An FBI informant who has accused President Joe Biden of accepting foreign bribes when he served as vice president has gone "missing," according to Republican congressman James Comer (Ky.).
Comer, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said in an interview on Sunday that he has tried to get in touch with the FBI informant, but that he has been unable to track the person down.
"We’re hopeful that the informant is still there," Comer told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo. "We have basic information with respect to what the informant has alleged. It alleges that Joe Biden, when he was vice president, was involved in a quid pro quo with a foreign country in exchange for foreign aid."
The informant provided the FBI with evidence that Biden engaged in a "quid pro quo" with a foreign national when he served as vice president. An FBI whistleblower told Comer of the existence of an internal June 2020 memo that details the informant’s claims. The Republican subpoenaed the FBI for the report, but the bureau declined last week to turn it over.
The informant’s disappearance is certain to add an air of mystery to Republicans’ investigation into whether the president was involved in his son Hunter’s foreign business deals. Republicans have been digging into the Biden family’s dealings in China, Romania, and Ukraine. Comer released a report last week that showed a scandal-plagued Romanian businessman wired $1 million to Hunter Biden through a network of shell companies during the same period when Joe Biden was preaching anti-corruption initiatives in Romania.
The FBI whistleblower, who Comer described as "credible," came forward weeks after an IRS investigator offered to provide Congress with evidence that the Justice Department has pulled punches in a tax investigation of Hunter Biden for political reasons. The IRS whistleblower also accused Attorney General Merrick Garland of lying to Congress about the status of the Hunter Biden probe.
Several Biden family associates have come forward with information that links Joe Biden to his son’s business dealings, including a think tank executive who is reportedly missing from Cyprus.
Gal Luft, a director at the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, has claimed he provided the FBI with information about Hunter and Joe Biden in March 2019. Luft came forward after the Justice Department sought his extradition from Cyprus on arms trafficking charges. Luft claimed that he was the target of political revenge for blowing the whistle on the Bidens. He has reportedly vanished from Cyprus while out on bail.
Luft was an adviser to CEFC China Energy, a Chinese energy conglomerate, and worked closely with CEFC executive Patrick Ho, the Washington Free Beacon reported. A former CEFC employee told the Free Beacon that Luft was frequently seen with Ho at the organization’s offices in New York City.
CEFC paid Hunter Biden at least $6 million in 2017 and 2018, including $1 million to provide legal services to Ho as he faced charges for bribing African officials for oil rights. Luft wrote a letter of support for Ho during the sentencing phase of the case.
Luft’s lawyer, a former Justice Department official, has said under penalty of perjury that he accompanied Luft during his March 2019 meeting with the FBI and Justice Department in Belgium.
Comer said in March that he had reached out to Luft to arrange a phone call.
Another former Hunter Biden associate, Tony Bobulinski, told the FBI in October 2020 about the younger Biden’s dealings with CEFC China Energy, a Chinese energy conglomerate at the center of Republicans’ investigation of the Biden family. Bobulinski has said he met with Hunter and Joe Biden in May 2017 to discuss CEFC, contradicting Joe Biden’s claims that he has no involvement in his son’s business dealings.
A spokesman for the House Oversight Committee declined to provide additional details about the missing informant.