Top GOP lawmakers say FBI confirmed existence of document key to Hunter Biden investigation

On a day when news coverage was dominated by New York GOP Rep. George Santos' indictment and the House Oversight Committee's latest report on the Biden family's foreign business dealings, one development related to the panel's Hunter Biden investigation received little attention.

The FBI didn't deny it has the confidential human source document sought by Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, even as it missed the subpoena deadline to turn it over to Congress.

"While the FBI has failed to produce the specific document by the subpoena deadline, their offer to provide an accommodation process in response to our legitimate request indicates the document is real," said Iowa GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley.

"So the question remains," he said, "what did the FBI do to investigate very serious allegations from an apparent trusted FBI source implicating then-Vice President Biden? Today's letter from the FBI raises additional questions, including whether the FBI has an open investigation based on these allegations. The American people pay the FBI's salaries, and they're entitled to a fulsome response."

According to a statement from Comer's office, the key document "details a bribery scheme involving then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national."

In a letter responding to Comer's request, the FBI outlined its process for protecting confidential human sources behind FD-1023 documents but said the agency "would be pleased to coordinate with your staff to discuss whether and how we can accommodate your request without violating our law enforcement and national security obligations."

The FBI's response shows that "the unclassified record the Oversight Committee subpoenaed exists, but they are refusing to provide it to the committee," said Comer.

"We've asked the FBI to not only provide this record, but to also inform us what it did to investigate these allegations," he added. "The FBI has failed to do both. The FBI's position is 'trust, but you aren’t allowed to verify.' That is unacceptable. We plan to follow up with the FBI and expect compliance with the subpoena."

Sen. Ron Johnson shared his reaction to the latest development in the Biden probe.

"There's a much larger story here," said the Wisconsin Republican. "It doesn't surprise me that the FBI is not going to turn over all those documents, and sounds like they're willing to provide some measure of accommodation, I guess, I'm not going to hold my breath on that." 

South Carolina GOP Rep. Ralph Norman argued that there is more to Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings than his tax issues. 

"This is serious information that he's got to account for and the millions of dollars that he's had, the boards that he's been selected to serve on," he said. "There's got to be consequences."