Sen. Charles Grassley revealed Monday that the Ukrainian energy company executive who purportedly bribed President Biden when he was vice president is believed to have audio recordings of conversations with Mr. Biden.
Mr. Grassley, Iowa Republican, also said during a floor speech that the FBI had hid that claim from lawmakers.
He said the FBI-generated unclassified document, known as an FD-1023, that House GOP Oversight Committee members read last week redacted references to Mr. Biden’s audio recordings with the informant.
The document contained claims by a long-time trusted and “highly credible” FBI informant that Burisma energy company executives paid $5 million in 2015 and 2016 to solicit Mr. Biden’s help in thwarting Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who was investigating Burisma.
“The FBI made Congress review a redacted unclassified document in a classified facility. That goes to show you the disrespect the FBI has for Congress,” Mr. Grassley said.
“The 1023 produced to that House Committee redacted reference that the foreign national who allegedly bribed Joe and Hunter Biden allegedly has audio recordings of his conversations with them — 17 total recordings,” he said.
Mr. Grassley said that according to the 1023, the Burisma executive has 15 audio recordings of phone calls between him and Hunter Biden and two audio recordings of phone calls between him and then-Vice President Biden.
“These recordings were allegedly kept as a sort of insurance policy for the foreign national in case he got into a tight spot. The 1023 also indicates that then-Vice President Joe Biden may have been involved in Burisma employing Hunter Biden,” the Iowa Republican said.
He added, “I’ve repeatedly asked since going public with the existence of the 1023, what, if anything, has the Justice Department and FBI done to investigate?”
Mr. Biden has repeatedly and emphatically claimed that he never discussed his son’s international business dealings.
Mr. Grassley smelled a political double standard.
Special Counsel Jack Smith, who indicted former President Donald Trump on 37 counts, used an audio recording against former President Donald Trump and alleged Mr. Trump retained nuclear secrets and papers on foreign weapons systems at his Mar-a-Lago estate and waved around military plans to persons without proper clearance in 2021.
Mr. Grassley asked whether Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss was doing anything with respect to the alleged recordings of the Bidens “that are apparently relevant to a high-stakes bribery scheme.”
“Based on the facts known to Congress and the public, it’s clear that the Justice Department and FBI will use every resource to investigate candidate Trump, President Trump and former President Trump,” he said. “Based on the facts known to Congress and the public, it’s clear that the Justice Department and FBI haven’t nearly had the same laser focus on the Biden family.”
A top executive for Burisma who allegedly bribed Mr. Biden when he was vice president with a $5 million payment in 2016 referred to Mr. Biden as the “big guy,” according to the unclassified FD-1023.
The Burisma executive’s nickname for Mr. Biden echoes a claim by a former Biden family associate who in 2020 detailed a payout scheme for a business deal with a Chinese energy company in which 10% of the profits would be held “for the big guy.”
The “big guy,” the associate said, was Mr. Biden.
A source familiar with the FBI memo confirmed to The Washington Times that the Burisma executive identified Mr. Biden as the “big guy” involved in the bribery scheme.
The Washington Times reached out to the FBI and the White House for comment but did not immediately hear back.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.