Whistleblower allegations raise prospect FBI misled Senate's Hunter Biden probe, Ron Johnson says

Recent revelations from FBI whistleblowers raise the strong prospect that the bureau engaged in a "targeted effort to intentionally undermine" the Senate's pre-election probe into Hunter Biden's business deals, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) declares in a stinging letter to the nation's top law enforcement and intelligence officials. 

"Unfortunately, the FBI can no longer be trusted to investigate Hunter Biden with integrity and the equal application of law," Johnson said in a letter sent late Tuesday to FBI Director Chris Wray, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines.

Johnson's missive came a day after his colleague, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, divulged that multiple FBI whistleblowers have come forward to allege political manipulation and other wrongdoing inside the FBI, including falsely portraying negative information about Hunter Biden as disinformation back in 2020 when in fact it was true.

"The FBI being weaponized against two sitting chairmen of U.S. Senate committees with constitutional oversight responsibilities would be one of the greatest episodes of Executive Branch corruption in American history," the Wisconsin Republican wrote. 

The former chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee has long raised concerns about a 2020 briefing that the bureau gave lawmakers that he says was misconstrued and falsely reported in public as suggesting allegations against Hunter Biden were part of a foreign disinformation operation. Top officials have declined to answer questions from Johnson and Grassley about the disputed briefing.

"For nearly two years I have sought to get information from the FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) about the purpose of, and who ordered, this briefing," he noted.

"The inability of FBI and ODNI to be transparent with Congress on this matter and other matters relating to Hunter Biden is deeply concerning," he added. "Once again, the FBI's integrity has been called into question. If these whistleblower allegations are accurate, how can your agency, Director Wray, be capable of investigating the president's son?"

Johnson wrote that it was wrong for Garland to refuse to answer legitimate congressional oversight questions about the independence of the investigators looking at the Hunter Biden business deals. 

"The American people should not have to tolerate your silence any longer," he wrote.

You can read the full letter here: