Christopher Wray and everyone else in leadership roles at the FBI continue to act as if they have no idea what members of the House Oversight Committee are talking about when they are asked about the weaponization, politicization, and corruption at the Bureau. We expect that pattern to continue after today’s hearings and testimony. But more and more information keeps leaking out seemingly demonstrating that the opposite is true. The latest item to come to light is a letter that was sent by FBI general counsel Jason Jones to a supervisory agent who was scheduled to testify before the committee. Sent the day before the scheduled testimony, Jones informed the agent that he was “expected to decline to respond” to questions about the investigation into Hunter Biden. The line between “normal” procedures and a blatant coverup is becoming blurrier and blurrier. (NY Post)

The FBI warned a supervisory agent who investigated Hunter Biden that he was expected to “decline to respond” to House Oversight Committee questions about the “ongoing” case involving the first son, a bombshell letter obtained by The Post shows.

FBI general counsel Jason Jones sent the letter Sunday afternoon, just hours before the agent was set to testify — even though a source tells The Post that the FBI knew of a scheduled Monday deposition for several days.

“[T]he Department expects that you will decline to respond to questions seeking non-public information likely covered by one or more components of executive privilege or other significant confidentiality interests, in particular information about deliberations or ongoing investigative activity in law enforcement matters,” Jones wrote.

The agent was told that he should instead refer any questions to the FBI’s Office of Congressional Affairs. This would allow the Bureau to “consider” the questions while “protecting Executive Branch confidentiality interests.”

First of all, Hunter Biden isn’t in “the Executive Branch.” He holds no elected office of any sort and is nothing more than a relative who is allowed to live at the White House for some reason. He has no greater “confidentiality interest” than any other citizen. And even if that weren’t the case, the actual officials in the White House are not entitled to any special confidentiality protections if they are legitimately suspected of having engaged in criminal behavior.

Jones repeatedly referred to the Hunter Biden situation as “an ongoing investigation.” This is one of the shabbier tricks that the FBI has been engaged in for years. As long as they can claim there is an ongoing investigation, they can continue to stonewall any questions that might “impede” the investigation. But they’ve been at this since at least 2017. How long do they need to investigate one person? And besides, Hunter has already faced charges and been offered a plea deal. The investigation is over. This is nothing more than a blatant coverup at this point and all of those involved need to be removed.

Meanwhile, Jim Jordon is again threatening to hold Chris Wray in Contempt of Congress. But this isn’t related to the Hunter Biden investigation. And it sounds as if he’s serious. (Washington Examiner)

In a letter sent to the FBI director Monday, Jordan gave the FBI a deadline of July 25 to “substantially improve” subpoena compliance before the House Oversight Committee considers “compulsory action,” which would include the possibility of holding Wray in contempt of Congress. Jordan cited two prior instances in which he claimed Wray failed to comply with a subpoena properly.

“On February 3, 2023, the Committee issued a subpoena to you for documents and information regarding the FBI’s targeting of concerned parents who speak out at school board meetings,” he wrote. “Similarly, on April 10, 2023, the Committee issued a subpoena to you for documents and information related to the FBI’s profiling of traditional Catholics as domestic extremists. To date, the FBI’s compliance with these subpoenas has been wholly inadequate and has materially impeded the Committee’s oversight efforts.”

Wray may believe he can simply ignore this situation, but Contempt of Congress is a very real statute that can be applied to anyone, including FBI officials. It’s a complicated process and such complaints are typically ironed out before reaching a more drastic conclusion. But people can be referred to a federal court and sentenced to fines of up to $100,000 and up to one year in prison. While rare, this has actually happened. Take the 1983 case of former EPA official Rita Lavelle. She was found guilty of lying to Congress after being subpoenaed and was sentenced to six months in prison and fined $10,000. So Christopher Wray may want to be a bit more careful about how fast and loose he plays this hand.