Top FBI official ousted amid charges of bias in Hunter Biden investigation
Washington, D.C. — A senior FBI official has abruptly resigned, The Washington Times reported late Monday, amidst allegations he showed improper political bias during the bureau’s investigation into information recovered from the hard drive of a laptop left by Hunter Biden in a Delaware computer repair shop.
Timothy Thibault, an assistant special agent in charge in the FBI’s Washington field office was “forced to leave his post” the paper reported in an exclusive, saying two former bureau officials familiar with the situation had provided the information and description of his departure.
Citing eyewitness accounts provided by one of them, Thibault was escorted from the building by “two or three ‘headquarters-looking types,’” wrote the reporters who broke the story, Kerry Pickett and Jeff Mordock.
“It is not clear whether Thibault left on his own accord or was forced out of the bureau. The 25-year FBI veteran was on leave for at least a month over revelations about political statements he made while leading the public corruption unit,” Pickett and Mordock wrote.
The now apparently disgraced former agent has for some time been at the center of criticism levied by GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill over what some have called “anti-Trump remarks” he made in social media posts in 2020 — at the same time, he was reportedly helping lead the FBI’s probe of the younger Biden’s activities during then-former Vice President Joe Biden’s ultimately successful presidential bid.
Whether the FBI conducted the inquiry fairly and dispassionately or put its thumb on the scale in a bid to damage Donald Trump’s reelection bid has been hotly disputed in many quarters. The documents found on the younger Biden’s laptop revealed what the Times referred to as “shady business dealings and potential influence peddling” that on their face appeared politically damaging. Public speculation on the matter, which reached a near-fever pitch following several stories broken by the New York Post was quickly suppressed after some influential social media platforms used technology available to them to suppress the spread of the story.
During recent testimony before the Senate, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray dodged questions about Thibault and his posts, Pickett and Mordock wrote, calling them “ongoing personnel matters” that he could not discuss. During the hearing, Wray also “downplayed” Thibault’s connection to the Hunter Biden probe.
Thibault’s departure could in coming days prove to strengthen the hand of those who claim the FBI and other federal agents exhibited a pronounced anti-Trump bias ever since the New York real estate developer and former reality television star emerged as the upset winner of the 2016 presidential election.
“One of the former officials, a whistleblower talking to the House Judiciary Committee, was placed on indefinite suspension last year by the bureau because he attended the ‘Stop the Steal’ rally in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. The rally preceded a pro-Trump mob storming of the Capitol. The former official said he never entered the Capitol,” Pickett and Mordock wrote.
The paper also quoted a statement by former President Donald Trump made after the news of Thibault’s departure from the agency broke. “The fired agent who was just escorted out of the FBI headquarters is the person who got the FBI to do a Raid on a home, Mar-a-Lago, that has ‘stirred’ the World and created anger and hostility toward the FBI and DOJ the likes of which has perhaps never been seen in our Country before.”
This story is developing. Stay with American Liberty News for the latest updates.
Source: Peter Roff, americanliberty.news/government/top-fbi-official-ousted-amid-charges-of-bias-in-hunter-biden-investigation/proff/2022/08/