The FBI fired back Thursday after Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, released the long-sought FD-1023 that details allegations of a bribe accepted by then-Vice President Joe Biden.
"The safeguards the FBI placed on the production of this information are necessary to protect the safety of confidential sources and the integrity of sensitive investigations," the FBI wrote to Newsmax in a statement Thursday.
"Today's release of the 1023 — at a minimum — unnecessarily risks the safety of a confidential source."
Grassley said Thursday he released the document for public transparency and added he obtained the document independently through a "legally protected disclosures by Justice Department whistleblowers."
FBI Director Christopher Wray has long kept the unclassified counterintelligence document from the public under the guise of protecting sources and methods.
"Throughout the FBI's engagements with Congress, we have been guided by our obligation to protect the physical safety of confidential human sources and the integrity of sensitive investigations," the FBI statement began. "We have repeatedly explained to Congress, in correspondence and in briefings, how critical it is to keep this source information confidential."
But the House Oversight Committee under Chair James Comer, R-Ky., threatened Wray with contempt of Congress if he failed to deliver the document to the House. Wray was able to avoid contempt of Congress by allowing House members to view the 1023 in a Secure Compartmentalized Information Facility (SCIF).
"In the face of these significant concerns, the FBI negotiated a resolution with Chairman Comer to provide the information requested in a manner that protects the safety of confidential sources and integrity of investigations," the FBI said in the statement.
But Grassley and Comer said in separate statements Thursday they felt the public was on a need to know basis.
"The FBI's Biden Bribery Record tracks closely with the evidence uncovered by the Oversight Committee's Biden family influence peddling investigation," Comer said. "In the FBI's record, the Burisma executive claims that he didn't pay the 'big guy' directly but that he used several bank accounts to conceal the money.
"That sounds an awful lot like how the Bidens conduct business: Using multiple bank accounts to hide the source and total amount of the money.
"I thank Sen. Grassley for providing much needed transparency to the American people," Comer concluded. "We must hold the Department of Justice accountable for seeking to bury this record to protect the Bidens."