Comer Pulls Wray Contempt Charge After FBI Gives House Committee Access to Biden Allegations

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) called off a vote Wednesday to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress after the FBI granted all committee members access to a document containing criminal allegations against President Joe Biden.

The Details: The document reportedly accuses Biden of facilitating a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme while he was vice president. Comer subpoenaed Wray for the form, a request Wray held off on until last week.

Divides in Congress: Raskin and Comer had different takeaways after viewing the document. Comer said it "suggests a pattern of bribery where payments would be made through shell accounts and multiple banks." Raskin said despite the FBI purportedly deeming that the claim didn't warrant further investigation, "Committee Republicans prefer to ignore the facts that undermine their false narratives.” Comer said the development was an "important step toward conducting oversight of the FBI." Rep. Jamie Raskin, the committee's top Democrat, said holding someone in contempt of Congress "should not be weaponized to undermine the FBI."

How the Media Covered It: Some left- and center-rated sources framed the dropped contempt charge as a concession by House Republicans, and focused on describing the claims as "unverified." Some right-rated outlets suggested the FBI gave into scrutiny from the GOP by granting the committee access to the documents after holding back for several weeks. The New York Post (Lean Right bias) described the document as an "informant file." Most other sources described it as a "classified document."