House Republicans cancel vote to hold FBI director in contempt

[June 08, 2023]  (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have abandoned plans for a vote on Thursday to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress over agency documents related to an alleged "criminal bribery scheme" involving President Joe Biden.

The House Oversight and Accountability Committee had been set to vote over accusations that Wray and his agency refused to provide an unclassified document being sought by the panel's Republicans.

FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before a Senate Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on President Biden’s proposed budget request for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., May 10, 2023. REUTERS/Craig Hudson

The committee said in a written statement that the hearing had been removed from Thursday's schedule after the FBI "caved and is now allowing all members of the Oversight and Accountability Committee to review this unclassified record."

Committee Chairman James Comer has said the document relates to "a trusted, highly credible informant" with information that Biden was "involved in a criminal bribery scheme." He has not provided further details.

The White House has said Biden has not committed any wrongdoing and has accused Comer of spreading "thin innuendo to try to damage the president politically."

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb and Rick Cowan; Editing by Eric Beech and Gerry Doyle)

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