FBI Director Christopher Wray insisted during testimony before the House Judiciary Committee that he is "absolutely not" working to protect President Joe Biden's family, including his son Hunter, and said the agency has not been politicized by the current administration to go after former President Donald Trump and other conservatives, both public and private.
His denials came during a grilling by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who displayed a text message that had been allegedly sent by Hunter Biden to a Chinese Communist Party official, in which he demanded money and said his father was sitting by his side when the message was being sent.
"You seem deeply uncurious about it — almost suspiciously uncurious," Gaetz told Wray. "Are you protecting the Bidens?"
"Absolutely not," Wray responded.
In other testimony, Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., pointed out that a federal judge in his state "found the FBI engaged in a massive effort to suppress disfavored conservative speech," including threatening "adverse consequences to social media companies" to suppress stories, resulting in "millions of citizens" not being able to hear about the Hunter Biden laptop story before the 2020 presidential election, along with other news items, including about COVID 19.
"The FBI is not in the business of moderating content or causing any social media company to suppress or censor," Wray said.
Wray also defended the FBI against claims that have been made by whistleblowers who have testified before Congress concerning actions the FBI has taken in various investigations, including on the Biden family.
"Why would the FBI offer Christopher Steele $1 million to verify a dossier about Trump and Russian collusion and then the same FBI offer $3 million to Twitter to squash a story on Hunter's laptop?" he said.
"The dossier story and I know that wasn't under your watch, but also the Hunter Biden laptop story, that to me, looks political to the American people," said Moore. "It looks political, and I'm just an everyday guy … that is why you're having trouble keeping the FBI's reputation afloat."
Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, laid out in his opening statement the bureau's efforts to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story; target conservatives; and more.
Jordan said he is determined to fight back against the "weaponization of the government against the American people," and slammed the "double standard that exists now in our justice system."
Jordan also accused the FBI of supporting the suppression of conservatives on social media, retaliation against whistleblowers, and tracking parents angry with their school boards.
"I haven't even talked about the spying that took place of a presidential campaign or the raiding of a former president's home," Jordan said. "Maybe what's more frightening is what happens if you come forward and tell Congress you're a whistleblower. Come tell the Congress what's going on? Look out. You will be retaliated against."
Also on Wednesday, Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., told Wray that the American people are "outraged" about the actions that have "damaged the FBI's reputation and undermined the good work of the vast majority of the men and women within your agency," including on the Biden family investigations but also with an anti-Catholic memo that went out from the agency's Richmond field office, and other controversial investigations that have taken place.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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