Timothy Thibault

Timothy R. Thibault is a former Federal Bureau of Investigation official who spent more than 30 years at the bureau. He served as Assistant Special Agent in Charge at the Washington Field Office, where he supervised public corruption investigations. In 2022, he became the subject of congressional scrutiny after Senator Chuck Grassley alleged political bias in his conduct. His attorneys denied all allegations, citing his record of investigating corruption in both political parties. He was also involved in the corruption investigation of Representative Jesse Jackson Jr., an Illinois Democrat, who pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2013.

Thibault rose to the position of Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) at the FBI's Washington Field Office, where he supervised public corruption investigations. According to Senator Chuck Grassley, documents obtained by whistleblowers showed Thibault authored the case opening predication, which Grassley characterized as "self-approval" in violation of FBI protocol; The New York Times reported that FBI officials stated agents followed standard procedure when opening the investigation. The investigation was transferred to Special Counsel Jack Smith in November 2022.

2022 allegations On May 31, 2022, Senator Chuck Grassley sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher A. Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland alleging that Thibault had posted politically partisan content on social media. According to Grassley, Thibault had retweeted a Lincoln Project post calling Donald Trump "a psychologically broken, embittered, and deeply unhappy man," responded to a Liz Cheney tweet with "Your dad was a disgrace," and liked a LinkedIn article stating "William Barr has gone rogue." The Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General referred the matter to the Office of Special Counsel for review of potential Hatch Act violations.

Response and retirement Thibault's attorneys issued statements denying all allegations. They stated that Thibault "did not supervise the investigation of Hunter Biden," "was not involved in any decisions related to any laptop," and "did not seek to close the investigation."

Regarding Thibault's social media posts, Wray told senators he found them "deeply troubling" and stated they were "not representative of the FBI."

Thibault's attorneys stated he "firmly believes that any investigation will conclude that his supervision, leadership and decision making were not impacted by political bias or partisanship of any kind" and that he was "confident that all of his decisions were consistent with the FBI's highest standards for ethics and integrity."