Republican Senators hammered the FBI’s Deputy Director Paul Abbate on Tuesday for the agency’s double standard of justice when it comes to investigations.
During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Abbate was questioned by the panel of Senators on numerous topics, including the extension of Section 702 under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the Biden bribery form.
Sen. Mike Lee (R–UT) and Sen. Josh Hawley (R–MO) grilled Abbate over the abuses of Section 702. But they also raised concerns about the FBI showing bias when it came to going after former President Donald Trump versus pursuing Joe Biden for his own classified documents scandal or the alleged foreign influence peddling schemes involving his family.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R–TX) was especially critical of Abbate over the discrepancy between how the FBI handled the two cases, accusing the agency of attempting to cover up information in the Biden bribery form.
“The Biden bribery form was a massive investigation where the FBI tried to redact the information on recordings the Burisma‘s executive had with Biden‘s family,” Cruz said. “There are 17 recordings that Senator Grassley discovered and 15 of them were with Hunter Biden and the executive, and two with Joe Biden. Why did you do that and how can we trust the FBI to investigate Biden impartially?”
Abbate attempted to avoid answering questions about it, saying he could not comment on an investigation.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R–TN) then asked about the 17 recordings associated with the bribery form, but Abbate made a stunning admission that was downright concerning. He revealed that the information about the recordings had been redacted to “protect the source” but more disturbingly added that he “has no idea if there are voice recordings or not.”
The Senator’s reaction to Abbate’s statement was telling, as it appears they were not buying his explanation as to why the information about the recordings was hidden from the public. His response raises major questions about the FBI’s investigation into Biden and other matters and shows a clear double standard of justice.
Clearly, if Abbate and the FBI had bothered to investigate the matter, they would have not only uncovered the truth, but also earned more respect from the public. But instead, it looks like they chose to look the other way in order to protect the Bidens.
At the end of the day, Abbate’s testimony serves as a reminder that many in government do not pull their weight when it comes to the rule of law. In a nation where justice is supposed to be blind, his remarks exposed the reality that many of those in power are actively trying to protect those they are politically aligned with.
If Americans cannot rely on the rule of law, then our democracy is in trouble and we can all expect a much different future than the one our Founding Fathers envisioned. There is no room for bias when it comes to justice, a lesson that Abbate and the FBI may have a hard time learning.
