(Headline USA) FBI Director Christopher Wray said this week that a whistleblower report alleging an agency cover-up of wrongdoings by Hunter Biden is “deeply troubling,” but refused to explain what he plans to do about it.
During a congressional hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, Wray was pressed about the report, which accused assistant special agent Tim Thibault and FBI supervisory intelligence analyst Brian Auten of deliberately ignoring potential crimes committed by Hunter Biden and labeling them “misinformation.”
“Isn’t it true that Mr. Thibault and [Auten] covered up derogatory information about Mr. Hunter Biden while working for the FBI?” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., asked Wray.
Wray responded by saying he doesn’t want to “interfere with ongoing personnel matters,” reported the New York Post.
“I should say that when I read the letter that describes the kinds of things that you’re talking about, I found it deeply troubling,” he added.
Kennedy then cited some of Thibault’s social media messages, in which he made derogatory statements about Republicans.
“I will tell you that what you’re describing is not representative of the FBI … where I see patriots working their tails off with tremendous integrity and objectivity,” Wray replied.
Kennedy also asked Wray whether Thibault is still involved in the Hunter Biden investigation, but Wray refused to answer.
“The investigation that you’re referring to is going to — and I need to be a little bit careful because we’re talking about an ongoing investigation — is being run out of our Baltimore field office, working with the Delaware US attorney who’s a holdover from the prior administration,” Wray said.
“It’s no wonder the American people are getting the impression that certain agencies are biased,” Kennedy tweeted.
The whistleblower report, obtained by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, claims Thibault and Auten were involved in “a scheme” to “undermine derogatory information connected to Hunter Biden by falsely suggesting it was disinformation.”
Auten “opened an assessment which was used by an FBI Headquarters (‘FBI HQ’) team to improperly discredit negative Hunter Biden information as disinformation and caused investigative activity to cease,” Grassley wrote.
And Thibault tried to shut down a part of the investigation into Hunter Biden that could have resulted in criminal charges, Grassley said.
“In October 2020, an avenue of additional derogatory Hunter Biden reporting was ordered closed at the direction of ASAC Thibault… [when] all of the reporting was either verified or verifiable via criminal search warrants,” Grassley wrote.
“Thibault allegedly ordered the matter closed without providing a valid reason as required by FBI guidelines…. [and] subsequently attempted to improperly mark the matter in FBI systems so that it could not be opened in the future.”
