Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray, and Inspector General Michael Horowitz on July 26. The letter addresses recent allegations made by his Senate colleague, Chuck Grassley (R-IA), of widescale misconduct by the FBI in the lead-up to the 2020 election.
As reported previously in The Dallas Express, Grassley asserted that “highly credible whistleblowers” had come forward alleging that the FBI used propaganda tactics to falsely discredit negative information on Hunter Biden, son of the then-Democratic nominee for president, Joe Biden.
Amongst the claims made by Sen. Grassley was that the FBI, in coordination with congressional Democrats and the media, conducted a sham briefing on an alleged foreign disinformation campaign targeting the congressional probe into Hunter Biden’s potentially-criminal financial activities.
“Indeed, months after that briefing — which was not specific and unconnected to our investigation — it was leaked to the Washington Post who reported on it and tied it to ‘an extensive effort by the [FBI] to alert members of Congress . . . that they faced a risk of being used to further Russia’s attempt to influence the election’s outcome,'” explained Sen. Johnson in his letter.
Johnson claimed that he and Grassley “always assumed [the briefing] was a set up to intentionally discredit [their] ongoing work into Hunter Biden’s extensive foreign financial entanglements.”
“The FBI being weaponized against two sitting chairmen of U.S. Senate committees with constitutional oversight responsibilities would be one of the greatest episodes of Executive Branch corruption in American history,” declared Johnson.
Echoing the sentiment expressed by Grassley in his correspondence, Johnson rebuked FBI Director Wray and his agency in the strongest terms, stating, “How can your agency, Director Wray, be capable of investigating the president’s son? Unfortunately, the FBI can no longer be trusted to investigate Hunter Biden with integrity and the equal application of law.”
Johnson also chided Garland and his Department of Justice. In his letter, he said, “Attorney General Garland, you have failed to provide Senator Grassley and me with assurances that any DOJ investigation into Hunter Biden’s potential criminal activity will be free of conflicts of interest. The American people should not have to tolerate your silence any longer.”
Finally, Johnson turned his focus to Inspector General Michael Horowitz. He referenced a request sent over a year ago to “begin an immediate review and investigation relating to the Justice Department’s and FBI’s process and procedure to prepare for and provide defensive and counterintelligence briefings with particular emphasis on the August 6, 2020, briefing.” Sen. Johnson’s letter claims that Inspector General Horowitz has yet to respond.
If Horowitz and his office are unwilling or unable to investigate the “potential political targeting of U.S. Senators” by the FBI, Johnson concluded, then “the appointment of a Special Counsel would be fully justified and long overdue.”