Joe Biden accused of taking a bribe when vice president

Two senior Republicans are demanding the FBI release a document in which a whistleblower alleges Joe Biden took a bribe from a foreign national when he was vice president.

Iowa senator, Chuck Grassley and James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, claim the document "includes a precise description of how the alleged criminal scheme was employed as well as its purpose".

Congressman Comer, whose committee is investigating the Biden family’s business dealings, has issued a subpoena for the document.

“The information provided by a whistleblower raises concerns that then-Vice President Biden allegedly engaged in a bribery scheme with a foreign national,” he said.

Mr Comer added: “The American people need to know if President Biden sold out the United States of America to make money for himself.

“Senator Grassley and I will seek the truth to ensure accountability for the American people.”

The document is an FBI generated “FD-1023” form which allegedly has details of the scheme and the subpoena is demanding the agency release any FD-1023s  - and accompanying documents – which contain the word “Biden”.

Senator Grassley, the Republican ranking member on the Senate Banking Committee, added: “We believe the FBI possesses an unclassified internal document that includes very serious and detailed allegations implicating the current President of the United States.

“What we don’t know is what, if anything, the FBI has done to verify these claims or investigate further.

“The FBI’s recent history of botching politically charged investigations demands close congressional oversight.”

Speaking on Fox News, Mr Grassley added: "We really need to know what steps did the Justice Department and FBI take to investigate and to vet the document to determine if it's accurate or not?

"And did the Justice Department and the FBI follow normal investigative procedures, or did they let political calculations interfere?"

Mr Grassley has repeatedly alleged “political bias” has influenced the FBI when deciding whether and how to investigate the Biden family’s foreign business arrangements.

The Biden family has been in Republicans’ sights for some time, but the prime target has been the president’s son, Hunter.

Homing in on the president represents a significant escalation of the campaign.

Hunter Biden’s business dealings first came into sharp focus when then-President Trump put pressure on the Ukrainian authorities to investigate him.

Then, weeks before the 2020 presidential election, the contents of his laptop were leaked to news outlets by a Delaware computer repair shop.

A four-year investigation by the US Justice Department into alleged tax and gun violations is reportedly nearing a conclusion.

According to The Washington Post, the department is expected to announce soon whether charges will be filed.

Responding to the allegations on Twitter, White House counsel spokesman Ian Sams dismissed the allegations as "unfounded and politically motivated".

He added: "For going on 5 years now, Republicans in Congress have been lobbing unfounded politically-motivated attacks against [President Biden] without offering evidence for their claims. Or evidence of decisions influenced by anything other than U.S. interests."