Newly declassified records showing the FBI classified Trump administration officials, Republican lawmakers, journalists and conservative organizations as Russian disinformation “conduits” during the 2020 election have prompted House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan to demand the bureau turn over the full record of its secret Round River counterintelligence operation.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan is demanding the FBI surrender records from a previously secret 2020 counterintelligence operation after newly declassified documents revealed that senior Trump administration officials, Republican lawmakers, journalists and conservative organizations were classified as potential “conduits” of Russian disinformation while the bureau was simultaneously receiving information alleging corruption involving Joe Biden and his family.
Jordan, R-Ohio, sent the demand Wednesday to FBI Director Kash Patel as his committee expands its investigation into the operation, codenamed Round River, according to a report by Just the News.
The investigation is seeking the underlying records behind disclosures made last month by the White House Government Transparency Task Force, including information about dozens of confidential human sources used during the operation and the handling of informants who reported allegations involving Biden family business activities in Ukraine.
“The Committee on the Judiciary is conducting oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) operation, codenamed Round River, during the 2020 presidential election. Recently released information reveals that the operation categorized prominent Republicans and conservative organizations as ‘conduits’ of Russian disinformation, while certain Democrats such as President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, were ‘targets’ of such disinformation,” Jordan wrote.
Jordan specifically cited Patel’s response to the newly released records, which suggested that Round River may have been used to suppress or discredit information concerning the Bidens rather than simply assess potential foreign influence.
“In response to this information, you issued a statement suggesting that Round River was used as political lawfare to suppress evidence tying the Biden family to corruptive business dealings with Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, rather than offering a complete picture of potential foreign threats,” Jordan continued. “We appreciate your continued transparency, and we write to request additional information regarding Round River.”
Among the records Jordan is seeking are confidential human source files involving 14 informants whom Patel previously said supplied the federal government with derogatory information about then-presidential candidate Joe Biden during the 2020 campaign.
The committee is also requesting all documents and communications concerning Round River, reporting generated by the 53 confidential human sources associated with the operation and records showing how the FBI handled the 14 sources who provided information concerning Biden and his family’s Ukrainian business dealings.
Patel has already informed the White House task force that the FBI located “tens of thousands of responsive pages” connected to Round River and is preparing those materials for release to Congress and the task force.
The documents disclosed so far portray an operation that extended considerably beyond evaluating foreign intelligence directed at individual political candidates.
According to the declassified material, FBI analysts and U.S. intelligence agencies received allegations concerning Biden from government informants while simultaneously constructing assessments that placed figures investigating or discussing Biden family activities into the category of Russian disinformation “conduits.”
Those identified included Attorney General William Barr, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, members of Congress, journalists and other public figures.
The distinction has become central to congressional concerns about whether federal counterintelligence authorities improperly treated lawful political speech, investigative journalism and congressional oversight as potential evidence of involvement in a foreign influence campaign.
Round River was one of four counterintelligence operations or investigations that involved Trump or his supporters during the past decade, according to previous reporting.
One portion of the operation originated in the FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Office and initially focused on Trump attorney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani because of his efforts to investigate Hunter Biden and Joe Biden’s activities in Ukraine.
The investigation subsequently expanded to encompass additional public figures who raised allegations or questions concerning possible Biden family corruption.
Whistleblower evidence from the operation has heightened concerns among lawmakers about potential violations of civil liberties.
The central question is whether Americans became counterintelligence subjects not because investigators possessed evidence that they were acting on behalf of Russia, but because they expressed allegations or viewpoints that FBI personnel classified as Russian disinformation.
Sources familiar with the matter previously said reporters, members of Congress, filmmakers and attorneys who discussed Biden family activities in Ukraine may have been assessed as potential national security concerns because their claims overlapped with narratives the bureau regarded as Russian influence efforts.
The White House Government Transparency Task Force disclosures provided additional detail about the breadth of that classification system.
A spreadsheet recovered from intelligence agency records contained more than six dozen individuals, organizations and foreign figures connected in some manner to the Biden family’s dealings in Ukraine or the 2019 impeachment proceedings against Trump.
The document separated numerous prominent figures into “targets” and “conduits” of Russian disinformation.
Among those categorized as targets were Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Barack Obama and George Soros.
Individuals and organizations classified as conduits included Fox News, One America News, filmmaker Michael Caputo and Giuliani.
Two members of Trump’s first-term Cabinet — Pompeo and Barr — also appeared in the conduit category.
Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina were similarly classified, along with Republican House committee chairmen Devin Nunes and Jordan himself.
Many of those lawmakers were actively examining allegations concerning the Biden family at the time.
The FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, or FITF, reviewed the assessments recorded in the spreadsheet and marked them with a “no objection” designation, according to the documents.
Those conclusions are attracting additional scrutiny because federal informants had been providing information concerning the Biden family years before the 2020 election.
According to the newly disclosed memos, confidential sources working with the FBI and other agencies began reporting concerns as early as 2015 that Ukrainian interests could be attempting to gain influence with members of the future first family.
Patel has said the FBI identified at least 14 informants who supplied derogatory reporting concerning the Bidens.
The existence of those sources raises questions for congressional investigators about how the FBI evaluated information pointing toward possible Ukrainian influence involving the Biden family while simultaneously treating Republicans who pursued those allegations as potential conduits for Russian disinformation.
Jordan’s request is intended to reconstruct that process in detail.
The Judiciary Committee is seeking to determine what information the FBI possessed, who authorized the classifications, how intelligence analysts evaluated the confidential sources and whether political figures were subjected to investigative scrutiny primarily because of statements they made about the Biden family.
The controversy also places renewed attention on the Foreign Influence Task Force itself.
Patel has informed the White House Government Transparency Task Force that he terminated the FBI’s FITF.
The bureau must now produce the broader Round River record while Congress examines whether a counterintelligence operation established during a presidential election crossed from monitoring genuine foreign threats into suppressing or investigating politically damaging information.
With tens of thousands of potentially responsive pages already identified, Jordan’s demand could expose substantially more about how the FBI handled competing allegations of Russian disinformation, Ukrainian influence and Biden family corruption during one of the country’s most contentious presidential campaigns.
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