U.S. House panel to pursue contempt of Congress proceedings against FBI

By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Republican head of a U.S. House of Representatives panel said he will seek to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress over what he said was a failure to hand over information on President Joe Biden’s family dealings.

“We will now initiate contempt of Congress proceedings,” James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement posted on Twitter.

Comer said he was taking the action following a briefing given by FBI officials.

“At the briefing, the FBI again refused to hand over the unclassified record to the custody of the House Oversight Committee,” Comer said.

He did not give more details on the record in question.

The FBI, in a statement to Reuters, said it had attempted to accommodate the committee’s request for information “including by producing the document in a reading room at the U.S. Capitol.

“This commonsense safeguard is often employed in response to congressional requests and in court proceedings to protect important concerns, such as the physical safety of sources and the integrity of investigations,” it said.

“The escalation to a contempt vote under these circumstances is unwarranted.”

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh, Sarah N. Lynch and Richard Cowan in Washington, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)