Jordan Demands FBI Turn Over Round River Files After Memos Label Trump Officials ‘Conduits’

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan on Wednesday directed FBI Director Kash Patel to produce the full record of Operation Round River, a 2020 Foreign Influence Task Force counterintelligence effort that newly declassified documents show treated senior Trump officials, Republican lawmakers, journalists, and conservative groups as “conduits” of Russian disinformation while listing then-candidate Joe Biden and Hunter Biden as “targets.” The letter, dated Sept. 2, sets a 5 p.m. Sept. 16 deadline. Jordan wrote that released information “categorized prominent Republicans and conservative organizations as ‘conduits’ of Russian disinformation, while certain Democrats such as President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, were ‘targets’ of such disinformation.” Patel’s office has said the bureau has identified tens of thousands of responsive pages. Former Attorney General Pam Bondi disbanded the FITF on her first day, citing “risks of further weaponization.”

The White House Government Transparency Task Force declassified an Office of the Director of National Intelligence document last month listing more than 70 domestic and foreign names tied to the 2019 Trump impeachment or the Biden-Ukraine matter. According to that material and subsequent reporting, Round River began at FBI Headquarters to counter “malign foreign influence” and reached the Pittsburgh Field Office, which had been examining Biden family ties to Burisma. The FBI used 53 confidential human sources; 14 provided derogatory information on Joe Biden and family business in Ukraine, including early concerns about Burisma hiring Hunter Biden in 2015 and alleged payments through fake contracts. Analysts did not corroborate those allegations in the released summary and instead flagged Ukraine-related informant reporting. Names designated as conduits in the defensive-briefing materials included Attorney General William Barr, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Sens. Chuck Grassley, Ron Johnson, and Lindsey Graham, and then-House chairmen Devin Nunes and Jordan himself—figures who were investigating the same Ukraine claims. Jordan has said a 2020 FBI defensive briefing that framed those allegations as Russian disinformation was “BS” and that the operation was meant “to get us to be quiet.” Sens. Grassley and Johnson have separately alleged the bureau “misclassified information” in ways that blocked congressional access.

Jordan asked for all documents and communications on the probe, including traffic among FBI Headquarters, Pittsburgh, and the Justice Department; reporting from the 53 sources, especially the 14 who described Biden-Ukraine dealings; and records of how that informant material was handled. The committee cites House rules authorizing FBI oversight. No production date from the bureau has been announced beyond Patel’s acknowledgment of the volume of files.