Washington DC - US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy threatened Tuesday to hold the head of the FBI in contempt of Congress if the agency didn’t comply with a congressional subpoena issued after lawmakers received "whistleblower disclosures" related to President Joe Biden.

The comments came hours before the head of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee announced that the panel will take steps to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress for not complying with a congressional subpoena.

Republicans insist that an unclassified form describes an alleged scheme involving "then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions," and the House oversight committee issued a subpoena for specific documents.

GOP representatives said they received "highly credible unclassified whistleblower disclosures," but they provided no details of the scheme nor evidence of its accuracy in a letter to the FBI and the Justice Department as the subpoena was rolled out.

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The White House has said congressional Republicans have been making unproven political attacks against Biden for years.

During a Fox News appearance, McCarthy said he spoke with Wray and told him the document must be provided, a move that comes after Republicans accused the agency of delaying.

"If he misses the deadline today, I am prepared to move contempt charges in Congress against him," McCarthy said in the interview. "We have jurisdiction over this. He can send us that document. We have the right to look at that."

The California Republican said Wray has not denied that the document exists and said he told the director that certain parts of it could be redacted.

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"But we have a right to see it. He does not have the right to choose what he can and cannot show us," McCarthy said. "We oversee the FBI. And if he thinks differently, he will soon see a contempt charge in Congress against the director."

The agency has been the subject of fierce criticism from Republicans, particularly after the FBI searched former President Donald Trump’s property in Florida last year, as part of the Mar-a-Lago classified documents scandal.

House Oversight Chairman James R. Comer subpoenaed Wray earlier this month and last week warned of contempt of Congress proceedings if the FBI chief failed to produce the record. On Tuesday, after McCarthy’s statement, Comer issued a statement that the FBI informed the House Oversight panel that it would not provide the subpoenaed documents.

"The FBI’s decision to stiff-arm Congress and hide this information from the American people is obstructionist and unacceptable," Comer said. "While I have a call scheduled with FBI Director Wray tomorrow to discuss his response further, the Committee has been clear in its intent to protect Congressional oversight authorities."

In a letter earlier this month, Comer and Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa said it appears the Justice Department and the FBI have enough information to find out the truthfulness of the information in the document.