Grassley: FBI Refuses To Answer About Illegal Leaks And Botched Investigations – The Federalist

The FBIs pattern of unresponsiveness is troubling and has left countless victims unprotected, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley said Wednesday at the Senate Judiciary Committees hearing into the bureaus botched handling of the Larry Nassar investigation.

Grassley has been trying to meet with FBI Director Christopher Wray for more than a year after the FBI weaponized an information leak against him and Sen. Ron Johnson.

In May, Sens. Johnson and Grassley pressed FBI officials after seemingly confidential information was leaked to the public after a secure briefing in August 2020. The senators pointed to potential partisan leaks to reporters which the Wall Street Journal noted were used to smear Mr. Johnson and his report on Hunter Bidens foreign business dealings, suggesting that hed ignored FBI warnings and thus may have been manipulated by the Kremlin.

Before that, in a letter back in May 2019, the senators had pointed to texts and emails from Peter Strzok and Lisa Page that demonstrated the need to investigate leaks from agencies or entities other than FBI.

Grassley said on Wednesday that Wray would not address the senators concerns about the leaks from the August briefing. The bureau followed the same pattern of non-responsiveness in the Larry Nassar case, Grassley added.

In July, a report from the Department of Justices Office of the Inspector General confirmed that the FBI turned a blind eye to allegations against disgraced doctor Nassar while he abused hundreds of young women, including Team USA Olympic gymnast Simone Biles.

Ive asked Director Wray to meet with me regarding a very troubling briefing that I received August 2020 from the FBI, and which was later weaponized against me and Sen. Johnsons oversight, Grassley said in Wednesdays hearing, referencing the leaks he condemned in May. Director Wray and his staff have ignored my request to meet, mimicking the pattern here with the Nassar case non-responsiveness.

Although Grassley and Johnson requested a meeting with Wray and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, he alleged that Wray had been consistently unresponsive.Parallel to the FBIs previous delays and inaction, Grassley said, is the bureaus neglect in the Nassar case.

Children suffered needlessly because of multiple agents in multiple offices that the FBI neglected to share Nassars allegations with their law enforcement counterparts at the state and local levels, Grassley said.

As former chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Grassley previously convened a hearing on the importance of protecting young athletes from abuse. In 2018, Grassley testified before the Senate Commerce Committee and about his concerns with the FBIs handling of the Nassar investigation. The recent inspector general report on the FBIs handling of Nassar found that the FBI knew of Nassars abusive streak for years and did nothing.

When the report was released this summer, Senate Judiciary Committee leaders confirmed Wednesdays oversight hearing to hold the bureau accountable. The FBI owes the American people an accounting for its failure to protect these children, and explanation for how it plans to do better in the future, Grassley said in July.

Clearly, the bureaus corrupt and incompetent leaders placed publicity and image before victims protection, Grassleysaid at Wednesdays hearing.

Ensuring that truthful information was provided about the FBIs role in this investigation was clearly not the main priority. This is a serious problem at the heart of the FBI, not a case of a few errant agents, he said.If theres one thing the inspector generals report illustrates, its this: We need to make sure the bureau is both more effective and held more accountable.

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Grassley: FBI Refuses To Answer About Illegal Leaks And Botched Investigations - The Federalist