Over the weekend Bluto Barr was wheeled out to smear Trump again, this time on Fox. Apparently, toward the very end of the segment, almost in passing, Barr was asked about the FBI 1023 form that detailed the allegations of the highly regarded (and highly paid) source—that Zhou and Hunter had made a deal with Ukrainians and had accepted $5 million in a corrupt deal when Zhou was Veep. Barr openly stated that he was fully aware of the information contained in the 1023.
As readers will be aware, the FBI—after enormous pressure from Congress—handed over a redacted version of the 1023 to Congress. The FBI seems to have seriously underestimated Grassley:
BREAKING! WHOA! Grassley floor speech: Foreign national allegedly has audio recordings. 17!! 15 audio between him and Hunter & 2 audio with him and then VP Joe Biden. Kept as insurance policy!
— Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) June 12, 2023
Here’s the relevant information from Grassley’s website—quite a bit more background at the link:
With respect to the 1023 shown to that House Committee, from what I’ve been told by folks who’ve reviewed it, it’s filled with redactions. So, Director Wray placed redactions on a document that’s already unclassified.
More than that, the FBI made Congress review a redacted unclassified document in a classified facility. That goes to show you the disrespect the FBI has for Congress. On a previous time on the Senate Floor, I asked my fellow senators what’s so unusual about an unclassified document being given to the public, when on May 18 of this year, there was leaked to the New York Times a classified document and even the name of a confidential human source. So, we’re kind of in a strange situation here. A classified document can be leaked to the New York Times, but an unclassified document can’t be made public to 300 million Americans.
Accordingly, Congress still lacks a full and complete picture with respect to what that document really says. That’s why it’s important that the document be made public without unnecessary redactions for the American people to see.
Let me assist for purposes of transparency.
The 1023 produced to that House Committee redacted reference that the foreign national who allegedly bribed Joe and Hunter Biden allegedly has audio recordings of his conversations with them. Seventeen total recordings.
According to the 1023, the foreign national possesses fifteen audio recordings of phone calls between him and Hunter Biden. According to the 1023, the foreign national possesses two audio recordings of phone calls between him and then-Vice President Joe Biden. These recordings were allegedly kept as a sort of insurance policy for the foreign national in case he got into a tight spot. The 1023 also indicates that then-Vice President Joe Biden may have been involved in Burisma employing Hunter Biden.
So, as I’ve repeatedly asked since going public with the existence of the 1023, what, if anything, has the Justice Department and FBI done to investigate?
The Justice Department and FBI must show their work. They no longer deserve the benefit of the doubt. It’s clear that the Justice Department and FBI will use every resource to investigate candidate Trump, President Trump and former President Trump.
Grassley doesn’t say this, so I will. Barr was fully aware—he says so himself—of the contents of the 1023. He praised the work of the Pittsburgh FBI in formulating the 1023. That means he knew about the recordings. And proceeded to do all in his power to undermine President Trump and put Zhou—a man he knew to be utterly corrupt on every level—in the White House.
In his most recent article Professor Turley states the obvious:
the Justice Department lost the right to expect trust from the citizens years ago — long before the damning Inspector General’s Report and the recent report of Special Counsel John Durham.
and suggests that the public is now suffering from “DoJ fatigue”—nobody is listening. That’s all true, but it’s not really the half of it.
It's the DoIJ - the Department of InJustice. They specialize in that. Corrupticians, Corrupticrats, Corrupti-lawfarians.
If memory serves, wasn't it Chris Christie who advocated for and nominated Christopher Wray to Trump? It's remarkable how many people in Trump's 'inner circle' straight-up f***ed him, and the American people.