Two U.S. sources confirmed that Timothy Thibault, a senior FBI agent who had come under criticism for his involvement in inquiries into President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, resigned late last week and was escorted out of the FBI.
These authorities emphasised that all employees who retire must turn in their badge and weapons and be taken out of the premises, but they also noted that Thibault had reached the age of retirement.
The FBI’s Washington Field Office, which serves the whole of the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia, recently relieved Thibault of his duties as assistant special agent in charge.
Thibault formerly worked at the FBI’s Washington, D.C., headquarters.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican, criticised Thibault earlier this year for engaging in “improper behaviour” in the Hunter Biden inquiry and claiming that Thibault had attempted to shut down the investigation.
Late in July, Grassley said that “very reliable” informants had spoken with a senior Senate Republican and claimed there had been a concerted attempt on the part of the FBI to minimise or deny damaging evidence regarding Hunter Biden.
He highlighted a 2020 FBI intelligence report that was “inappropriately discredited as deception by an FBI headquarters team to undermine damaging Hunter Biden evidence.”
“Based on claims, proven and provable negative material about Hunter Biden was wrongly branded as misinformation,” the speaker concluded.
One month before the election, in October 2020, a senior FBI agent at the bureau’s Washington Field office “directed blocked one avenue of disparaging Hunter Biden reports.”
The agent was Timothy Thibault, according to a previous letter from Grassley.
According to Grassley, “[t]he accusations supplied to my office seem to show that there was a system in place among some FBI personnel to undercut damaging evidence related to Hunter Biden by falsely claiming it was misinformation.”
Grassley released a statement in reaction to Thibault’s departure, “Mr. Thibault’s overt partisanship damaged the FBI’s image and work product.
This kind of prejudice in high-profile cases raises doubt on everything of the bureau’s work that he was engaged in, from starting an inquiry into Trump based on leftist news items to stopping an investigation on Hunter Biden that was founded on solid evidence.”
Added he, “Political bias shouldn’t exist at the FBI, and his departure can’t be the end of the FBI’s efforts to rebuild its reputation.
We need accountability, therefore the inspector general must conduct a thorough investigation as I have asked, and Congress must keep looking into the matter.”
When questioned about Thibault at a hearing on Capitol Hill earlier this month, FBI Director Christopher Wray said the claims that Thibault “liked” social media postings criticising Trump associates were “troubling.”
The FBI chose not to respond.