Chairman Jordan Opens Inquiry into Intelligence Community for Obstructing Senators Grassley and Johnson

Letter

Dear Director Haines:

The Committee on the Judiciary and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of
the Federal Government are investigating allegations that the U.S. Intelligence Community
obstructed a congressional inquiry in 2020 by falsely alleging that the work of two U.S. Senators
was advancing Russian "disinformation." Information we have obtained indicates that the Office
of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) possesses documents and information vital to
our oversight. Accordingly, we request your cooperation in this matter.

On August 6, 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) then-Deputy Assistant
Director for Counterintelligence, Nikki Floris, and its then-Section Chief of the Foreign
Influence Task Force (FITF), Bradley Benavides, provided a so-called "defensive" briefing to
Senators Charles Grassley and Ron Johnson about the threat of Russian "disinformation."1
Although the FBI claims that the briefing focused on Russia,2
the information that Floris and Benavides conveyed to the Senators "consisted primarily of information that [the Senators] already knew and information unconnected to [their] Biden investigation."3 The briefing, the existence of which was later leaked, hampered the Senators' investigation into Hunter Biden's financial connections to foreign governments and foreign nationals.4

The Senators expressed serious concerns with the "defensive" briefing in a subsequent
letter to Floris and Benavides. They wrote:

1 Letter from Ranking Member Charles E. Grassley, S. Comm. on Judiciary, and Ranking Member Ron Johnson, S. Perm. Subcomm. on Investigations, to Ms. Nikki Floris, Intel. Analyst in Charge, Intel. Div., FBI, and Mr. Bradley Benavides, Deputy Assistant Dir., Counterintel. Div., FBI (Aug. 25, 2022) [hereinafter "Grassley-Johnson Letter"].
2 Transcribed Interview of Ms. Nikki Floris at 29 [hereinafter "Floris Interview"]
3 Grassley-Johnson Letter, supra note 1.
4 Id.

The Honorable Avril Haines
November 1, 2023
Page 2

[T]he unnecessary FBI briefing provided the Democrats and liberal
media the vehicle to spread their false narrative that our work
advanced Russian disinformation. Although you stated that the FBI
didn't intend to "interfere" in our investigation, the practical effect
of such an unnecessary briefing and the subsequent leaks relating to
it created interference, which frustrated and obstructed
congressional oversight efforts.5

During his testimony before the Select Subcommittee this year, Senator Grassley testified that
"the briefing was unnecessary and completely irrelevant to the substance of our investigation. It
was only done because the Democrats wanted it done so they could try and smear us. And the
FBI wrongly did their bidding."6

On July 19, 2023, the Committee and Select Subcommittee conducted a transcribed
interview of Floris, who is now the Intelligence Analyst in Charge of the FBI's Washington Field
Office's Intelligence Division.7 During her transcribed interview, Floris revealed that the
intelligence used to justify the Senators' "defensive" briefing did not come from the FBI, but
rather from ODNI.8 Specifically, she testified that "ODNI owns this whole process . . . . ODNI
took the lead . . . in drafting the script" used to brief Senators Grassley and Johnson.
9 She further testified: "I would certainly defer you to ODNI as far as the specifics that were in the script. It wasn't FBI collected information . . . ."10 Likewise, during a transcribed interview with
Benavides on September 28, 2023, he testified that he and Floris briefed Senators Grassley and
Johnson "at the request of the ODNI . . . ."11 He further testified that the script used to brief the
senators was "coordinated through the ODNI framework and then delivered in this instance, by
Nikki Floris . . .."12

Floris explained that ODNI utilizes a mechanism called a "Notification Framework" to
determine when a defensive briefing is purportedly warranted.13 She testified that after
intelligence is received, any analyst can "take that intelligence and nominate it to the Credibility
Assessment Group," called the "CAG," which then determines whether the "intelligence was
credible."14 Floris explained that if the CAG, which consists of individuals from various
intelligence agencies, determines that the intelligence "is indicative of potential foreign
interference or influence in the election," it "move[s] that information to the experts group . . . to

5 Id.
6 Hearing on the Weaponization of the Federal Government: Hearing before the Subcomm. on the Weaponization of the Fed. Gov't of the H. Comm. on the Judiciary, 118th Cong. (2023).
7 Floris Interview at 1.
8 Id. at 28 -- 29.
9 Id. at 27.
10 Id. at 28.
11 Transcribed Interview of Mr. Bradley Benavides at 82.
12 Id. at 86.
13 Floris Interview at 24.
14 Id.

The Honorable Avril Haines
November 1, 2023
Page 3

determine if notification needs to be made."15 If the experts group decides that a defensive
briefing needs to occur, the FBI, rather than ODNI, is "the responsible entity for delivering . . .
defensive briefing[s]" even where the underlying intelligence is "not FBI information."16 When
asked about the validity of the underlying intelligence that informed the August 6 briefing, Floris
testified: "Again, I would defer to ODNI on the validation assessment of the reporting itself."17

Floris and Benavides made it unequivocally clear that ODNI and its Notification
Framework were integral to the pretextual "defensive" briefing meant to frustrate and obstruct
congressional oversight into the Biden family's overseas influence-peddling operation.18 In light
of this new information, please provide the Committee and Select Subcommittee with the
following information:

1. The script, including all drafts of the script, that ODNI prepared for the FBI to brief
Senators Grassley and Johnson on August 6, 2020;

2. All documents and communications referring or relating to the August 6, 2020,
defensive briefing provided to Senators Grassley and Johnson;

3. A list of the Intelligence Community agency or agencies that nominated the
intelligence that served as the basis for the August 6, 2020, defensive briefing of
Senators Grassley and Johnson;19

4. A list of the individuals on the ODNI's CAG and the Experts Group involved in the
decision to provide the August 6, 2020, defensive briefing to Senators Grassley and
Johnson;

5. All documents and communications referring or relating to the July 13, 2020, letter
from then-Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senator Mark Warner, then-Speaker
Nancy Pelosi, and Representative Adam Schiff to the FBI which included a classified
attachment with an unclassified element that attempted to tie Senator Grassley and
Johnson's investigation to foreign disinformation;20 and

6. All documents and communications created by the CAG and the Experts Group in
connection with the determination to provide a defensive briefing to Senators
Grassley and Johnson.

15 Id. at 24-25.
16 Id. at 25.
17 Id. at 30.
18 Grassley-Johnson Letter, supra note 1.
19 When asked who nominated the reporting intelligence to the CAG for the Grassley-Johnson defensive briefing, Floris testified: "For details on that, I was just about to say, sir, would again defer you to ODNI who's got the record on all of this." Floris Interview at 84.
20 S. Rep., Hunter Biden, Burisma, and Corruption: The Impact on U.S. Government Policy and Related Concerns, S. Comm. on Homeland Sec. and Governmental Aff. and S. Comm. on Fin., 116th Cong. 58 (2020), https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/HSGAC%20-%20Finance%20Joint%20Report%202020.09.23.pdf.

The Honorable Avril Haines
November 1, 2023
Page 4

Please provide this material as soon as possible but no later than November 15, 2023. If a full
and complete response to this request requires the production of classified material, please
provide all unclassified information directly to the Committee and any classified information
under separate cover to the Committee's attention via the Office of House Security.

In addition to this information, the Committee and Select Subcommittee request that
Shelby Pierson appear for a transcribed interview with Committee staff. Ms. Pierson served as
the first Intelligence Community Election Threats Executive at ODNI at all times relevant to the
August 6 "defensive" briefing, 21 and our oversight has revealed that she was personally involved
with formulating ODNI's Notification Framework and has relevant information relating to the
intelligence and processes used to justify the August 6 defensive briefing. Please schedule this
transcribed interview as soon as possible but no later than November 15, 2023.

The Committee on the Judiciary has jurisdiction to oversee matters related to civil
liberties and administrative practices pursuant to Rule X of the Rules of the House of
Representatives.22 Additionally, H. Res. 12 authorizes the Select Subcommittee on the
Weaponization of the Federal Government to investigate "how executive branch agencies work
with, obtain information from, and provide information to . . . other government agencies to
facilitate action against American citizens . . . ."23

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Source