Grassley: Tim Thibault, Who ‘Infected Major FBI Investigations,’ Isn’t Off The Hook Just By Retiring
For months, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has raised legitimate concerns about the FBI’s Tim Thibault for his “partisan bias” and stifling of important investigations as assistant special agent in charge.
Now Thibault — who announced his retirement from his post two weeks ago amid ongoing scrutiny, specifically about his role in suppressing an investigation into Hunter Biden — has used his attorneys and the corporate media to run a PR campaign defending himself, with his attorneys telling Time magazine that their client “did not supervise the investigation of Hunter Biden” and was “not involved in any decisions related to any laptop that may be at issue in that investigation.” Thibault “did not seek to close the investigation,” they said, contradicting Republican allegations.
But Thibault is not off the hook as far as Grassley is concerned. On Wednesday, the Iowa Republican punched back — on the floor of the Senate — to reiterate that he has grave concerns about Thibault and needs some answers. He also took a swing at the corporate media, lambasting their recent misinformation about the disgraced FBI agent’s prejudice corrupting important investigations.
Thibault has “infected major FBI investigations,” Grassley said, highlighting his bias in the Hunter Biden investigation. Thibault blocked the FBI from looking into additional activities of President Joe Biden’s son that could have been criminal — leading to questions about whether all related evidence is really being examined.
Whistleblowers disclosed to Grassley that the FBI has received “either verifiable or verified” information about Hunter Biden “separate from the ongoing Hunter Biden criminal probe.” And though the FBI reportedly wanted to follow up on this separate information regarding the Biden son — something that would have typically been further investigated — Thibault blocked a further probe of this separate material.
Thibault made this decision under “the false assertion that it was disinformation,” as Grassley noted in July. Whistleblowers alleged to Grassley that “Thibault and other FBI officials sought to falsely portray as disinformation evidence acquired from multiple sources that provided the FBI derogatory information related to Hunter Biden’s financial and foreign business activities, even though some of that information had already been or could be verified.”
“The investigative activity and information couldn’t be advanced as it should’ve been,” Grassley remarked on the Senate floor this week. “The FBI could’ve gathered more evidence with respect to Hunter Biden but cut bait instead. And the FBI and Thibault cut bait right before the 2020 presidential election.”
Of course, corporate media carried water for the FBI, as Grassley noted. The senator called out The Washington Post specifically for concealing Thibault’s role and for repeating its MO from the Russia-collusion hoax whereby the FBI predicates its investigations on inaccurate reporting from corrupt media, which then purports to “corroborate” its false reporting with leaks from federal law enforcement and partisan actors.
In that context, Grassley called for U.S. Attorney David Weiss to question what the FBI is actually investigating and whether all evidence is being reviewed. Grassley said he had asked these questions to FBI Director Christopher Wray with no response.
“Because of Director Wray’s failure to answer,” Grassley said, “Congress is unaware of whether or not the FBI has finally shared full and complete information and investigative activity with any ongoing criminal probe.” Additionally, Thibault’s partisan bias combined with the potential failure to examine all evidence could lead to Americans questioning the investigation results — causing further distrust in federal law enforcement at a time when roughly half the country, including a plurality of independents, don’t trust the Department of Justice and the FBI.
Aside from Thibault’s biased role in the Hunter Biden probe, Grassley also discussed his role in opening a criminal probe into the Trump campaign and its advisers. According to the senator, the former special agent in charge “predicated” this investigation “in substantial part on liberal news articles and information derived from a liberal non-profit.” And despite the investigation being outside the bounds of standard procedure, both Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland gave it the green light.
When left-wing media outlet The Washington Post reported on this investigation, it “failed to note that Thibault was a prime mover in opening it.”
“Thibault said that he ‘welcomes any investigation’ into the allegations against him,” Grassley concluded. “Well, Mr. Thibault, come on in. Sit for a transcribed interview with me and my colleagues.”
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