FBI director has until July 25 to avoid contempt of Congress proceedings

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is threatening to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress if the bureau doesn’t comply with multiple subpoenas. In a letter, Jordan told Wray he’ll take action if the FBI doesn’t hand over more un-redacted documents by Tuesday, July 25, at noon. 

What the committee wants 

On Feb. 3, the committee subpoenaed Wray for documents and communications related to the FBI’s use of the Patriot Act to target parents who spoke out at school board meetings. 

On April 10, the committee issued Wray a subpoena for documents and information related to a now withdrawn memorandum from the FBI’s Richmond field office that stated, “FBI Richmond assesses the increasingly observed interest of racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists in radical-traditionalist Catholic ideology…” 

The FBI has turned over hundreds of documents related to the subpoenas but Jordan contends the information is either incomplete or heavily redacted.

Jordan asked Wray about redactions to the Richmond field office memo during an oversight hearing on July 12. 

“When can we get a copy that doesn’t have all these redactions on it so we can actually see what the American taxpayers were paying for to see their rights, their First Amendment religious liberty rights, attacked,” Jordan asked Wray as he held up the redacted pages. 

Director Wray did not defend the memo. 

“As soon as I found out about it, I was aghast and ordered it withdrawn and removed from FBI systems,” Wray said.

Democrats criticized Jordan and said he has his own history of not complying with subpoenas.

The Jan. 6 investigative committee issued Jordan a subpoena in 2022, to which he responded with a letter stating he will only comply if the committee hands over certain documents and explains its legal authority. 

“It never gets old that Chairman Jordan is complaining about subpoena compliance. We’re approaching 500 days since Chairman Jordan has failed to comply with a lawfully issued subpoena for the greatest crime ever committed in America,” Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said. 

To hold Wray in contempt, the committee would need to take an initial vote. There would then be a second vote in the full House, which requires a simple majority to be approved.