Ranking Member Raskin’s Statement Following Review of Debunked FBI Tip
Washington, D.C. (June 5, 2023)—Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and
Accountability, issued the following statement after the FBI made the FD-1023 subpoenaed by Committee Republicans
available for review and provided a briefing on the Trump Justice Department’s steps to investigate the tip that was ultimately
determined to be unfounded:
“Today, the FBI accommodated Chairman Comer’s May 3 subpoena by making available for in-person review
the requested FD-1023 form and answering my and Chairman Comer’s questions for over an hour.
As the FBI explained at length during today’s briefing, and in previous conversations leading up to
today’s accommodation, releasing this form publicly could place the Confidential Human Source in
grave danger and undermine the integrity of FBI programs and investigations going forward.
Yet, rather than acknowledge these legitimate law enforcement concerns, Chairman Comer has declared
his intent to hold Director Wray in contempt of Congress to further promote debunked Republican conspiracy theories.
“But here are the facts: the FD-1023 form, which we reviewed first-hand today, records what a
Confidential Human Source told the FBI about conversations he had with individuals in Ukraine.
The source, who has been described as highly credible by the FBI, told the FBI he could not
provide any opinion on the underlying veracity of the information provided by these Ukrainian individuals.
“However, Trump’s own Department of Justice was able to reach a conclusion about this information.
In January 2020, Attorney General Barr handpicked Scott Brady, the U.S. Attorney in Pittsburgh,
to review allegations by Rudy Giuliani that President Biden and Hunter Biden were involved in a
Ukrainian corruption scheme. As part of this assessment, U.S. Attorney Brady, together with a team
of experienced prosecutors and FBI agents, assessed relevant information, including interviewing this
Confidential Human Source—an interview that was recorded in the subpoenaed FD-1023 form.
Much of the information provided by the source was information Mr. Giuliani had already provided the FBI.
In August 2020, Attorney General Barr and his hand-picked U.S. Attorney signed off on closing the assessment,
having found no evidence to corroborate Mr. Giuliani’s allegations.
“We now know what I had long suspected: that Chairman Comer’s subpoena is about recycling stale and
debunked Burisma conspiracy theories long peddled by Rudy Giuliani and a Russian agent, sanctioned by
former President Trump’s own Treasury Department, as part of the effort to smear President Biden and help
Mr. Trump’s reelection campaign.
“Chairman Comer’s actions prove that his interest in issuing this subpoena was never about seeking the truth,
but was always about weaponizing the powers of this Committee to hold Director Wray in contempt as part of
MAGA Republicans’ efforts to discredit and ultimately ‘dismantle’ the FBI.”
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