Vanished whistleblower in Cyprus gets attention

The unknown whereabouts in Cyprus of an American-Israeli whistleblower wanted by US authorities has raised questions in Washington, where Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer says Biden whistleblowers want to come forward but they fear for their lives.

Comer, who chairs a committee investigating Biden corruption claims, went on a show on Fox Business this week, telling host Maria Bartiromo that people identified as individuals with information about alleged corruption in the Biden family were afraid to come forward.

“We have people that want to come forward but honestly, Maria, they fear for their lives,” Comer said.

The chairman has spoken about a top informant, whom they could not track down, suggesting that person was an acquaintance of a whistleblower.

“Nine of ten people that we’ve identified, that have very good knowledge with respect to the Bidens, they’re one of three things,” Comer told Bartiromo, addinf "they’re either currently in court, they’re currently in jail, or they’re currently missing."

Gal Luft, an Israeli professor who says he has dirt on the Bidens, went missing two months ago when he failed to report to a local police station in Paphos. The alleged whistleblower is facing extradition to the US on arms trafficking charges. 

But Luft had vehemently denied the charges after his arrest at Larnaca airport and further suggested through his lawyers that he was being politically persecuted because he reported alleged corruption.

Comer echoed Luft’s claims by telling Fox that “not only are the Biden lawyers and the Biden White House intimidating them,” but also “the media is trying to intimidate or discredit them.”

Local media have speculated that Luft, whose vehicle was found abandoned on the island, may have fled the jurisdiction.

Last week FBI officials declined Comer’s request to hand over records of interactions with confidential sources that were created or modified in June 2020 and that contained the word “Biden.”

FBI acting assistant director for congressional affairs, Christopher Dunham, said the bureau was bound by Justice Department policy, which "strictly limits when and how confidential human source information can be provided outside of the FBI."

Similar requests have been filed in the past, including a Freedom of Information Act request last year that sought the release of documents during the Obama years that contained the word "Burisma,” a Ukrainian gas company that was registered in Limassol, Cyprus.

Former White House stenographer Mike McCormick drew attention to Burisma last week after he alleged that a vice presidential trip to Cyprus in May 2014 might have been used by now-US President Joe Biden to get paid in a Ukraine gas kickback scheme through the company on the island.

McCormick has failed to provide evidence while Democrats in Washington have suggested corruption allegations were based on speculation without proof.

But Comer has accused the FBI of failing to investigate claims in the first place.

“We’ve asked the FBI to not only provide this record, but to also inform us what it did to investigate these allegations. The FBI has failed to do both," the chairman said last week.

This week another member of the oversight committee warned that House Republicans may have to “use the power of the purse” to compel the FBI to cooperate with their investigations.

Tennessee Republican Tim Burchett told Fox that “the Congress is this country’s checkbook” and threatened to “start cutting funds to the FBI.”