President Joe Biden on Thursday snapped at a reporter who asked him why he was called ‘Big Guy’ by an executive of Ukrainian energy company Burisma.
The nickname was revealed in an FBI memo that Republicans claim proves Biden was at the center of a $5 million cash for influence bribery scheme when he was vice president, a source told DailyMail.com.
DailyMail.com revealed earlier this week that the executive has also kept 17 audio recordings of phone calls with Joe and Hunter as an ‘insurance policy.’
‘Why did the Ukraine informant file refer to you as the Big Guy?,’ the reporter asked during an event at the White House.
‘Why did you ask such a dumb question?’ Biden snapped back.
According to a ‘highly credible’ whistleblower, an internal FBI FD-1023 memo created in 2020 based on information from a well-paid informant apparently details a $5 million ‘arrangement’ in exchange for policy decisions between then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national.
A source familiar with the case confirmed to DailyMail.com that the foreign national – an executive from Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings Limited – referred to Joe Biden as the ‘Big Guy’.
In a bombshell speech on the Senate floor Monday, GOP Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa cited what is believed to have been the information redacted in the FD-1023 file.
Grassley said the executive has 15 recordings of phone calls with Hunter and two with Joe.
He claims they were kept as an ‘insurance policy’ in case the foreign national was in a ‘tight spot.’
The tapes have not been released to the public.
And Republican Rep. James Comer, the chairman of the Oversight Committee told Newsmax that he had not heard the tapes and couldn’t confirm their existence.
‘I can confirm they were listed in the 1023 that the FBI redacted,’ Comer said. ‘We don’t know if they’re legit or not.’
The form also indicates that then-Vice President Joe Biden may have been involved in Burisma employing Hunter Biden, Grassley continued.
The senator also slammed the FBI for finally agreeing to show lawmakers a redacted version of the FD-1023 form ‘on the same day’ that the Department of Justice announced a 37-count indictment of former President Donald Trump for alleged mishandling of classified records.
Trump was arraigned Tuesday in Miami and pleaded ‘not guilty’ to all 37 counts.
‘Two standards of justice in this country will turn our constitutional Republic upside down,’ Grassley said on the Senate floor Monday.
‘Thanks to the political infection within the Biden Justice Department and FBI, we’re well along the road for that to happen.’
On Tuesday, Sen. Ted Cruz questioned the FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate regarding the FD-1023 form.
Abbate told the Texas senator that he would not comment on the form or its contents, saying: ‘I’m just not going to comment on information we’ve received, investigations or other matters.’
Cruz fired back, accusing Abbate and the FBI at large of ‘stonewalling and covering up serious allegations of evidence of corruption from the President.’
After a long back-and-forth between the FBI and congressional Republicans, including a threat of holding the director in contempt of Congress, FBI director Christopher Wray finally allowed the form to be viewed by lawmakers in a secure setting last week.
After reviewing the document last week, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., told reporters the accusations contained in the form ‘suggests a pattern of bribery’ consistent with findings the committee has put out publicly.
It’s called ‘money laundering,’ he said, saying it fits within the pattern of over $1 million in Romanian-linked payments to the Biden family revealed last month.
Democrats also viewed the form.
Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin told CNN the allegations had already been debunked in the last administration: ‘It was thoroughly checked out by the Trump Justice Department, and they couldn’t find anything there. And if anybody would have an incentive to find something there it would have been the Trump Justice Department.’
Former Attorney General Bill Barr, who was attorney general under Trump, had the allegations sent to Delaware US Attorney David Weiss, who is overseeing an ongoing criminal investigation into Hunter Biden.
He told Fox News recently the information ‘doesn’t say whether it’s true or not.’
‘That information was checked out, and it was determined that it was not likely to have been disinformation. It doesn’t say whether it’s true or not, but there was no sign there was disinformation. And so it was provided to the ongoing investigation in Delaware to follow up on and check out,’ Barr said.
But a senior law enforcement official told NBC News the FBI and a US attorney appointed by Trump reviewed the allegation when it was made in 2020.
The bribery allegation was not substantiated, the official said.
Meanwhile, Grassley slammed the FBI for the ‘disrespect’ it has shown Congress in the manner it allowed the document to be read.
‘The FBI made Congress review a redacted unclassified document in a classified facility,’ the senator criticized.
‘Based on the facts known to Congress and the public, it’s clear that the Justice Department and FBI will use every resource to investigate candidate Trump, President Trump and former President Trump,’ the senator stated.
He continued to say the agencies haven’t had the ‘same laser focus’ on the Biden family.
Grassley added that he want everyone to remember that he has read the full unredacted version of the form and will continue to press the FBI for transparency with the American people.
The ‘confidential human source’ behind the allegations in the form is a ‘trusted, highly credible informant’ who has been used by the FBI for over 10 years and has been paid over six figures, Republicans have said.
Republicans led by Comer and Grassley released a report digging in on over $10 million received by Biden family members from foreign actors
In addition, the FBI record is currently being used in an ongoing investigation that is being conducted by the Department of Justice in Delaware into Hunter Biden’s finances.
Republicans have also told DailyMail.com that the Biden whistleblower in the alleged bribery scheme is now afraid ‘someone could kill them if someone found out who they are’ for bringing potentially damaging info to light about Joe Biden when he was vice president.
The FBI confirmed to DailyMail.com last week that it would allow the lawmakers to view the document.
‘The FBI has continually demonstrated its commitment to working with the Committee to accommodate its request, from scheduling briefings and calls to now allowing the Chair to review information in person. The FBI remains committed to cooperating with the Committee in good faith.’
In early May, Republicans led by Comer and Grassley released a report digging in on over $10 million received by Biden family members from foreign actors, including previously undisclosed $1 million in Romanian-linked payments, and a ‘web’ of 20 companies created while President Joe Biden was vice president and pushing anti-corruption efforts abroad.
The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Biden family associate and Hunter Biden business partner Devon Archer, Monday evening.
Comer wrote that Archer’s testimony is ‘critical’ to the Republicans’ investigation based on his deep ties to Biden family business deals internationally – including in Ukraine.
He is demanded to appear for a deposition on Friday, June 16.
Comer also confirmed there are at least three additional FD-1023 forms in existence that Wray agreed committee leadership can view in coming days.
Source: MailOnlineNews
