed by my investigative staff indicate that Joe Biden was aware of 
Hunter Biden's business arrangements and may have been involved in 
some. The FBI failed to produce any requested records, and the FBI is 
zero for answering my six letters.
  Now, there are a couple of elements to the FBI's response letter that 
I would like to highlight. I call it the FBI's response because the 
Justice Department proper failed to send their own answers to my 
letters. The letters said, in part:

       When an employee or employees miss the mark and make a 
     mistake, it's critically important that we learn from those 
     instances. This means not only holding people accountable, 
     but also taking a close look at the larger organization so 
     that we can make necessary changes to policies and training 
     to ensure mistakes aren't repeated.

  I provided six letters to the Justice Department and FBI relating to 
their mistakes. The letters provided concrete facts. The letters 
provided evidence. The letters had highly credible whistleblower 
allegations. There was not a single admission of wrongdoing or some 
mistake that was even mentioned in the FBI letter. How can the FBI 
learn from its mistakes if it refuses to even admit or acknowledge 
them?
  Just as important, with respect to all whistleblower allegations that 
I have made public, it happens that neither the Justice Department nor 
the FBI have disputed the accuracy of the accusations that I am trying 
to get information on. That ought to tell all of us something.
  To the whistleblowers who have approached my office, they are true 
patriots.
  There is one more part of the FBI's letter that I would like to 
highlight. On the third page of this nonresponsive letter, the FBI says 
this about whistleblowers:

       Employees should feel they can raise their concerns about 
     wrongdoing and if those concerns aren't addressed within 
     their chain of command take them to an appropriate place 
     without retaliation.

  The FBI failed to mention Congress in this process of whistleblowing, 
and the FBI failed to make clear that employees can immediately go to 
Congress to disclose wrongdoing. That legal right to blow the whistle 
should have been explicitly clear in their letter.
  It happens that in several meetings that I have had with Director 
Wray, he personally assured me that whistleblowers approaching my 
office with an allegation won't face retaliation. Simply put, the 
Justice Department and the FBI need to get over themselves, show some 
respect to Congress as well as the American people represented here, 
answer the questions, admit to the mistakes, show us corrective action, 
and let's move on together to fix our institutions for future 
generations of Americans.
  The letters I wrote provide a roadmap for the FBI to root out 
political infection within their ranks and field offices. The letters 
highlight existential problems deep within the FBI. Based on the 
response letters that I have been referring to, the FBI has done 
nothing to root out the political infection.

[[Page S6875]]

  The Justice Department's and the FBI's continued failure to do so 
will lead them on a long, slow, and painful walk to losing more 
credibility and more trust with the American people. That is a result 
that is entirely avoidable, if they want to avoid it.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.