FB-fly’s Wray gets heat over Hunter
Allegations that biased FBI agents shielded first son Hunter Biden from criminal investigations are “deeply troubling,” FBI Director Christopher Wray was forced to admit Thursday under grilling from Republican senators — before cutting the Q&A short by claiming he needed to catch a flight.
The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, noted Wray wasn’t flying commercial and pleaded in vain for the FBI chief to reschedule the departure of his government jet.
But before leaving, Wray was pressed by Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) about whistleblower claims against Tim Thibault, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s DC field office, and FBI supervisory intelligence analyst Brian Auten.
Kennedy confronted Wray with allegations against the two men that Grassley revealed last month.
“Isn’t it true that Mr. Thibault — Agent Thibault, excuse me — and [Auten] covered up derogatory information about Mr. Hunter Biden while working for the FBI?” Kennedy asked Wray point-blank.
“I want to be very careful not to interfere with ongoing personnel matters,” Wray replied. “I should say that when I read the letter that describes the kinds of things that you’re talking about, I found it deeply troubling.”
Kennedy also cited a variety of Thibault’s social-media barbs against Republicans, which resembled the anti-GOP attacks by FBI employees Peter Strzok and Lisa Page during the bureau’s investigation of possible Russian collusion with Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Grassley’s July letter to Wray said Auten and Thibault allegedly were involved in “a scheme” to “undermine derogatory information connected to Hunter Biden by falsely suggesting it was disinformation.”
Auten “opened an assessment which was used by a FBI Headquarters team to improperly discredit negative Hunter Biden information as disinformation and caused investigative activity to cease,” Grassley wrote.
Thibault, meanwhile, allegedly tried to kill off an avenue of investigation of possible Biden criminality.
Kennedy on Thursday cited some of Thibault’s social-media messages and asked the FBI director, “Do you know how this looks to the American people?”
“So I’m confused, Chris, with your answer. Did he work, or does he work on the Hunter Biden investigation?” Kennedy said.
Wray again avoided a direct answer, saying, “As I said, that the Hunter Biden investigation is being run out of the Baltimore field office.”