A new report published Monday reveals that several “highly credible” whistleblowers from within the FBI believe there was a coordinated effort to bury any negative stories about President Joe Biden’s embattled son Hunter.
CBS reporter Catherine Herridge shared a letter from Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) — addressed to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland — indicating that several credible sources inside the FBI had contacted him with information suggesting that Hunter Biden was being strategically protected from negative media attention.
“NEW: Multiple “highly credible” FBI whistleblowers have come forward to senior Senate Republican @ChuckGrassley alleging widespread effort to downplay or discredit negative information about the President’s son Hunter Biden, according to letters,” Herridge tweeted.
NEW: Multiple “highly credible” FBI whistleblowers have come forward to senior Senate Republican @ChuckGrassley alleging widespread effort to downplay or discredit negative information about the President 's son Hunter Biden, according to letters @CBSNews https://t.co/hw5kGiTFVv pic.twitter.com/xAgMcpdXMu
— Catherine Herridge (@C__Herridge) July 26, 2022
In the letter, Grassley noted that he had already been aware of federal law enforcement’s potential involvement in efforts to keep Hunter Biden’s name off the front page — and he had put out a call for anyone who knew of such efforts to reach out to him with any additional information.
“In response, my office has received a significant number of protected communications from highly credible whistleblowers,” Grassley said, adding, “The information provided to my office involves concerns about the FBI’s receipt and use of derogatory information relating to Hunter Biden, and the FBI’s false portrayal of acquired evidence as disinformation. The volume and consistency of these allegations substantiate their credibility and necessitate this letter.”
Grassley went on to say that the FBI had begun compiling evidence regarding Hunter Biden in 2020 — but that evidence was ultimately used to help “improperly discredit” anything that was eventually made public.
“First, it’s been alleged that the FBI developed information in 2020 about Hunter Biden’s criminal financial and related activity. It is further alleged that in August 2020, FBI Supervisory Intelligence Analyst Brian Auten opened an assessment that was used by a FBI Headquarters team to improperly discredit negative Hunter Biden information as disinformation and caused investigative activity to cease,” the letter continued.
“Based on allegations, verified and verifiable derogatory information on Hunter Biden was falsely labeled as disinformation.”
Grassley went on to note that as certain aspects of the investigation were marked as “closed” — although they could have been reopened at a later date — efforts were allegedly made to mark them as permanently closed within the FBI system.
Grassley closed by calling on Wray and Garland directly to investigate based on the whistleblowers’ claims, adding, “You have an obligation to the country to take these allegations seriously, immediately investigate and take steps to institute fixes to these and other matters before you.”