The steps were outside normal investigative procedures, one former senior law enforcement official with knowledge of the events said, particularly in an election year; Justice Department policy typically forbids investigators from making aggressive moves before elections that could affect the outcome of the vote if they become public.
The Pittsburgh F.B.I. office refused to comply without the approval of David L. Bowdich, the F.B.I.s deputy director, the former official said.
Mr. Bradys demands soon prompted a tense confrontation with F.B.I. officials at the bureaus headquarters in Washington. The meeting was mediated by Seth D. DuCharme, now the acting U.S. attorney in Brooklyn and at the time a trusted aide and ally of Mr. Barrs at the Justice Department in Washington.
The F.B.I. viewed the investigative steps into Mr. Biden that Mr. Brady sought as unwarranted because the Delaware inquiry involving money laundering had fizzled out and because they were skeptical of Mr. Giulianis material. For example, they had already examined a laptop owned by Mr. Biden and an external hard drive that had been abandoned at a computer store in Wilmington and found nothing to advance the inquiry.
Investigators were also worried that the effort might become public particularly any interviews of witnesses who were Mr. Giulianis sources of information and could drag the F.B.I. back into presidential campaign politics, the same turbulent path it had stumbled down in 2016 with investigations into Hillary Clintons private email server and the Trump campaigns ties to Russia.
Still, Mr. Brady pressed the F.B.I. to do more, officials said. The agents found ways to ostensibly satisfy Mr. Brady without upending the election. It is not clear how they compromised, but agents could have investigated more discreetly, like questioning witnesses they were confident would keep quiet or checking databases.
Reporting was contributed by Rachel Shorey, Kenneth P. Vogel and Charlie Savage from Washington, and William K. Rashbaum and Nicole Hong from New York.read more
Material From Giuliani Spurred a Separate Justice Dept. Pursuit of Hunter Biden
