December 9, 2024

VIA ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION

The Honorable Christopher Wray

Director Wray:

Seven years ago, I presided over your confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary
Committee, after President Trump nominated you to become only the eighth FBI Director in the
Bureau’s 116-year history. The Senate confirmed you to your current position in hopes you’d bring
needed change to the FBI after the politicization and scandal presided over by your predecessor,
Director James Comey. While I sincerely congratulated you on your nomination, I reminded you that an
FBI Director’s ten-year term is a ceiling, not a floor, and laid down my expectations for your service. 1
These included foremost the prompt and thorough compliance with congressional oversight requests and
the protection of whistleblowers, whom I’ve spent my career defending. 2 As we stand at the threshold
of a new Congress and a new administration, with seven years of water under the bridge, you’ve failed
in these fundamental duties as director. Even President Biden, who denied weaponizing his
administration against President-elect Trump, has finally admitted that political bias has indeed infected
law enforcement. 3 These failures are serious enough and their pattern widespread enough to have
shattered my confidence in your leadership and the confidence and hope many others in Congress placed
in you. Rather than turn over a new leaf at the FBI, you’ve continued to read from the old playbook of
weaponization, double standards, and a relentless game of hide-and-seek with the Congress. As your
tenure as FBI Director comes to an end, I want to take this opportunity to tell you where you went
wrong, for the benefit of the Bureau and that of your successor.

Contrary to the assurances you made to gain confirmation to your position, the FBI has shown
outright disdain for congressional oversight during your tenure. By doing so, it has hindered Congress
in the exercise of its constitutional duty to oversee the actions of executive branch agencies and officials.
You pledged under oath at your confirmation hearing to assist members of the Judiciary Committee and
the entire Senate with oversight requests, and said you would do everything in your power to make sure
the FBI is “appropriately responsive and prompt” in responding to these requests. 4 You didn’t live up to
your word. Promises made, promises broken has become a recurrent theme under your leadership.

One of the most egregious examples is the FBI’s failure to provide basic information I requested
more than two years ago related to the FBI’s ongoing mishandling of sexual harassment claims made by

1
Press Release, Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee, Grassley Statement at the Hearing of FBI Director Nominee Christopher
Wray (July 12, 2017), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-statement-hearing-fbi-director-nominee-ch ristopher-wray.
2
U.S. Sen. Comm. on the Judiciary, Hearing on the nomination of Christopher A. Wray, to be Director of the Fed. Bur. of Investigation (July 12, 2017),
https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/committee-activity/hearings/07/12/2017/nominations.
3
Statement from President Joe Biden, The White House, Briefing Room, Statements and Releases (Dec. 1, 2024), https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-
room/statements-releases/2024/12/01/statement-from-president-joe-biden-11/.
4
Hearing, supra n. 2.
 Director Wray
December 9, 2024
Page 2 of 11

the FBI’s female employees. This request was not pulled out of a hat. It was based on credible
whistleblower disclosures alleging hundreds of FBI employees had retired or resigned to avoid
accountability for sexual misconduct. 5 Whistleblowers also alleged the FBI had disciplined senior
officials less severely than their subordinates for this misconduct. 6 In November 2022, I released
internal FBI documents corroborating these disclosures. 7 I and my staff ever since have asked
repeatedly for information sufficient to determine how FBI handled these serious claims and how
widespread the problem really is. The FBI, for its part, told the media it would provide the information
to me. 8 You personally told me at a December 5, 2023, Judiciary Committee hearing, when I
confronted you with the FBI’s blatant inaction, that you would check with your team and then follow up
with me. 9 Your Deputy Director, Paul Abbate, also publicly stated the FBI is serious about removing
officials for sexual misconduct. 10 After a year since you made that pledge, over three years since
Deputy Director Abbate’s public comments, and after many more requests to FBI to provide this
information, neither of you have followed up or followed through. This inexcusable delay and
obstruction by you and Deputy Director Abbate has prevented Congress and the Judiciary Committee
from addressing the shocking sexual misconduct at the FBI. This is a promise made and broken, on an
issue of utmost importance.

Likewise, in May and August of 2022, I wrote you requesting information about the vetting of
individuals evacuated from Afghanistan through Operations Allies Welcome (OAW). 11 These letters
highlighted troubling revelations in a February 2022 report from the DOJ Office of Inspector General,
which revealed Afghanistan evacuees weren’t vetted against all available DOD tactical data prior to
being paroled into the U.S. by the Biden-Harris Department of Homeland Security. 12 The report
revealed the National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC) flagged at least 50 Afghan evacuees for the
FBI as “potentially significant security concerns.” 13 FBI failed entirely to answer my inquiry on this
serious national security issue. Instead, in July 2022, FBI participated in a classified multi-agency
briefing to congressional staff on the issue, which revealed new information about additional individuals
beyond the 50 individuals initially flagged by NGIC, but failed to answer my outstanding questions. 14
At an August 4, 2022, Judiciary Committee oversight hearing, I asked you directly whether the FBI
knows where certain flagged evacuees are located. Your answer left the impression that you hadn’t
even looked into the matter, despite my repeated inquiries. You said, “I can’t sit here right now and tell
you that we know where all are located at any given time. That’s probably true.” 15 Since that time, on

5
Letter from Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member, Comm. on the Judiciary, to the Hon. Merrick Garland, Attorney Gen., Dep’t of Justice, and the
Hon. Christopher Wray, Director, Fed. Bur. of Investigation, (Oct. 5, 2022),
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_to_doj_fbi_sexual_misconduct_allegations.pdf.
6
Id.
7
Letter from Sen. Charles Grassley, Ranking Member, Sen. Judiciary Comm., to the Hon. Michael Horowitz, Inspector General, Dep’t of Justice Off. of
Inspector Gen., (Nov. 2, 2022) https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_to_justice_deptinspectorgeneralsexualmisconductreview.pdf.
8
Eric Tucker & Jim Mustian, Whistleblower: 665 left FBI over misconduct in two decades, ASSOCIATED PRESS, (Oct. 6, 2022)
https://apnews.com/article/business-personnel-sexual-misconduct-chuck-grassley-merrick-g arland9 ca9 ea18036814bd f12e8c62 a20e08d9.
9
Hearing Before the Sen. Comm. on the Judiciary, Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (Dec. 5, 2023),
https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/committee-activity/hearings/12/05/2023/oversight-of-the-federal-bureau-of-investigation.
10
Jim Mustian and Eric Tucker, ‘We mean it’: FBI takes on sexual misconduct in its ranks, ASSOCIATED P RESS (June 11, 2021),
https://apnews.com/article/government-and-politics-sexual-misconduct-business-ecd5df47a077a9d e8e9 ec03708be5168.
11
Letter from Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member, Sen. Comm. on the Judiciary, et al., to the Hon. Christopher Wray, Director, Fed. Bur. of
Investigation (May 26, 2022), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/ceg_et_al.tofbiupdateonafghanevacueevetting.pdf; Letter from Sen. Charles
E. Grassley, Ranking Member, Senate Comm. on the Judiciary, et al., to the Hon. Christopher Wray, Director, Fed. Bur. of Investigation (Aug. 22, 2022),
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_portman_inhofe_to_fbi_-_afghan_vetting_follow-up.pdf.
12
Off. of the Inspector Gen. of the Dep’t of Defense, Evaluation of the Screening of Displaced Persons from Afghanistan (DODIG-2022-065) (Feb. 15,
2022), https://www.dodig.mil/reports.html/article/2938359/evaluation-of-the-screening-of-displaced-persons-from-afghanistan-dodig-2022 -065/.
13
Id. at 10.
14
Verified by relevant staff on the Sen. Judiciary Comm.
15
Hearing before the U.S. Sen. Comm. on the Judiciary, Oversight of the Fed. Bur. of Investigation (Aug. 4, 2022),
https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/committee-activity/hearings/08/04/2022/oversight-of-the-federal-bureau-of-investigation.
 Director Wray
December 9, 2024
Page 3 of 11

October 7, 2024, the FBI arrested Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi after he allegedly planned an election day
terrorist attack in the U.S. on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). 16 The DOJ’s
criminal complaint claimed Tawhedi, an Afghan national, entered the U.S. in September 2021 during the
same time period as the Biden-Harris Administration’s Operation Allies Refuge and Operation Allies
Welcome, and was placed on parole status pending his immigration proceedings. 17 You’ve failed to
respond to my inquiries on that serious matter as well. 18

In addition, in May 2024, a DHS OIG report confirmed the concerns I and my colleagues raised,
that the Biden Administration has failed to properly vet Afghan evacuees.19 That report outlined various
failures at DHS, including its failure to identify and resolve issues for noncitizens with derogatory
information, and gaps in CBP, USCIS, and ICE’s responsibility for terminating parole, initiating
removal proceedings, or monitoring parole expiration. 20 The same report also noted FBI’s refusal to
provide USCIS with full access to its National Crime Information Center Interstate Identification
Index. 21 The DHS OIG noted that FBI refused to provide this access because it, “deems immigration
and naturalization issues as noncriminal justice matters.” 22 This position is hard to defend, especially
given the fact that, again as the OIG report noted, OAW parolees, “were [] convicted of committing
crimes such as abusive sexual contact with a minor, indecent exposure, sexual assault, auto grand
larceny, assault, and battery.”23 Once again, FBI, with you at the helm, failed to respond to any of this,
despite my repeated requests.

At the very beginning of your tenure as FBI Director, I presented you with evidence of the FBI’s
failure to adequately investigate Hillary Clinton’s mishandling of highly classified information when she
was Secretary of State, another example of federal law enforcement double standards. 24 Consistent with
that FBI failure, yet another glaring example of FBI’s broken promises under your leadership is its
inexcusable failure to investigate bribery allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden, while
strictly scrutinizing former President Trump. You’ve repeatedly claimed you would ensure the FBI does
justice, “free of fear, favor, or partisan influence.” 25 The FBI under your watch, however, had
possession of incriminating information against President Biden for three years until I exposed the
existence of the record outlining those allegations, but did nothing to investigate it. 26 This record,
known as an FD-1023, documented allegations of bribery between and among then-Vice President

16
United States v. Tawhedi, M-24-760-SM (W.D. Okla. 2024) at 1, https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25196610-usa-v-tawhedi; Louis Casiano,
David Spunt, Afghan man in Oklahoma plotted Election Day terror attack in US on behalf of ISIS, Justice Department says, FOX NEWS (Oct. 8, 2024),
https://www.foxnews.com/us/afghan-man-oklahoma-plotted-election-day-terror-attack-us -isis-justice-dep artment-says.
17
U.S. v. Tawhedi, M-24-760-SM, supra n. 16 at 6, https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25196610-usa-v-tawhedi.
18
See, e.g., Letter from Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member, Sen. Comm. on the Budget to the Hon. Christopher Wray, Director, Fed. Bur. of
Investigation (Oct. 10, 2024), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_to_fbi_-_tawhedi.pdf; Letter from Sen. Charles E. Grassley,
Ranking Member, Sen. Comm. on the Budget, to the Hon. Merrick Garland, Attorney Gen., Dep’t of Justice, and the Hon. Christopher Wray, Director, Fed.
Bur. of Investigation (Oct. 21, 2024), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_to_doj_fbi_-_tawhedi_follow_up.pdf.
19
Dep’t of Homeland Sec., Off. of Insp. Gen., OIG-24-24, DHS Has a Fragmented Process for Identifying and Resolving Derogatory Information for
Operation Allies Welcome Parolees (May 6, 2024), https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2024-05/OIG-24-24-May24.pdf.
20
Id. at 21.
21
Id. at 12.
22
Id. at 12.
23
Id. at 10, 15.
24
Letter from Senator Charles E. Grassley, Chairman, Sen. Comm. on the Judiciary, and the Hon. Lindsey O. Graham, Chairman, Subcomm. on Crime and
Terrorism, Sen. Comm. on the Judiciary, to the Hon. Christopher Wray, Director, Fed. Bur. of Investigation (August 30, 2017),
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2017-08-30%20CEG%20+%20LG%20to%20FBI%20(Comey%20Statement).pdf.
25
Answers from Christopher A. Wray, Nominee to be Director, Fed. Bur. of Investigation, to questions for the Record from members of the Sen. Comm. on
the Judiciary (July 12, 2017), https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Wray%20Responses%20to%20QFRs.pdf.
26
Letter from Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member, Sen. Budget Comm., and Rep. James Comer, Chairman, House Oversight and Accountability
Comm., to the Hon. Christopher Wray, Director, Fed. Bur. of Investigation (May 3, 2023),
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_comer_to_fbi_-_biden_1023.pdf.
 Director Wray
December 9, 2024
Page 4 of 11

Biden, Hunter Biden, and Ukrainian officials. 27 The FBI confidential human source (CHS) behind this
FD-1023 was on the FBI’s payroll during the Obama administration, paid hundreds of thousands of
dollars, was given permission to violate the law, and the information he provided was used in
prosecutions. The FBI called this CHS “highly credible,” and Deputy Director Abbate publicly testified
in response to the FBI’s refusal to remove obstructive redactions from that document that “[w]e often
redact documents to protect sources and methods…the document was redacted to protect the source as
everyone knows, and this is a question of life and death, potentially.” 28 Then after the FD-1023 was
made public – which didn’t include the source’s name – DOJ not only publicly named him, but indicted
him, calling into question the truthfulness of Deputy Director Abbate’s testimony and his refusal to be
transparent. 29 Still, to-date, the DOJ and FBI have neither answered whether they investigated the
substance of the FD-1023, nor have they provided an explanation for any effort undertaken to obtain the
financial records and other pieces of evidence referenced within the document. This sounds a lot like
Director Comey’s leadership of the FBI, which was nothing short of shameful.

As I noted on the Senate floor on February 27, 2024, if a highly regarded source had alleged
President Trump accepted a bribe, the FBI would pursue this information without keeping it stored away
in one of its dusty closets for three years. 30 Actions speak louder than words, and in this regard FBI’s
actions don’t just speak, they shout. The FBI has shown itself all too willing to act against President
Trump based upon sources lacking credibility, such as those behind the Steele Dossier. This piece of
dangerous foreign disinformation was created as a paid piece of opposition research for Hillary
Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. 31 That partisan source and the failure of the FBI to vet the
information didn’t stop the FBI, under the leadership of your predecessor, from offering it to the FISA
court to obtain a warrant authorizing the FBI to spy on President Trump’s 2016 campaign. 32 Moreover,
because of my and Senator Johnson’s oversight, I exposed the fact that the FBI knew the Steele Dossier
had credibility problems and was possibly part of a Russian disinformation campaign before it was used
to obtain FISA warrant renewals. 33 My and Senator Johnson’s oversight work also exposed the Steele
Dossier was pushed by the FBI to be included in the Intelligence Community Assessment about Russian
meddling in the 2016 election, despite concerns over its lack of verification. 34 This is some of the most
egregious, Orwellian conduct I’ve witnessed in my nearly 50 years in the Congress, and the rightful

27
Fed. Bur. of Investigation, FD-1023 Document, obtained by Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member, Sen. Budget Comm. (June 30, 2023),
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fd_1023_obtained_by_senator_grassley_-_biden.pdf.
28
Sen. Comm. on the Judiciary, Hearing, Oversight of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and Related Surveillance Authorities,
testimony of Paul Abbate, Deputy Director, Fed. Bur. of Investigation (June 13, 2023), https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/oversight-of-section-702-of-the-
foreign-intelligence-surveillance-act-and -rel ated-surveillance-authorities.
29
Brooke Singman, Person alleging Biden criminal bribery scheme is a 'highly credible · FBI source used since Obama admin: source, F OX NEWS, (June
2, 2023), https://www.foxnews.com/politics/person-alleging-biden-criminal-bribery-scheme-is-a-highly-credible-fbi-source-us ed-since-obama-admin-
source; U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Press Release, Grand Jury Returns Indictment Charging FBI Confidential Human Source with Felony False Statement and
Obstruction Crimes (Feb. 15, 2024), https://www.justice.gov/sco-weiss/pr/grand-jury-returns-indictment-charging-fbi-confidential-human-source-felony-
false.
30
Press Release, Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member, Senate Comm. on the Budget, Grassley Sets The Record Straight On Oversight Of FBI-
Generated 1023 Document (Feb. 27, 2024), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/remarks/grassley-sets-the-record-straight-on-oversight-of-fbi-generated-
1023-document.
31
Letter from Matthew Gehringer, General Counsel, Perkins Coie, to William Taylor III, Zuckerman Spaeder, (Oct. 24, 2017),
https://cdn.cnn.com/cnn/2017/images/10/25/fusion.perkins.coie.pdf.
32
Letter from Stephen E. Boyd, Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Dep’t of Justice, to Sen. Lindsey Graham, Chairman, Sen. Judiciary Comm., Sen. Richard
Burr, Chairman, Select Comm. on Intelligence, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Ranking Member, Sen. Judiciary Comm., and Sen. Mark Warner, Ranking Member,
Select Comm. on Intelligence (Feb. 7, 2020),
https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FISA%20Warrant%20Application%20for%20Carter%20Page.pdf.
33
Press Release, Office of Sen. Charles E. Grassley, IG Footnotes: Serious Problems with Dossier Sources Didn’t Stop FBI’s Page Surveillance (April 15,
2020), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/ig-footnotes-serious-problems-dossier-sources-didn-t -stop-fbi-s-p age-su rveillance.
34
Press Release, Office of Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Sens. Grassley and Johnson Release Declassified Annex to Intelligence Community Assessment That
was Based on the Debunked Steele Dossier, https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/sens-grassley-and-johnson-release-d eclassifi ed-ann ex-
intelligence-community.
 Director Wray
December 9, 2024
Page 5 of 11

dismissal of Director Comey should’ve closed the book on such weaponization. Unfortunately for the
nation, it didn’t.

President Trump has been subjected to a continuing double standard, an area where your failed
tenure is consistent with your predecessor’s. While the FBI under your leadership turned a blind eye to
information contained in the FD-1023 that was prejudicial to President Biden, FBI agents conducted an
unprecedented raid of President Trump’s home in Florida to serve a warrant for records. 35 In that raid,
roughly 30 armed agents entered the home of a former president of the United States, with full
authorization to use lethal force if needed to execute its warrant, and even searched the former First
Lady’s clothing drawers. 36

This raid occurred despite serious questions about the need for it. President Trump apparently
was cooperating with the investigation, notwithstanding liberal press reports. He voluntarily turned over
15 boxes of documents months before the FBI’s drastic escalation. 37 Further, on June 3, 2022, two
months before the raid on Trump’s home, Jay Bratt, Chief of the Counterintelligence and Export Control
Section of the DOJ’s National Security Division, accompanied by FBI agents, visited Trump at his Mar-
A-Lago residence. President Trump told the group, “I appreciate the job you’re doing,” and added,
“[a]nything you need, let us know.” 38 Bratt days later sent a letter to a Trump lawyer requesting
placement of a stronger lock on the door where remaining records were kept “until further notice,”
which was done. 39 Following this, on June 22, 2022, the Trump organization complied with a subpoena
for security footage taken at Mar-A-Lago, the last official action before FBI entered his home to execute
a search warrant, treatment no former president has had to endure, which was approved under your
leadership. 40

No such raid took place at Hillary Clinton’s premises, even though she and her staff mishandled
highly classified information while using a non-government server after repeated warnings from State
Department security personnel it was a security risk, and despite the fact her associates destroyed
potentially-incriminating evidence.41 Indeed, in an unheard of agreement that my oversight exposed, the
FBI agreed to destroy records and laptops associated with Clinton’s staff after reviewing them, even

35
In the Matter of the Search of Mar-a-Lago, No. 22-mj-8332 BER (S.D. Fla. Aug. 5, 2022), https://d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/static/2022/08/TRUMP-
WARRANT-FROM-PACER-1.pdf; Alex Leary, Aruna Viswanatha, and Sadie Gurman, FBI Quest for Trump Documents Started with Breezy Chats, Tour
of a Crowded Closet, THE WALL S TREET JOURNAL, (Aug. 10, 2022), https://www.wsj.com/articles/fbi-quest-for-trump-documents-started-with-breezy-
chats-tour-of-a-crowded-closet-11660169349; Mar-a-Largo: Republican uproar over FBI raid on Trump home, BBC (Aug. 9, 2022),
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62486406.
36
Mar-a-Largo: Republican uproar over FBI raid on Trump home, BBC (Aug. 9, 2022) https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62486406; Brooke
Singman, Trump highlights Biden admin authorizing ‘deadly use of force’ in Mar-a-Lago raid, F OX NEWS (May 22, 2024),
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-administration-authorized-use-of-deadly-force-mar-a-lago-raid.
37
Alex Leary, Aruna Viswanatha, and Sadie Gurman, FBI Quest for Trump Documents Started with Breezy Chats, Tour of a Crowded Closet, THE WALL
S TREET JOURNAL (Aug. 10, 2022), https://www.wsj.com/articles/fbi-quest-for-trump-documents-started-with-breezy-chats-tour-of-a-cro wded-closet-
11660169349.
38
Eugene Kiely, Timeline of FBI Investigation of Trump’s Handling of Highly Classified Documents, ANNENBERG P UBLIC P OLICY C ENTER, (Aug. 30,
2022), https://www.factcheck.org/2022/08/timeline-of-fbi-investigation-of-trumps-handling-of-highly-classified-documents/; Alex Leary, Aruna
Viswanatha, and Sadie Gurman, FBI Quest for Trump Documents Started with Breezy Chats, Tour of a Crowded Closet, THE WALL S TREET JOURNAL,
(August 10, 2022), https://www.wsj.com/articles/fbi-quest-for-trump-documents-started-with-breezy-chats-tour-of-a-cro wded-closet-11660169349.
39
Alex Leary, Aruna Viswanatha, and Sadie Gurman, supra n. 37.
40
Sadie Gurman and Aruna Visanatha, Timeline of Effort to Retrieve Documents from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, THE WALL S TREET JOURNAL (Aug. 31, 2022),
https://www.wsj.com/articles/timeline-of-effort-to-retrieve-documents-from-trumps-mar-a-l ago-11661969949.
41
Press Release, James Comey, Director, Fed. Bur. of Investigation, Statement by FBI Director James B. Comey on the Investigation of Secretary Hillary
Clinton’s Use of a Personal E-Mail System, (July 5, 2016), https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/statement-by-fbi-director-james-b-comey-on-the-
investigation-of-secretary-hillary-clinton2019s-use-of-a-personal-e-mail-system; Report from the Office of the Secretary, Office of the Inspector General,
U.S. State Department, Evaluation of Email Records Management and Cybersecurity Requirements, at 23-25 (26 May 2016),
https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/2017-09/esp-16-03.pdf.
 Director Wray
December 9, 2024
Page 6 of 11

though those records were potentially responsive to congressional investigations. 42 No such raid
occurred on the home of President Biden, even though his records were consciously divided up, some
stored at his home in a garage next to his Corvette, others stored at the Penn Biden Center, and that still
more classified records were found by his attorneys in the days following his initial admission that he
absconded with highly classified documents that dated to over a period of decades. 43 This is also despite
the fact that it took the White House more than two months to publicly disclose that the classified
documents had been found. 44 I warned you after the Mar-a-Lago raid that it risked the credibility of the
FBI, and it has done just that. 45 A double standard in a nation that rightly boasts that “justice is blind” is
no standard at all.

The FBI under your lack of leadership also served as an accomplice to the Democrats’ false
information campaign designed to undermine my investigation of alleged Biden-family corruption. On
August 6, 2020, as Senator Ron Johnson and I were finishing our report on the Biden family’s financial
connections to foreign governments and questionable foreign nationals, you succumbed to pressure from
Democrats in Congress and provided an unnecessary briefing that Democratic leadership requested in an
effort to falsely label our investigation as Russian disinformation. 46 That briefing consisted of
information we already knew and information that wasn’t connected to our Biden investigation. We
made clear at the time our concern that the briefing would be subject to a leak that would shed false light
on the focus of our investigation. Predictably, on May 1, 2021, the Washington Post did just that,
falsely labeling our investigation as Russian disinformation. 47 At the briefing, and many times
following it, we requested records documenting what happened at the briefing, its intelligence basis, and
the personnel involved in making the decision to brief us. The FBI has consistently failed to fully
respond to these requests, which were critical to ensure FBI didn’t knowingly or willingly use the
briefing for partisan purposes.48 To this day, because of the FBI’s lack of transparency, we still don’t
know what the basis was for the briefing and have been prevented from questioning the briefers.

42
The Hon. Jason Chaffetz, Chairman, House Comm. on Oversight and Gov’t Reform, the Hon. Bob Goodlate, Chairman, House Comm. on the Judiciary,
the Hon. Charles E. Grassley, Sen. Comm. on the Judiciary, and the Hon. Devin Nunes, Chairman, House Permanent Select Comm. on Intelligence, to the
Hon. Loretta E. Lynch, Attorney General, U.S. Dep’t of Justice (October 5, 2016), https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2016-10-
05%20CEG%20et.%20al%20to%20DOJ%20-%20Wilkinson%20Immunity%20Letters.pdf.
43
Dustin Jones, FBI searched Biden’s Delaware vacation home as part of classified document probe, NATIONAL P UBLIC R ADIO (Feb. 1, 2023),
https://www.npr.org/2023/02/01/1150927869/biden-rehoboth-beach-classified-documents.
44
Dan Mangan, Biden Classified Documents: White House won’t say why it didn’t disclose earlier that records were found, CNBC (Jan. 10, 2023),
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/10/biden-classified-documents-white-house-mum-on-disclosure-timing.html.
45
Julia Mueller, Grassley expresses concern to FBI director in wake of Mar-a-Lago search, THE HILL (Aug. 9, 2023), https://thehill.com/policy/national-
security/3595155-grassley-expresses-concern-to-fbi-director-in-wak e-of-mar-a-l ago-search/.
46
Letter from Chairman Charles Grassley, Sen. Comm. on Fin., and Chairman Ron Johnson, Sen. Comm. on Homeland Sec. and Gov’t Affs., to Ranking
Member Ron Wyden, Sen. Comm. on Fin., and Ranking Member Gary Peters, Sen. Comm. on Homeland Sec. and Governmental Affs. (July 28, 2020);
Press Release, Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Sen. Ron Johnson, Denounce Democrat Disinformation Campaign In Response To Peters, Wyden, Democrat
Leaders’ Letters (July 28, 2020), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/johnson-grassleydenounce-democrat-disinformation-campaign-
response-peters-wyden; Press Release, Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Grassley (Again) Rejects Democrats’ Baseless Claims About Burisma Probe (Sept. 16,
2020), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-again-rejects-demo crats-b aseless-claims-aboutburisma-probe; Floor Speech, Sen.
Charles E. Grassley, Grassley On The Ukraine Investigation (Sept. 29, 2020), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-ukraine-
investigation; Floor Speech, Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Grassley On Democrats Spreading Disinformation To Protect President Biden (Mar. 18, 2021),
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-on-democrats-spreading-disinform ation-to-protectp resident-biden; Floor Speech, Sen. Charles
E. Grassley, The Media Again Takes Liberal Disinformation Bait On Biden Family Oversight (May 11, 2021),
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/remarks/the-media-again-takesliberal-disinformation-bait-on-bid en-family-oversight; Letter from Sen. Charles E.
Grassley, and Sen. Ron Johnson to Inspector General Horowitz (July 20, 2021),
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_johnson_to_justice_dept.inspectorgeneralaugust2020briefing.pdf.
47
Ellen Nakashima, Shane Harris and Tom Hamburger, FBI was aware of prominent Americans, including Giuliani, were targeted by Russian influence
operation, The Washington Post (May 1, 2021), https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/rudy-giuliani-fbi-warning-russia/2021/04/29/5db90f96-
a84e-11eb-bca5-048b2759a489_story.html.
48
Letter from Chairman Charles Grassley, Sen. Comm. on Fin., to Attorney Gen. Garland and Director Wray (Aug. 12, 2020),
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_to_justice_deptfbibriefing.pdf; Letter from Chairman Charles Grassley, Sen. Comm. on Fin., and
Chairman Ron Johnson, Sen. Comm. on Homeland Sec. and Gov’t Affs., to Director Wray and Director Avril Haines (May 3, 2021),
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_johnson_to_fbi_odni - briefing.pdf; Letter from Ranking Member Charles Grassley to Attorney
General Garland and Director Wray (July 25, 2022) https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_to_justice_deptfbipoliticalbiasfollowup.pdf;
 Director Wray
December 9, 2024
Page 7 of 11

If these examples aren’t enough to make my point, there are many more to offer. For more than
a year-and-a-half, the FBI has failed to be responsive to repeated requests, again addressed to you,
asking for information about the outrageous memo prepared by analysts in the FBI’s field office in
Richmond, Virginia. That memo struck fear in believers across the country by purporting, without
anything other than biased, discredited sources like the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), to tie
faithful Christians to violent extremism.49 Shortly after a whistleblower disclosed the notorious memo
to the public, I requested FBI provide answers, backed up by records. 50 The FBI in its paltry response
deflected on the basis it was conducting an internal investigation of the incident. 51 Little did FBI
leadership know the final “strategic review report” conducted by the FBI’s Inspection Division would be
produced to Congress the next year, on February 9, 2024, as the FBI was later directed to produce it by
the Explanatory Statement on the Intelligence Authorization Act for FY 2024. 52 That internal report
declared that “the [Inspection Division] completed its strategic review” and provided the review’s
findings. It was date stamped April 17, 2023, the day before the FBI’s April 18, 2023, letter to me
claiming the internal review was still “ongoing” as an excuse not to answer my questions. 53 It appears
the FBI actively misled and obstructed congressional oversight.

In the case of the Richmond memo, my oversight continued throughout the remainder of 2023
and has continued since, with my office urging FBI to provide more information on the memo and the
internal review. FBI waited until late September 2023, which we now know was more than five months
past the review’s completion, to even brief Senate staff on its findings. 54 I later led seven of my
colleagues in a letter raising deep concerns on the content of that internal review and your testimony
before Congress that the Richmond incident was about, “a product by one field office” and “a single
product by a single field office.” 55 Once redactions were lifted from the memo in a version provided to
the House Judiciary Committee, it was apparent FBI had redacted information from the memo related to
input received on the memo from two other FBI field offices, calling into question the veracity of your
claim that the memo was the product of a “single field office.” You later defended your testimony when
I confronted you with the contradiction by saying the input from other offices was limited to verifying a

Ranking Member Charles Grassley, Questions for the Record - FBI Oversight Hearing (Aug. 11, 2022),
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fbi_oversight_hearing_questions_for_the_record_-_senator grassley.pdf.
49
FBI Richmond, Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New
Mitigation Opportunities, (Jan. 23, 2023), https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/fbi-anti-
catholic-memo.pdf; Letter from Sen. James Lankford and Sen. Charles E. Grassley, to Christopher Wray, Director, Fed. Bur. of Investigation, (Oct. 11,
2023) https://www.lankford.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/10.3.23.-Final-letter-to-FBI-on-SPLC.pdf.
50
Letter from Sen. Charles Grassley, Ranking Member, Sen. Budget Comm., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, Ranking Member, Sen. Judiciary Comm., to the
Hon. Merrick Garland, Attorney Gen., and the Hon. Christopher Wray, Director, Fed. Bur. of Investigation, (Mar. 1, 2023)
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_graham_to_doj_fbi_richmond_fbi_catholic_report.pdf.
51
Letter from Christopher Dunham, Acting Assistant Director, Off. of Congressional Affairs, Fed. Bureau of Investigation, to Sen. Charles Grassley,
Ranking Member, Sen. Budget Comm., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, Ranking Member, Sen. Judiciary Comm., (Apr. 18, 2023),
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fbi_to_grassley_graham_-_richmond_fbi_catholic_report.pdf.
52
Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, Cong. Rec. S5990-S5991 (Dec. 14, 2023),
https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/publications/IAA%20FY24%20JES%20-%20Cong.%20Rec.%20S5990%20-%2012.14.23.pdf; Letter
from Patrick N. Findlay, Assistant Dir., Fed. Bur. of Investigation, to the Hon. Richard Durbin, Chairman, Sen. Comm. on the Judiciary, and the Hon.
Lindsey Graham, Ranking Member, Sen. Comm. on the Judiciary (Feb. 9, 2024) and attached report, Inspection Division, Fed. Bur. of Investigation,
Strategic Review Report, Richmond Field Office – Domain Perspective Strategic Review (Apr. 17, 2023, Apr. 21, 2023), on file with staff.
53
Letter from Patrick N. Findlay and attached Inspection Division report, supra n. 52.
54
Emails with FBI Senate Judiciary Committee Liaison on file with staff.
55
House Judiciary Comm., Hearing on Oversight of the Fed. Bur. of Investigation (July 12, 2023), https://judiciary.house.gov/committee-
activity/hearings/oversight-federal-bureau-investigation-0 (referring to the memo as, “a single product by a single field office”); U.S. Senate Select Comm.
on Intelligence, Hearing on Worldwide Threats (March 8, 2023), https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/hearings/open-hearing-worldwide-threats-3 (referring
to the memo as, “a product by one field office”); Letter from Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member, Sen. Comm. on the Budget, et al., to the Hon.
Christopher Wray, Director, Fed. Bureau of Investigation (Aug. 24, 2023), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_et_al_to_fbi_-
_richmond_catholic_memo_follow_up.pdf.
 Director Wray
December 9, 2024
Page 8 of 11

couple of sentences in the memo. 56 Nonetheless, you failed in that exchange to answer why the FBI
redacted information about the involvement of other field offices in versions of the memo provided to
Congress and whether you had reviewed the memo before you testified that it was the product of a
“single field office.” Information about the involvement of other offices was highly material to the
memo’s production, and you should have revealed it to the Senate when testifying on the topic.

Even more troubling was your testimony the Richmond incident involved “a single product.”
Congress later discovered this claim was indisputably false or at least materially misleading, and neither
you nor the FBI to this date has answered my request to explain your testimony. The FBI later revealed
the existence of an external memo to me in a single passing line in its October 27, 2023, response, with
no explanation, that an “external Strategic Perspective Executive Analytical Report (SPEAR) product
[was created] on the same topic.” 57 According to staff present at the FBI’s September 2023 briefing,
FBI withheld this information about the production of a second, external memo. 58 A later House
Judiciary Committee report confirmed that a second product was drafted by the Richmond analysts on
the same topic as the internal Richmond memo, and was reviewed by the Counterterrorism Division in
FBI headquarters for planned dissemination throughout the FBI. 59 Based on the revelation that the
Richmond memo was not a solitary product, I led fifteen of my Senate colleagues in yet another appeal
for transparency.60 Rather than come clean, the FBI waited nearly seven more months to respond, until
August 15, 2024, and after I confronted you on portions of your testimony in a hearing before the Senate
Judiciary Committee on December 5, 2023. 61 The FBI’s embarrassing August 2024 response failed to
answer any of the points I raised in my January 2024 letter and ignored my request for a clarification of
your misleading testimony. 62 To this day, you’ve failed to clear up your testimony, even after being
questioned by many members of the Senate – a state of affairs completely unacceptable for one of the
nation’s premier law enforcement agencies. The FBI’s response also ignored the request of sixteen
senators for additional information on the permanent deletion of files related to the memo, which was
ordered by Deputy Director Abbate. 63 In a call my staff had with the FBI on August 27, 2024, a Bureau
official assured my office that these files are recoverable and could be provided, and that she would

56
Press Release, Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member, Sen. Comm. on the Budget, Grassley Grills FBI Director Wray at Senate Judiciary Committee
Hearing (Dec. 5, 2023), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-grills-fbi-director-wray-at-s enate-judiciary -committee-h earing.
57
U.S. House of Representatives, Comm. on the Judiciary and Select Subcomm. on the Weaponization of the Fed. Gov’t, Interim Staff Report, The FBI’s
Breach of Religious Freedom: The Weaponization of Law Enforcement Against Catholic Americans at 22 (December 4, 2023),
https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evosubsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2023-12-04-the-fbis-breach-of-religiousfreedom-
the-weaponization-of-law-enforcement-against-catholic-americans.pdf; Letter from Mr. Christopher Dunham, Acting Assistant Director, Dep’t of Justice
Office of Congressional Affs., to Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member, Sen. Comm. on the Budget (Oct. 27, 2023),
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fbi_to_grassley_-_richmond_catholic_memo_follow_up_and_southern_poverty_law_center.pdf.
58
Notes of briefing to Comm. staff on file with staff.
59
U.S. House of Representatives, Comm. on the Judiciary and Select Subcomm. on the Weaponization of the Federal Gov’t, Interim Staff Report, The FBI’s
Breach of Religious Freedom: The Weaponization of Law Enforcement Against Catholic Americans at 23 (December 4, 2023),
https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2023-12-04-the-fbis-breach-of-religious-freedom-
the-weaponization-of-law-enforcement-against-catholic-americans.pdf.
60
Press Release, Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member, Senate Comm. on the Budget, Grassley Leads Colleagues in Demanding ‘Coherent and
Complete Response’ on Anti-Catholic FBI Richmond Memo (Feb. 1, 2024), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-leads-colleagues-
in-demanding-coherent-and-complete-response-on-anti-catholic-fbi-richmond-m emo.
61
Letter from Patrick N. Findlay, Assistant Director, Off. of Congressional Affs., Dept. of Justice, Fed. Bur. of Investigation, to Sen. Charles E. Grassley,
Ranking Member, Sen. Comm. on the Budget (Aug. 15, 2024), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fbi_to_grassley_-
_richmond_memo_follow_up.pdf.; Press Release, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member, Sen. Comm. on the Budget, Grassley Grills FBI Director
Wray at Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing (Dec. 5, 2023), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-grills-fbi-director-wray-at-
senate-judiciary-committee-hearing.
62
Letter from Patrick N. Findlay, Assistant Director, Off. of Congressional Affs., Dept. of Justice, Fed. Bureau of Investigation, to Sen. Charles E. Grassley,
Ranking Member, Sen. Comm. on the Budget, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Ranking Member, Sen. Comm. on the Judiciary, et al. (Aug. 15, 2024),
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fbi_to_grassley_-_richmond_memo_follow_up.pdf; Press Release, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Ranking
Member, Senate Committee on the Budget, Grassley Grills FBI Director Wray at Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing (Dec. 5, 2023),
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-grills-fbi-director-wray-at-sen ate-judiciary-committee-hearing.
63
U.S. House of Representatives, Judiciary Comm. interim staff report, supra n. 58.
 Director Wray
December 9, 2024
Page 9 of 11

follow up with my office.64 She hasn’t done so. This continuous mule-headed war against transparency
again violates your solemn promises made under oath when you were nominated.

While your failure to fulfill your duty regarding the multiple examples above is sufficient reason
to question your continued tenure as director, your broken promise to protect whistleblowers and be
transparent about that protection is a final straw on the camel’s back. The FBI’s silence in response to
my requests that you protect whistleblowers is completely unacceptable. As I said, you promised at
your confirmation hearing to do so. 65 Protecting these brave patriots has been a priority of mine
throughout my nearly-50-years of service in the U.S. Congress. Yet my pleas to you on their behalf, just
like my many oversight requests, have fallen on deaf ears. On July 18 of last year, nearly seventeen
months ago, I led twenty-two of my colleagues in a letter asking you to commit that no taxpayer money
would be used to retaliate against brave whistleblowers who provided information about the Biden
family. 66 Despite your pledge to protect them, you’ve failed to commit to this minimal and basic
protection I requested. This shouldn’t be controversial at all, but despite the small ask, you’ve failed for
nearly a year-and-a-half to even reply.

Likewise, on September 13 of last year, almost 15 months ago, I asked you to provide records
and information documenting what safeguards are in place at the FBI to ensure legally-protected
whistleblower communications aren’t monitored and inappropriately reviewed through your insider
threat program. 67 Again, my simple request on behalf of brave FBI whistleblowers was greeted with
deafening silence. President Reagan often said we should, “trust but verify.” 68 I employ that same
policy. When I ask the FBI for documents, it’s to determine whether or not what’s being said is
verifiable. Those documents are worth more than mere assurances, because contemporary records paint
an unmistakable and undeniable picture. The FBI here, as in so many instances, has failed to provide
documents I’ve reasonably requested to verify its claims, or to fill in gaps where the FBI makes no claim
at all because of its refusal to provide answers. Scripture tells us that one who can’t be trusted in little
matters can’t be trusted in larger ones. 69 As these examples show us, you’ve failed in both.

You’ve also failed to adequately respond to my concerns about the protection of specific
whistleblowers. As just one example, on November 30, 2018, I wrote you about the reported raid of a
former FBI whistleblower’s home relating to Uranium One. 70 The FBI took nearly two and a half years
to provide a paltry 118-word response. 71 That response failed to provide any information on the raid,
yet it asserted the FBI doesn’t engage in whistleblower retaliation. 72 Again, such bland assertions do

64
Notes of phone call with Ms. Katherine Gulotta, FBI Liaison to the Senate Judiciary Committee (August 27, 2024), on file with Committee staff.
65
Hearing supra n. 2.
66
Press Release, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member, Sen. Comm. on the Budget, Grassley, Johnson, Senate Republicans Demand DOJ and FBI
Protect Whistleblowers Alleging Biden Bribery Scheme (July 18, 2023), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-johnson-senate-
republicans-demand-doj-and-fbi-protect-whistleblowers -alleging-biden -bribery-sch eme.
67
Letter from Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member, Sen. Comm. on the Budget, to the Hon. Merrick Garland and Christopher Wray, Attorney General,
Director, Fed. Bur. of Investigation (Sept. 13, 2023), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_to_doj_and_fbi_-
_whistleblower_monitoring.pdf.
68
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, Remarks on Signing the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, Nat’l Archives and Records
Admin. (Dec. 8, 1987) https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/remarks-signing-intermediate-range-nuclear-forces-treaty.
69
Luke 16:10.
70
Letter from Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Chairman, Sen. Comm. on the Judiciary, to the Hon. Christopher Wray, Director, Fed. Bur. of Investigation (Nov.
30, 2018), https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2018-11-30%20CEG%20to%20FBI%20(FBI%20Raid%20on%20Whistleblower).pdf; see
Richard Pollock, “Exclusive: FBI Raids Home of Whistleblower on Clinton Foundation, Lawyer Says,” THE DAILY C ALLER (November 29, 2018),
https://dailycaller.com/2018/11/29/fbi-whistleblower-clinton-uranium/.
71
Letter from Jill C. Tyson, Assistant Director, Off. of Congressional Affs., Fed. Bur. of Investigation, to Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member, Sen.
Comm. on the Judiciary (April 30, 2021), on file with Comm. staff.
72
Id.
 Director Wray
December 9, 2024
Page 10 of 11

nothing to further the oversight work of Congress, which has every right and a constitutional duty to
verify the claims FBI makes and assure they are consistent with the agency’s own documentation.

On April 12, 2019, I also inquired about potential whistleblower retaliation in the form of
suspended or revoked whistleblower security clearances and have recently raised additional concerns
based on Inspector General findings. 73 The letter focused on Special Agent John Parkinson, who
initially made protected disclosures in 2008, and subsequently lost his security clearance. 74 FBI also
failed to provide answers to my inquiry on the status of others who allegedly lost their clearances after
making protected disclosures to the DOJ’s Office of Inspector General. 75 The FBI’s response failed to
address either of these inquiries. 76

I’ve given quite a few examples here, but other examples of blatant failures throughout your
tenure abound. The FBI for years has failed to update me on the status of criminal referrals I made
related to individuals who made materially false statements and obstructed the work of the Judiciary
Committee and my investigative staff during the Committee’s consideration of the nomination of Brett
Kavanaugh to be an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; 77 it’s failed for over two years to
adequately answer my inquiries into the DOJ and FBI’s targeting of pro-life activists like Mark Houck,
and the heavy-handed at-gunpoint raid against him; 78 it’s failed to respond to my March 2024 inquiry
about the support FBI provided Project Thor, a successful ATF anti-cartel program defunded by the
Biden DOJ, and what efforts FBI is taking to stop firearms trafficking to Mexico; 79 it’s failed to respond
to my inquiry to DOJ and FBI in October of this year asking why it took so long to indict and arrest a
man who made violent threats against Judge Aileen Cannon after she dismissed charges against
President Trump related to his handling of classified information; 80 it’s failed to respond to my inquiry
from May of this year asking about whistleblower allegations that the Obama-Biden State Department
obstructed the FBI from making arrests of high-risk targets providing support to Iran for their nuclear
and ballistic missile programs; 81 it’s failed to answer my letter from July of this year asking the DOJ and
FBI to keep me updated on the ongoing investigation into the attempted assassination of former
President Trump; 82 it’s failed to update me on the status of a criminal referral I made to FBI in January

73
Letter from Charles E. Grassley, Chairman, Sen. Comm. on Fin., to the Hon. Christopher Wray, Director, Fed. Bur. of Investigation (April 12, 2019), on
file with Comm. staff; Letter from Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member, Sen. Comm. on the Budget, to the Hon. Lisa Monaco, Deputy Attorney Gen.,
Dep’t of Justice (May 29, 2024), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_to_doj_-_retaliatory_security_clearance_suspensions.pdf.
74
Id.
75
Id.
76
Letter from Christine E. O’Neill, Deputy Assistant Director, Sec. Div., Fed. Bur. of Investigation, to Charles E. Grassley, Chairman, Senate Comm. on
Finance (July 12, 2019), on file with Comm. staff.
77
See. e.g., Press Release, Off. of Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Chairman, Sen. Comm. on the Judiciary, Senators Seek Status Update on Criminal Referrals of
Spurious Allegations Made During Kavanaugh Nomination (Oct. 8, 2019), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/senators-seek-status-update-
criminal-referrals-spurious-allegations-made-during.
78
See, e.g., Press Release, Off. of Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Judiciary Republicans, Home-State Senator Demand Explanation For Dawn Raid On Pro-Life
Activist Family Home (Sept. 28, 2022), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/judiciary-republicans-home-state-senator-demand-expl anation-
for-dawn-raid-on-pro-life-activist-family-home; Letter from Carlos Uriarte, Assistant Attorney Gen., to the Hon. Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member,
Comm. on the Judiciary (Dec. 6, 2022) (responding to the Sept. 28 letter, but failing to answer any of the specific factors senators asked about concerning
the Houck arrest), on file with staff.
79
Letter from Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member, Sen. Comm. on the Judiciary, to the Hon. Christopher Wray, Director, Fed. Bur. of Investigation
(March 21, 2024), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_to_fbi_-_project_thor.pdf.
80
Letter from Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member, Sen. Comm. on the Judiciary, to the Hon. Merrick Garland, Attorney Gen., Dep’t of Justice, the
Hon. Christopher Wray, Director, Fed. Bur. of Investigation, and the Hon. Markenzy Lapointe, U.S. Attorney, S.D. Fla. (October 21, 2024),
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_to_doj_fbi_sdf_-_judge_aileen_cannon.pdf.
81
Press Release, Off. of Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Grassley, Johnson Uncover Obama-Biden State Department’s Politically-motivated Obstruction of FBI
Law Enforcement Efforts (May 22, 2024), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-johnson-uncover-obama-biden-state-departments-
politically-motivated-obstruction-of-fbi-law-enforcement-efforts.
82
Letter from Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member, Sen. Comm. on the Judiciary, to the Hon. Merrick B. Garland, Attorney Gen., Dep’t of Justice,
and the Hon. Christopher Wray, Director, Fed. Bur. of Investigation (July 16, 2024), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_to_doj_fbi_-
_trump_assassination_attempt.pdf.
 Director Wray
December 9, 2024
Page 11 of 11

of this year related to likely child trafficking through the Biden-Harris Office of Refugee Resettlement at
the Department of Health and Human Services; 83 it’s failed for over a year-and-a-half to respond to my
April 2023 request for records related to news reports you commandeered your FBI private jet to avoid
spending time in traffic; 84 it’s failed for six years to provide a full response to my inquiry into the FBI’s
investigation of the shooting of an unarmed man sitting in his car; 85 it’s also failed, despite promises, to
provide sufficient transparency about the FISA query process, with names of politicians and names of
19,000 donors to a congressional campaign and individuals arrested at social justice protests being
improperly searched, and thousands of FISA protocol violations reported by the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Court. 86 The list goes on and on.

Your and Deputy Director Abbate’s failure to take control of the FBI has hindered my work and
others’ work throughout multiple Congresses on matters that needed timely information, and has
prevented the truth on some issues from ever reaching the American people. You’ve also shown a
continuing double standard and failure to carry through on promises. For the good of the country, it’s
time for you and your deputy to move on to the next chapter in your lives. I’ve spent my career fighting
for transparency, and I’ve always called out those in government who have fought against it. For the
public record, I must do so once again now. I therefore must express my vote of no confidence in your
continued leadership of the FBI. President-elect Trump has already announced his intention to nominate
a candidate to replace you, and the Senate will carefully consider that choice. For my part, I’ve also
seen enough, and hope your respective successors will learn from these failures.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Grassley
Ranking Member
Committee on the Budget

83
Press Release, Off. of Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Grassley Alerts DHS, FBI To Evidence of Human Trafficking; Calls for Immediate Action To Locate &
Rescue Migrant Children (Jan. 24, 2024), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-alerts-dhs-fbi-to-evidence-of-human-traffi cking-
calls-for-immediate-action-to-locate-and-rescue-migrant-children.
84
See, e.g., Letter from Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member, Sen. Comm. on the Judiciary, to the Hon. Christopher Wray, Director, Fed. Bur. of
Investigation (April 3, 2023), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_o_fbi_-_jet_transfer_follow-up.pdf.
85
Letter from Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Chairman, Sen. Comm. on the Judiciary, to the Hon. Christopher Wray, Director, Fed. Bur. of Investigation (Dec.
17, 2018), https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2018-12-17%20CEG%20to%20FBI%20(Ghaisar).pdf (two letters from FBI dated March 15,
2019 and August 30, 2019, on file with staff, declined to provide any requested information).
86
For problems with FISA queries, see, e.g., Intel.gov, Release of Documents Related to the 2023 FISA Section 702 Certifications (July 21, 2023),
https://www.intel.gov/ic-on-the-record-database/results/1307-release-of-do cuments-related-to-the-2023 -fisa-s ection-702-certifications; United States
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, Mem. Op. and Or., 1, 28-29 (Apr. 21, 2022),
https://www.intel.gov/assets/documents/702%20Documents/declassified/21/2021_FISC_Certification_Opinion.pdf/; see also Normaan Merchant, FBI
wrongly searched for US senator and state senator in Section 702 spy data, court says, AP (July 21, 2023), https://apnews.com/article/fbi-foreign-
surveillance-section-702-a804ea3ee688d8670aa19610e6fa8494; Eric Tucker, FBI broke rules in scouring foreign intelligence on Jan. 6 riot, racial justice
protests, court says, AP (May 19, 2023), https://apnews.com/article/justice-department-fbi-surveillance-75c466a64e838ab12eaef96f6335f3cd.