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Joe Biden laughed off a question from a reporter regarding an alleged FBI informant who accused the president of accepting a bribe from a foreign national, then fired back his own question at the journalist.
At the end of Thursday's press conference, a member of the press asked Biden why the FBI file involving the alleged informant referred to the president as "the big guy."
"Why'd you ask such a dumb question?" Biden said in response.
Last month, congressional Republicans said they were approached by an informant who said the FBI had a document that explicitly detailed information from a confidential human source who alleged that Biden, while vice president, was involved in a $5 million criminal bribery scheme with a foreign national.
On Monday, Senator Chuck Grassley accused the FBI of redacting information revealing that the foreign national allegedly has audio recordings of his conversations with Biden and his son Hunter.
"These recordings were allegedly kept as a sort of insurance policy for the foreign national in case he got into a tight spot," Grassley said from the Senate floor.
"That goes to show you the disrespect the FBI has for Congress," the Iowa Republican said about the redactions.
Newsweek reached out by email to the White House for comment.
On Tuesday, Biden was asked about the alleged existence of those audio recordings by a New York Post reporter.
"Biden, 80, stopped mid-stride and turned around with a smile on his face—then seemed to chuckle to himself and shook his head as he turned to walk away without saying a word," the Post reported.
On Monday, the House oversight committee met with the FBI for a closed-door briefing related to the matter. Shortly after, committee member Anna Paulina Luna said the bureau is "afraid" the alleged informant would be "killed if unmasked."
"We are going to be bringing the FBI director in before Congress for contempt of Congress proceedings as he is still conniving to shelter the Biden administration from its own sickening corruption," the Florida Republican told Fox News.
Republicans have questioned whether the FBI properly investigated allegations about the Biden family's business deals abroad. But newspapers like The Washington Post and the New York Post reported that the allegations were reviewed and dropped by the FBI under the Trump administration after the bureau concluded that they lacked evidence.
On Thursday, White House spokesperson Ian Sams referred to those reports while saying, "Every time a right-wing talking point about this absurd allegation falls apart under even the slightest scrutiny, the far right moves the goalposts."
He tweeted: "Informant? Disappeared! Audio tapes? Don't exist! It wasn't investigated? Actually Trump's DOJ/FBI did!"
Earlier this week, Senator Ron Johnson and Representative Jim Jordan, both Republicans, cast doubt about the audio recordings. "We don't know for sure if these tapes exist," Jordan said.
Last month, House oversight committee Chair James Comer revealed that his GOP colleagues lost track of the alleged FBI informant's whereabouts.
"Well, unfortunately, we can't track down the informant," Comer told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo. "We're hopeful that the informant is still there."
About the writer
Katherine Fung is a Newsweek senior reporter based in New York City. She has covered U.S. politics and culture extensively. ... Read more