Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) pressed FBI Director Christopher Wray on whether his agency is protecting President Joe Biden and his family during testimony Wednesday.
At the hearing, Wray and Gaetz got into a heated argument when the Florida Republican started accusing Wray of allowing misconduct at his agency by protecting the Bidens and not fully investigating Hunter Biden’s alleged wrongdoings.
BANK OF AMERICA FINED $250 MILLION FOR ‘JUNK FEES’ AND OPENING FAKE ACCOUNTS
Wray said he is “absolutely not” protecting the Biden family, a statement Gaetz didn’t believe and pushed back on.
Gaetz showed a WhatsApp message from Hunter Biden to a Chinese business associate on a screen that showed Hunter Biden invoking his father’s name to pressure the foreign businessman to send him money. After invoking his father’s name, Hunter Biden received millions of dollars from foreign business associates.
“I am sitting with my father, and we would like to understand why the commitment has not been fulfilled,” Hunter Biden told Zhao in one of the messages. “I am very concerned that [Ye] has either changed his mind and broken our deal without telling me or that he is unaware of the promises and assurances that have been made have not been kept.”
Gaetz called this message a “shakedown” and said it was “deeply revealing” that Wray would not recognize it as such.
Whistleblower testimony from two Internal Revenue Service employees has alleged that the Department of Justice and the FBI interfered in the criminal investigation of Hunter Biden by concealing information from investigators related to a foreign bribery scheme involving then-Vice President Joe Biden and his son. One of the whistleblowers also alleged that the FBI would tip off Secret Service agents on Hunter Biden’s detail and President Biden’s transition team that criminal investigators were seeking to interview the president’s son for the investigation.
“FBI headquarters had notified Secret Service headquarters, and the Biden transition team, about IRS CI’s plan to interview Hunter.” The whistleblower continued saying, “This essentially tipped off a group of people very close to President Biden and Hunter Biden and gave this group an opportunity to obstruct the approach on the witnesses.”
Wray was also pressed on the FISA queries his agency conducted on American citizens following the insurrection of the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Gaetz asked the director if he knew how many illegal queries his agency had conducted. Wray did not have an answer to the question.
“You’re, like, blissfully ignorant,” Gaetz told Wray. “You’re blissfully ignorant as to the unlawful queries, you’re blissfully ignorant as to the Biden shakedown, and it just seems like it gets to a kind of a creepy place as well.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Wray hit back at Gaetz, saying that the number of people who have applied to come work for the FBI in Florida is “up over 100%.”
“We’re deeply proud of them, and they deserve better than you,” Gaetz responded.
