Jamie Raskin: GOP’s Bogus Claims Of A Biden Bribery Scandal Can Be Traced To Giuliani And Russia

On Wednesday, Republicans on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee made an announcement that they had been made aware of information being held by the FBI that allegedly proves President Joe Biden has been involved in a bribery scandal that supposedly took place while he was serving as vice president in the Obama administration.

CBS News reports that the allegation came from House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer (KY) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA).

In their letter to (FBI Director Chris) Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland, Grassley and Comer said that it had come to their attention that “the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) possess an unclassified FD-1023 form that describes an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions.”

“It has been alleged that the document includes a precise description of how the alleged criminal scheme was employed as well as its purpose,” their letter said. 

The White House immediately responded to announcement from Grassley and Comer, with Ian Sams, the White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations, noting:

“For going on five years now, Republicans in Congress have been lobbing unfounded, unproven, politically-motivated attacks against the President and his family without offering evidence for their claims or evidence of decisions influenced by anything other than U.S. interests.”

“When it comes to President Biden’s personal finances, anybody can take a look: he has offered an unprecedented level of transparency, releasing a total of 25 years of tax returns to the American public.”

And now Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, is suggesting that the latest attempt by Republicans to create a scandal is actually part of a Russian campaign to discredit President Biden, explaining in a statement:

“Committee Republicans are recycling unsubstantiated claims floated by Senate Republicans by issuing a subpoena to the FBI to require the release of a June 2020 tip from an unknown informant.  During this same time period, Rudy Giuliani and Russian agents, sanctioned by Trump’s Treasury Department, were peddling disinformation aimed at interfering in the 2020 presidential election.  Given Chair Comer’s commitment to ‘dismantle’ the FBI, it’s no surprise that he would rely on these unverified tips to attack President Biden in one more baseless partisan stunt.”

In the weeks ahead, you can expect to hear more from Comer and other Republicans about this nonexistent scandal they’ve created out of thin air. They have nothing, but it won’t keep them from peddling lies to their constituents for the purpose of slagging Biden and trying to raise money off it.