Nineteen House lawmakers sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray this week demanding answers about a laptop allegedly belonging to Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, following explosive reports that were published in the New York Post.
“Yesterday, the New York Post published an article entitled, ‘Smoking-gun email reveals how Hunter Biden introduced Ukrainian businessman to VP dad,'” the letter, dated Thursday, stated. “The article documents how a recently uncovered laptop and hard drive allegedly revealed e-mails to and from Hunter Biden that strongly indicated that former Vice President Joe Biden was, in fact, aware of his son’s overseas dealings.”
CBS News investigative reporter Catherine Herridge obtained the letter and posted it to her Twitter account late on Friday evening.
“Most concerning in the article was the allegation that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was in possession of this computer and hard drive back in December 2019,” the letter continued. “This action took place right at the end of the U.S. House of Representative’s impeachment sham against President Donald J. Trump, and right before the U.S. Senate tried the case. A large portion of the President’s legal defense case revolved around strong evidence that former Vice President Biden’s son, Hunter, was peddling his influence to this father to land lucrative jobs overseas that he might not have otherwise been qualified for.”
“If the FBI was, in fact, in possession of this evidence and failed to alert the White House to its existence that would have given more weight to the President’s legal defense, this was a gross error in judgement and a severe violation of trust,” the letter continued.
The letter demanded the following questions be answered by Thursday of next week:
- Was the FBI in possession of the laptop and hard drive that was documented in the New York Post article?
- Did the FBI take any steps to authenticate the laptop, hard drive, and data that was uncovered?
- Did anyone at the FBI brief officials at the Department of Justice or at the White House about this laptop or hard drive at any point since December 2019?
- Why did the New York Post have the information about this laptop and hard drive before the American people?
We request answers to these questions by Thursday, October, 22, 2020 at 5 PM EST.
READ: Letter from 19 house Republicans to Director Wray asks main questions surrounding @FBI forensic analysis of alleged Hunter Biden hard drive + timing. Separately, Republican @SenRonJohnson told @CBSNews FBI would not offer details to his staff about status @andybiggs4az pic.twitter.com/5HECZ1Y7Cs
— Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) October 17, 2020