Transparency Brings Accountability: The Justice Department Must Come Clean To The American People
Prepared Floor Remarks
Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa
Transparency Brings Accountability: The Justice Department Must Come Clean To The American People
May 4, 2023
Mr./Madame President,
In the past several years, I’ve taken to this floor to discuss my constitutional oversight of the Justice Department and FBI.
In many of those floor speeches, I’ve discussed legally protected and unclassified whistleblower disclosures made to my office relating to the Hunter Biden criminal investigation.
Those disclosures were made public in the interest of transparency and accountability. Because the public’s business should be public and we should know as senators, or congressmen or congresswomen, whether the executive branch of the government is faithfully executing the laws as the Constitution requires.
Those disclosures have a very common theme: the Justice Department and FBI have allowed political infection to take root within each agency’s decision-making process.
Such an infection is an existential threat to any government agency.
But to a law enforcement agency that can interfere with our constitutional rights, such an infection is catastrophic.
After Crossfire Hurricane, which was the definition of a political investigation, the whistleblower disclosures demanded congressional attention more than ever.
So, I wrote public letters asking questions. I directly asked the same to the Attorney General and FBI Director at committee hearings.
I’ve asked them about allegations that politics infected the Hunter Biden investigation. This sort of political bias erodes trust in government and prevents the equal application of the law.
I’ve asked them about allegations that the FBI used false claims of Russian disinformation to bury potentially criminal information about Hunter and James Biden.
I’ve asked them about allegations regarding specific records within the department’s possession relating to potential criminal conduct by the Biden family.
I’ve asked about allegations regarding specific records that show Joe Biden may have been involved in Hunter Biden’s business arrangements.
The allegations my office has received are very precise, very direct and very consistent. Accordingly, they’re highly credible.
These credible allegations raise important and fundamental questions.
Did the FBI follow normal investigative procedures to vet these claims?
Did the FBI follow the facts wherever they led?
Or did they improperly shut down credible leads in advance of the 2020 election?
Remember, I’ve been raising these questions for a long time. I’ve done it in letters, in hearings, in private calls with agency leadership and right here on the floor of the Senate.
The DOJ and the FBI had plenty of opportunities to respond to all of these questions I’ve raised.
Not once – let me emphasize that again – not once, has the Justice Department or FBI substantively disputed the whistleblower allegations that I’ve made public.
I’ve given Attorney General Garland and Director Wray every opportunity to put our worst fears to rest and assure the American people that everything has been done by the book.
Both agencies have failed to do so.
Just think how simple it is to say that everything was done the right way if they could. That oughta tell you something.
Even with their credibility on the line, the FBI and Justice Department have refused to cooperate when asked for basic information.
So yesterday, Chairman Comer and I issued a letter accompanied by a subpoena from the House committee demanding one FBI document.
Based on protected and highly credible whistleblower disclosures, the unclassified document exists, and it allegedly references a criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden.
Notably, it’s a crime to provide false information to Congress during a congressional investigation.
This very specific document was generated by FBI agents themselves.
It’s time for the Justice Department and FBI to come clean to the American people.
What did the Justice Department and FBI do to investigate the information in the document at issue?
The answer goes to the heart of whether taxpayer funded government agencies proceeded normally or cut corners.
Simply put, did the Justice Department and FBI treat this information like they would if We the People were implicated or did they sweep it under the rug to protect then-candidate Biden and President Biden now?
If the Justice Department and FBI have any hope of redeeming their once-trusted position with the American people, Attorney General Garland and Director Wray must answer. Their credibility is on the line.
I yield.
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