House Weaponization Select Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) announced Wednesday he is opening an investigation into the intelligence community over alleged obstruction of an inquiry opened by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) in 2020.
In a letter to National Intelligence Director Avril Haines, Jordan said the committee is “investigating allegations that the U.S. Intelligence Community obstructed a congressional inquiry in 2020 by falsely alleging that the work of two U.S. Senators was advancing Russian ‘disinformation.'”
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The allegations surround an Aug. 6, 2020, briefing by the FBI’s then-deputy assistant director for counterintelligence, Nikki Floris, and its then-Section Chief of the Foreign Influence Task Force Bradley Benavides, which the two senators claim interfered with their investigation into President Joe Biden‘s family’s business dealings.
“Although the FBI claims that the briefing focused on Russia, the information that Floris and Benavides conveyed to the Senators ‘consisted primarily of information that [the senators] already knew and information unconnected to [their] Biden investigation.’ The briefing, the existence of which was later leaked, hampered the Senators’ investigation into Hunter Biden’s financial connections to foreign governments and foreign nationals,” the letter said.
Jordan demanded various records, including “all documents and communications referring or relating to the August 6, 2020, defensive briefing provided to Senators Grassley and Johnson.” He set a Nov. 15 deadline for the materials to be handed over to the committee.
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The Ohio Republican also requested a transcribed interview with Shelby Pierson be scheduled by Nov. 15. He cited Pierson as being “personally involved with formulating ODNI’s Notification Framework” and claimed that she has “relevant information relating to the intelligence and processes used to justify the August 6 defensive briefing.”
Both senators have claimed the briefing was designed to undermine their September 2020 report detailing financial connections between Hunter Biden and China and Ukraine.
