August 23, 2022 The Honorable Michael E. Horowitz Inspector General Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20530 Dear Inspector General Horowitz: Whistleblowers have recently contacted my office to share serious concerns about the
Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) handling of Hunter Biden’s laptop. These new
allegations provide even more evidence of FBI corruption and renew calls for you to take immediate steps to investigate
the FBI’s actions regarding
the laptop. In October 2020, I called on the FBI to explain what actions it took after receiving the laptop.
1
The FBI failed to respond to my questions and I led the call for you to examine whether
the FBI took appropriate and necessary investigative steps after receiving Hunter Biden’s
laptop.
2
Four months later, in February 2021, you informed me that your office would not take any actions that could interfere with an ongoing investigation. You wrote: [I]n December 2020, Hunter Biden publicly stated that the United
States Attorney’s Office (USAO) in Delaware advised his legal
counsel that the USAO was investigating his tax affairs. Earlier this month, the Department announced that the U.S. Attorney in Delaware was one of two U.S. Attorneys asked to remain in his role in the new administration. In light of these circumstances, and
consistent with the OIG’s practice, we
will not take actions that could interfere with an ongoing investigation.
3
Since then, whistleblowers have come forward to Congress alleging that FBI officials intentionally undermined efforts to investigate Hunter Biden.
4
Recently, my office heard from
1
Letter from Ron Johnson, Chairman, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, to Christopher A. Wray,
Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Oct. 17, 2020,
https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2020-10-17%20RHJ%20to%20FBI%20re%20Delaware1.pdf.
2
Letter from Ron Johnson, Chairman, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, to Michael E. Horowitz,
Inspector General, U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Oct. 21, 2020, https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2020
-10-21%20letter%20from%20RHJ%20to%20DOJ%20OIG%20re%20FBI%20(laptop).pdf.
3
Letter from Michael E. Horowitz, Inspector General, U.S. Dep’t of Justice, to Sen. Ron Johnson, Feb. 17, 2021.
4
Letter from Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member, Committee on the Judiciary, to Merrick Garland, Attorney
General, Dep’t of Justice, and Christopher Wray, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, July 25, 2022,
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_to_justice_deptfbipoliticalbiasfollowup.pdf.
The Honorable Michael E. Horowitz Aug. 23, 2022 Page 2
individuals with knowledge of the FBI’s apparent corruption.
After the FBI obtained the Hunter Biden laptop from the Wilmington, DE computer shop, these whistleblowers stated that local FBI leadership told employees,
“you will not look at that Hunter Biden laptop” and
that the FBI is
“not going to change the outcome of the election again.” Further, these whistleblowers allege that the FBI did not begin to examine the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop until after the 2020
presidential election
—
potentially a year after the FBI obtained the laptop in December 2019.
5
While I understand your hesitation to investigate a matter that may be related to an ongoing investigation, it is clear to me based on numerous credible whistleblower disclosures that the FBI cannot be trusted with
the handling of Hunter Biden’s laptop
. I hope you understand that the longer your office stands on the sidelines and delays i
nvestigating the FBI’
s actions, the harder it will be for you to uncover the truth and hold individuals accountable for wrongdoing. I call on you to immediately
investigate the FBI’s
handling of Hunter Biden’s laptop and begin by
obtaining the history of
the investigative actions taken by the FBI on Hunter Biden’s laptop
which should be available on the FBI’s
case management system, Sentinel. This case file should provide valuable information about the steps the FBI took to examine the laptop. The American people deserve transparency and expect allegations of government corruption to be fully and immediately investigated. Thank you for your attention to this important request. Sincerely, Ron Johnson Ranking Member Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Enclosures cc: The Honorable Jon Ossoff Chairman Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
5
Letter from Ron Johnson, Chairman, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, to Michael E. Horowitz, Inspector General, U.S.
Dep’t of Justice. Oct. 21, 2020,
https://wwwhsgac.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2020-10-21%20letter%20from%20RHJ%20to%20DOJ%20OIG%20re%20FBI%20(laptop).pdf.
Enclosures
October 17, 2020 The Honorable Christopher A. Wray Director Federal Bureau of Investigation 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20535 Dear Director Wray: On September 24, 2020, the day after Chairman Grassley and I released our report titled,
“
Hunter Biden, Burisma, and Corruption: The Impact on U.S. Government Policy and Related Concerns,
”
a whistleblower contacted my committee and informed my staff that he had possession of a laptop left in his business by Hunter Biden. He also informed us that he provided its contents to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in response to a December 9, 2019 grand jury subpoena. As the first step in our due diligence, committee staff contacted FBI officials and asked for confirmation of certain facts in an attempt to validate the
whistleblower’s
claims and assertions. Unfortunately, several days later, the FBI responded that it would not confirm or deny any information identified by the committee even though several of our questions were not related to the possible existence of an ongoing grand jury investigation. I have a responsibility to validate and verify the contents of any information produced to my committee. The committee must know if it receives information that could be fraudulent or not accurate. As my staff explained to FBI officials, this information is crucial for several reasons. For example, if any information offered to the committee was linked to a foreign adversary
’
s attempt to interfere in the election, I would expect the FBI to ensure the committee is protected and receives a defensive briefing. Similarly, knowingly providing false information to Congress is a crime, and I would expect the FBI to have informed me if, after having been given notice of what we received, this may have occurred. That is precisely why my staff reached out to the FBI. For these reasons, the committee must know whether the FBI has assessed the validity of materials the whistleblower has provided, and what, if any, actions the FBI has taken since obtaining this information. In light of these unanswered questions, I request the following information and material: 1.
Does the FBI possess material from Hunter Biden
’
s laptop(s)? If yes, how and when did the FBI obtain this information?