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House Speaker Kevin McCarthy warned Tuesday that if FBI Director Christopher Wray does not supply documents sought by a House committee by the end of the day, he could be held in contempt of Congress.

Earlier this month, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., subpoenaed documents from the FBI that he says are related to an informant alleging Biden engaged in a corruption scheme when he was vice president. 

“Let me not just tell you, let me tell Director Christopher Wray right here, right now: If he misses the deadline today, I am prepared to move contempt charges in Congress against him,” McCarthy said during an interview with Fox News. 

Comer is seeking a specific FBI form from June 2020 that is a report of conversations or interactions with a confidential source. Comer, in a letter to Wray with Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, said that “it has come to our attention” that the bureau has such a document that “describes an alleged criminal scheme” involving Biden and a foreign national “relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions” when Biden was vice president and includes “a precise description” about it.

In a May 10 letter to Comer, Christopher Dunham, the FBI’s acting assistant director for congressional affairs, said Justice Department guidelines bar the bureau from sharing the Confidential Human Source Reporting form Comer is seeking. Revealing the informant would violate a confidentiality agreement, and disclosing the information itself could help others identify the source, putting them or their loved ones in danger, Dunham said. Information in such forms, Dunham added, is “unverified” and “incomplete.”

McCarthy said Tuesday the Oversight Committee has the right to review the form and related documents and that Wray “does not have the right to choose what he can and cannot show us.” The speaker added that he told Wray he can redact portions of the documents to protect people and investigative methods.

“There’s enough problems in the FBI, and I am not going to sit back and allow him to ignore this,” McCarthy said. “We will get this document.”

Congressional Republicans say the “disclosures” demand further investigation, and they want to know whether the FBI investigated and, if so, what agents found.

The FBI said in a statement to Spectrum News on Tuesday that it “remains committed to cooperating with Congress’s oversight requests on this matter and others as we always have, and we continue to be in touch with members of Congress regarding this request.”

The bureau added that its “mission is to protect the American people. Releasing confidential source information could potentially jeopardize investigations and put lives at risk.” 

Fox News reported Thursday that Wray will speak by phone with Comer on Wednesday. Comer retweeted the report, an apparent confirmation of its accuracy.

Comer, too, has threatened to hold Wray in contempt if he does not meet the Tuesday deadline. 

The White House has previously said Comer’s subpoena was the latest example in the yearslong series of “unfounded, unproven” political attacks against Biden by Republicans “floating anonymous innuendo.”

A White House spokesperson, Ian Sams, said Biden “has offered an unprecedented level of transparency” about his personal finances with the public release of a total of 25 years of tax returns.

Republicans claim they have amassed evidence in recent years that raise questions about whether Biden and his family have used their public positions for private gain. But Comer has not revealed much about the findings of his investigation so far. The Kentucky Republican said in a Fox News interview May 15 that his team has been unable to reach the FBI informant alleging corruption by Biden and his family.

Contempt votes would have to clear both the Oversight Committee and the full House. It’s unclear if McCarthy is considering holding Wray in criminal or civil contempt. 

A criminal contempt case would be referred to the Justice Department, which would decide whether to prosecute. 

In a civil contempt case, Congress would ask the judicial branch to enforce its subpoena.

There also is the option of inherent contempt proceedings, in which the House sergeant-at-arms takes the offending person into custody until he or she complies with Congress’ demand. That method, however, has not been used since 1934.