Grassley Sets the Record Straight on Oversight of FBI-Generated 1023 Document

VIDEO

Today I want to take the time of my colleagues to set the record straight yet again about the FBI-generated 1023.

And I do this because the breathless media misreporting requires that I come to the floor to give a historical reorientation with facts and evidence.

As I’ve said all along, I and Chairman Comer of the House made the 1023 document public for this single purpose: that purpose [was] to force the FBI to do what the taxpayers pay the FBI to do. That is, investigate, in this case.

It’s all pretty simple. I didn’t promote or vouch for the allegations in the 1023 as the truth like some confused Democrats and the partisan media have falsely said. I pushed the FBI to do their job, because that’s my responsibility to the taxpayers and the people of Iowa.

Now, some confused Democrats and partisan media have returned to their favorite line: falsely saying that our effort to get the FBI to do their job is somehow peddling Russian disinformation.

It’s kind of like a nervous tic for them.

For years, they falsely said the same thing about my and Senator Johnson’s Biden family investigation, even though our investigation was based on Obama-Biden administration records and authentic bank records.

Some Democrats and the partisan media apparently don’t care about observing and reading the facts.

Well, this senator does care about that.

So, let’s discuss the facts of the matter that they either missed or, more likely, are choosing to ignore because it doesn’t fit their narrative.

The whistleblowers within the Justice Department who came to me said the FBI had this document in their possession now three years ago, June of 2020.

The document’s dated June 30, 2020. 

Those whistleblowers that came to me were right.

Whistleblowers said the FBI considered its Confidential Human Source to be credible. That Confidential Human Source, which I’ll simply describe today as the FBI’s source, formed the basis of the 1023.

…We now know the name of that FBI source, but until he was arrested, I did not know his name.

The FBI said the same to Congress and used that credibility assessment to withhold the 1023 from Congress when we first asked for it.

Even Ranking Member Raskin of the House [Oversight] Committee confirmed that the FBI told Congress the FBI source was credible.

The FBI found their source so credible that the FBI gave their source the authority to engage in illegal activity for the FBI’s criminal investigations.

And yes, I want to make clear, the FBI said that he could do illegal things in his work for the FBI.   

The FBI told him that he may even have to testify in court based on the information he provided.

In fact, the FBI said that this source was so credible that the public release of the unclassified 1023 could put his life at risk...

Now, let me be clear: the FBI consistently and publicly vouched for their source.

Then, the other week, the Biden Justice Department made this source’s name public for the world to see… Apparently, the FBI’s excuse to withhold the document from Congress was pure smoke.

Remember, the FBI said releasing the 1023 could put the confidential human source’s life in danger.

The FBI’s conduct is obviously absurd and a disservice to the American people.

So, you can see, those whistleblowers were right about the FBI believing that their source was credible.

Whistleblowers said the FBI source served as a source for many years, dating to the Obama administration…

According to the Justice Department indictment, the FBI source worked for the federal government and was paid by the federal government.

Those whistleblowers were right.

Whistleblowers said the FBI failed to investigate the allegations in the document.

Let me refresh this history by giving you the timeline.

According to the Justice Department indictment, the FBI finally interviewed the FBI source on September 27, 2023. 

We made the 1023 public just a few months prior, on July 20, 2023.

Clearly, the FBI finally acted because of our release of the document. In other words, we embarrassed them.

And by that time, as I’ve said by my timeline, the document was over three years old.

Three years they didn’t do their job.

So, the 1023 sat with the FBI collecting dust until we, in Congress, acted.

My releasing the 1023 got the FBI to do its job that they should have been doing three years before.

I think it’s legitimate in this political climate we’re in this year, a presidential year, to ask the question: would Special Counsel Jack Smith have waited years to act if the 1023 was about former President Trump?

Those whistleblowers were right about the FBI’s failure to investigate.

I started my oversight relating to the FBI’s failure to investigate the 1023 on October 13, 2022.

I sent a letter to Attorney General Garland, Director Wray and U.S. Attorney Weiss to ask this very simple question: “What have the FBI and Justice Department, to include U.S. Attorney Weiss, done to investigate?”

I also asked for an array of records, including travel records, that the Justice Department has since used to indict the source. And I asked for the same records again on October 24, 2023.

I said this on May 3, 2023: “What we don’t know is what, if anything, the FBI has done to verify these claims or investigate further.”

I said this on May 5, 2023, about the 1023: “I wish I could say that I knew it was true or untrue.”

On May 9, 2023, I said: “My focus right now is on the FBI and the Department of Justice. What have they done with this document?”

On June 1, 2023, I said: “We’re responsible for making sure the FBI does its job, and that’s what we want to know.”

I came to this very floor on June 12, 2023, to say this:

“Here, with this 1023 document I’ve been referring to throughout my remarks, the Biden Justice Department and FBI must explain to Congress and the American people what, if anything, they’ve done with this information. And they need to show their work. We’re not accepting their word anymore. We’re seeking documentary proof of what they did to investigate the matter or their failure to so do.”

Then, after Comer and I publicly released the document, I said this on July 25, 2023:

“I want to make clear what my oversight focus is and will be: holding the Biden Justice Department and FBI accountable to explain to the American people what they did to investigate and what they found.

“What did the Justice Department and FBI do to investigate the information contained in the 1023? Did the Justice Department and FBI follow normal investigative process and procedure or try to sweep it all under the rug because of political bias? More precisely, did the FBI and DOJ seek to obtain the evidence referenced in the document? 

“Did DOJ and FBI seek to interview individuals relating to the 1023?  If not, why not?  If so, one way or the other, what did they find?”

Let me say that one line again so everyone hears me.

“One way or the other, what did they find?”

All these partisan media outlets, if they had a shred of intellectual honesty and decency, would report these facts, and hold the FBI accountable for their failures.

One congressional request after another went unanswered by the Justice Department and FBI.

So, considering that deafening silence and the FBI’s assertions that the source was credible, we made the 1023 public to force the FBI to do what they’re paid to do – to do their job. They were supposed to be investigating this matter three years ago, and doing it not for Chuck Grassley, but for the American people.

If Congress didn’t ask for transparency and accountability – in other words, us, in the Congress, doing our oversight work – we’d break faith with the American people. Just like the FBI didn’t do its job and broke faith with the American people.

And you know what else the Biden administration hasn’t answered?

My and Senator Johnson’s oversight requests.

Let’s not forget, there’s a larger investigative picture here other than just [the] 1023.

Senator Johnson and I released two reports in 2020 as part of our Biden family investigation.

We gave a series of floor speeches introducing bank records connecting the Biden family to communist China financial interests.

Then, on October 26, 2022, we sent hundreds of pages of those bank records to U.S. Attorney Weiss.

So then this question is appropriate. To my Democratic colleagues and, more importantly, the partisan media that’s not doing their job: are those authentic bank records that Johnson and I made public – is that Russian disinformation?

Now, Chairmen Comer, Jordan and Smith have built and advanced upon the foundation created by Senator Johnson and this senator.

So, here’s the question. Where’s the Biden Justice Department regarding those bank records and potential money laundering? Where’s the Biden Justice Department regarding Biden family members registering under the Foreign Agents Registration Act?

Another question: the Biden Justice Department appears concerned about their FBI source’s contact with foreign nationals – so, where’s that same concern regarding the Biden family’s foreign contacts?

Are the Justice Department and the FBI sitting on it just like they did with the 1023 for all those years?

Here’s another question to pose to the media and my colleagues. If we didn’t make the 1023 public, would the FBI have interviewed the FBI source?

Or would he remain on the taxpayer’s payroll for another 10 years, continuing to misinform the FBI?

What will happen to the defendants if this source’s information was used for a conviction or plea deal?

This is quite the mess for the Justice Department and FBI – and it’s one of their own making. 

My oversight investigations are done without regard to power, party, or privilege.

And I back that up by asking you to remember, I’m the senator that did a transcribed interview of Donald Trump Jr. when Donald Trump was president of the United States.

That’s when I was Chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

I also ordered my staff to interview other Republicans during my Crossfire Hurricane investigation.

And you know what, if I had the gavel today, I’d bring more Bidens to Congress to testify.

Because the American people really deserve the kind of nonpartisan oversight that I’ve been conducting for years.

And remember this, and it’s pretty simple: if the FBI came clean years ago about the 1023, we wouldn’t have had to release the document.

Instead, they played games, withheld the document from Congress, and provided false and misleading information to Congress and the American people.

We all knows that transparency in government brings accountability. 

Now, folks are being held accountable because of my congressional oversight. 

My oversight will continue. 

The FBI has a lot of explaining to do for their continued shortcomings and actions in this case.

When will the media ask the FBI to explain?

I’ve just explained it for the American people. I’d like to see the media cover this, instead of talking about Russian disinformation when this issue is discussed in print media and on television.

Mr. Chairman, I yield the floor.

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