#GOP Sen. Johnson issues subpoena to FBI for Russia probe documents

Sen. Ron Johnson said Monday that he has subpoenaed FBI Director Christopher Wray to turn over documents to his committee as part of its investigation into the origins of the “Russian collusion” probe.

The subpoena doesn’t seek testimony from Wray but demands he turn over by Aug. 20 all records relating to the “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation, and all documents given to Justice Department inspector general Michael Horowitz.

The Wisconsin Republican also defended examining former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, over their dealings with Ukraine, shrugging off criticism from Democrats that he is promoting Russian propaganda intended to disrupt the November election.

“We didn’t target Joe and Hunter Biden for investigation; their previous actions had put them in the middle of it,” Johnson, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said in a statement announcing the subpoena.

“Many in the media, in an ongoing attempt to provide cover for former Vice President Biden, continue to repeat the mantra that there is ‘no evidence of wrongdoing or illegal activity’ related to Hunter Biden’s position on Burisma’s board,” Johnson said. “I could not disagree more.”

He also offered a pointed rebuke to Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) who wrote in an op-ed last week about Russian plans to interfere in the 2020 election and claimed Johnson was basing his investigation on Russian disinformation aimed at discrediting Joe Biden.

“Think of it: Congress may become a forum for debunked conspiracy theories peddled by Kremlin proxies,” Blumenthal wrote in the Washington Post.

Johnson said the committees examining the Russia investigation are not “being used to disseminate Russian disinformation.”

“Instead, it is Democrats and the media that have been doing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s work for him. Puppet masters in the Kremlin could not be more pleased at the political division and discord that has been driven by the resistance movement against President Trump,” Johnson said.

His report released last December on the FBI’s handling of the Trump campaign’s possible links to Russia concluded that the investigation was valid but that the bureau had made errors in seeking Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrants to monitor former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, who is also investigating the Russia probe, said Sunday that FBI officials “misled the hell out of” a Senate committee about a dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele.

The dossier contained unsubstantiated claims about the Trump campaign’s involvement with Russia.

Hunter Biden served on the board of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian gas company notorious for its corruption, while his father was serving as vice president in the Obama administration.

During his tenure on the board, his father pressed the Ukranian government to fire its top prosecutor, who was attempting to investigate Burisma.

With Post Wires