Global Courant
EXCLUSIVE – Former Attorney General William Barr is proposing that Attorney General Merrick Garland release FBI-produced Document FD-1023 – alleging a criminal bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden – to Republican lawmakers, at provided that appropriate steps are taken to preserve the life and safety of the confidential human source contained in the document.
Barr’s suggestion comes amid an outcry that the Justice Department is not impartial regarding investigations into former President Donald Trump and the Biden family.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Barr said Special Counsel Jack Smith’s unprecedented indictment of Trump for his mishandling of classified documents “understandably sparked anger at a double standard.”
“I think AG Garland needs to act quickly with concrete steps to address this,” Barr said.
“The public needs to be assured that the two ongoing investigations into the Bidens — the mishandling investigation and the broader Delaware investigation — are being pursued with the same rigor as the Trump case,” Barr told Fox News Digital.
Former Attorney General William P. Barr (Michael Reynolds/Pool/Getty Images)
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Barr said this assurance is “especially needed now because of recent reports that an FBI whistleblower is suggesting some shenanigans that may be aimed at undermining the Delaware investigation,” he said.
US attorney David Weiss has been leading an investigation into possible criminal business dealings by the president’s son, Hunter Biden, for nearly four years.
“In light of the slow pace of that investigation, these reports are, frankly, very concerning. President Comer and senior senators are trying to get to the bottom of this,” he said.
Fox News Digital reported earlier this month that the contents of the FD-1023 allege that Joe Biden was paid $5 million by a director of the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holdings, where his son Hunter Biden was on the board, in a bribery scheme that involved influence on US policy decisions, according to sources familiar with the document.
Attorney General William Barr speaks with federal, state and local officials on September 21, 2020. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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The document, dated June 30, 2020, is the FBI’s interview with a “highly credible” confidential human source who detailed descriptions of multiple meetings and conversations he or she had with a top Burisma executive over several years, too. starting in 2015.
Earlier this month, the FBI allowed the House Oversight Committee to review the document with redactions after Chairman James Comer, R-Ky.
House Republicans are still demanding that the FBI release the document. Last week, Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Congress “still doesn’t have a full and complete picture of what that document really says.”
Attorney General William Barr at a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, December 21, 2020. (Michael Reynolds/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
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Under the circumstances, I think the AG should consider providing Senate President Comer and his supporters with the 1023 report they have been seeking, under conditions necessary to protect the life and safety of a confidential source. protect,” Barr said.
Barr previously told Fox News that during his tenure, the FD-1023 document has been reviewed by US Attorney Scott Brady and his team in Pittsburgh as part of a screening process to determine the truthfulness or relevance of information.
Barr said there was “no sign” that the FD-1023 was disinformation and was therefore forwarded to Trump-appointed U.S. attorney Weiss in Delaware — who was and is still working on an investigation targeting Hunter Biden.
“It’s murky,” Barr told Fox News Digital, “but it appears the whistleblower is suggesting that someone at FBI headquarters tried to brush aside the same or similar allegations from the 1023.”
“I know DOJ has a strong policy against sharing these raw reports, and rightly so. Any FBI director would have had Wray’s reluctance to turn it over, and I think he did his best to accommodate Chairman Comer ,” Barr said.
“But the AG is ultimately in charge and should make the decision on how far to go here due to the unique situation and the need to weigh and balance the public interests involved. There may be specific factors here are calling for restrictions, but otherwise the overall situation justifies leaning forward,” he said.
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Barr added: “Some of the same people on the hill did the country a great service in 2017 and beyond by investigating and exposing the false Russian collusion claims.”
“They had it before anyone else — including the DOJ. It would be a good thing to let them look into this as long as we protect the safety of our resources,” he said.
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Brianna Herlihy is a political writer for Fox News Digital.
