Grassley, Johnson demand FBI interview, say previous Hunter probe meeting pushed fake Russian disinformation story

Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson are demanding that the FBI agents who gave them an “unnecessary” briefing in August 2020 alleging they were “spreading Russian disinformation” by investigating Hunter Biden’s business dealings come forward for a transcribed interview on the Senate floor next month.

Fox News Digital obtained a letter from Grassley, R-Iowa, and Johnson, R-Wis., written to FBI Intelligence Analyst Nikki Flores and FBI Counterintelligence Division Deputy Assistant Director Bradley Benavides on Thursday.

“On August 6, 2020, as we were completing our September 23, 2020 report on Hunter Biden’s financial ties to foreign governments and questionable foreign nationals, you provided us with a briefing on behalf of the FBI and the intelligence community,” the senators wrote, adding, that the briefing was “unnecessary and only done under pressure from our Democratic colleagues, including Democratic leadership, to falsely attack our investigation into Biden as advancing Russian disinformation.”

At the time, Johnson and Grassley were working on a joint investigation into Hunter Biden’s role on the board of Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holdings and his “extensive and complex financial transactions.”

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Grassley and Johnson reminded FBI officials that they had already received a briefing from members of the FBI and the intelligence community in March 2020 who “provided assurances that there is no reason for our committees not to continue their investigation.”

“Nevertheless, the FBI bowed to Democratic pressure and provided the infamous briefing on August 6, 2020,” they wrote.

The senators said the briefing consisted “primarily of information we already know and information unrelated to our investigation of Biden.”

“We made it clear in your briefing that this is not relevant to the nature of our work,” they wrote. “In response, you stated that the FBI was not attempting to ‘override, curtail, or interfere’ with the investigation in any way.”

The senators added that they were concerned that the briefing could be leaked and would “cast a false light on the focus of our investigation,” noting that it did happen, with media reports “falsely” characterizing their investigation.

“Furthermore, the whistleblowers recently alleged that in August 2020, the same month you provided us with the briefing, FBI officials initiated a scheme to downplay derogatory information about Hunter Biden in order to end investigative activity related to him potential criminal exposure by labeling it “misinformation,” they wrote.

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The senators also noted that the whistleblowers claimed that local FBI leadership “instructed officials not to look at Hunter Biden’s laptop immediately after the FBI received it.”

FBI Director Christopher Wray, during Senate testimony earlier this month, said the whistleblowers’ allegations were “deeply troubling.”

In their letter, the senators said they had requested “relevant records” related to the Aug. 6, 2020, briefing, but said the FBI had been “consistently unresponsive” to their requests and had failed to provide “these critical records, which casts further doubt on the true purpose of the briefing.”

“Simply put, the unnecessary FBI briefing provided Democrats and the liberal media with a vehicle to propagate their false narrative that our work was advancing Russian disinformation,” they wrote, adding that the briefing “created an interference that frustrated and impeded Congressional efforts for supervision’.

“The FBI is accountable to Congress and the American people; therefore, we request that you appear before us for a transcribed interview on these and related matters no later than September 8, 2022,” they wrote, further requesting that “all records related to the briefing” be “preserved ” as they requested in August 2020.

Meanwhile, Grassley and Johnson eventually released their interim report on Hunter Biden in September 2020.

The 87-page report said Obama administration officials “knew” that Hunter Biden’s position on Burisma’s board was “problematic” and that it interfered “with the effective implementation of Ukraine policy.”

Hunter Biden joined Burisma in April 2014, and at the time he allegedly linked the firm to consulting firm Blue Star Strategies to help the natural gas company fight corruption allegations in Ukraine. At the time Hunter Biden was on the company’s board, Joe Biden was vice president and managing director Relations between the United States and Ukraine and policy for the Obama administration.

Grassley and Johnson’s report also revealed that they obtained records from the US Treasury Department that “indicate potential criminal activity related to transactions between and among Hunter Biden, his family and his associates with Ukrainian, Russian, Kazakh and Chinese nationals “.

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Grassley and Johnson said they obtained records that Hunter Biden “sent thousands of dollars” to individuals who “either engaged in transactions consistent with possible human trafficking; relationship with the adult entertainment industry; or potential connection to prostitution’.

“Some recipients of these funds are Ukrainians or Russian citizens” the report stated, adding that “records indicate that it is a documented fact that Hunter Biden sent funds to foreign alien women in the United States who are citizens of Russia and Ukraine and who subsequently transferred funds that have received from Hunter Biden to individuals located in Russia and Ukraine.

“The records also noted that some of these transactions were related to what ‘appears to be an Eastern European prostitution or human trafficking network,'” the report said.

Meanwhile, the report said Senate investigators found millions of dollars in “questionable financial transactions” between Hunter Biden and his associates and foreign individuals, including the wife of the former Moscow mayor, as well as individuals linked to the Chinese Communist Party.

According to the report, an investment firm co-founded by Hunter Biden, Rosemont Seneca Thornton, “received $3.5 million via wire transfer.” by Elena Baturinathe wife of the former mayor of the Russian capital.

The report goes even further and claims that not only Hunter Biden, but other members of the Biden family “participated in a vast financial network that connected them to foreign nationals and foreign governments around the world.”

After the 2020 presidential election, Hunter Biden himself revealed that he was under federal investigation for his “tax affairs.”

Hunter Biden was under federal investigation of 2018, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News.

Fox News has learned that the investigation has now reached a “critical stage” as officials look into whether to charge the president’s son Biden with various tax violations, possible foreign lobbying violations and more.

Another source told Fox News that the federal grand jury looking into Hunter Biden’s business dealings ended its final term late last month, but said no charges had been filed.

The investigation is led by Delaware US Attorney David Weiss, prosecutor appointed by former President Donald Trump.

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The source told Fox News on Wednesday that Weiss and Justice Department officials are exploring whether to indict Hunter Biden for various tax violations and, more seriously, possible foreign lobbying violations. The source said Hunter Biden could face possible charges of making false statements.

Fox News first reported in December 2020 that Hunter Biden was the subject/target of the grand jury investigation, according to a well-informed government source. According to the source, “target” means there is a “high probability that this person has committed a crime,” while “subject” is someone you “don’t know for sure.” committed a crime.“

The federal investigation of Hunter Biden was prompted in part by Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) regarding suspicious foreign transactions.

Another source familiar with the investigation told Fox News in December 2020 that the SARs were linked to funds from “China and other foreign countries.”

A Treasury official who would not comment on the investigation spoke broadly about SARs, telling Fox News that SARs are filed by financial institutions “if there’s something unusual about a particular transaction.”

The official told Fox News that the mere filing of a SAR does not mean there has been a criminal act or violation of regulations. Instead, it is a flag that the transaction is “unusual” for the client. However, the official noted that a SAR could be part of a money laundering or tax investigation.

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“I take this matter very seriously, but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will show that I conducted my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the assistance of professional tax advisors,” Hunter Biden said in December 2020 Mr.