The attorney for an unnamed IRS criminal oversight special agent says his client has asked Congress for protections to speak about allegations that a years-long, high-profile and politically sensitive investigation hampered by “preferential treatment and policy,” according to a letter obtained by CBS News. That investigation is the one looking into possible tax crimes by Hunter Biden, CBS News has learned.
“My client wants to run for Congress,” said attorney Mark Lytle, who represents the agent. He discussed his client’s allegations with CBS News Chief Investigative Correspondent Jim Axelrod in an exclusive interview that aired on Wednesday night’s “CBS Evening News” and was streamed across all platforms on CBS. “He is prepared to be questioned about what he knows and what he experienced under appropriate legal protections.”
For someone from within the long-running federal investigation to come forward to voice concerns about the way it’s being conducted adds to the already strange journey of the matter involving President Biden’s son. Mr. Biden left David C. Weiss, the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney for Delaware overseeing the investigation, in charge to avoid any appearance of interference. And Justice Department officials have publicly vowed to shield the investigation from political influence.
Weiss had been acting head of the Delaware office at the time and was supported by state senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons, both Democrats.
In February 2021, shortly after Mr. Biden took office, dozens of Trump-appointed U.S. attorneys were asked to resign, but then-acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson asked Weiss to stay on the joba Justice Department official told CBS News.
In the letter, Lytle claims that his client’s information “would contradict sworn testimony to Congress by a senior political appointee.”
At a Senate hearing in March, Attorney General Merrick Garland promised not to interfere with Weiss, who is leading the investigation, “I promise to make sure that she can conduct her investigation and that she can lead it.”
The Justice Department and its inspector general’s office did not immediately respond to CBS News’ request for comment. The U.S. attorney’s office in Delaware declined to comment. And the White House referred a request for comment to the Justice Department or the IRS. The IRS and the Treasury’s inspector general for tax administration also did not respond to a request for comment.
Lytle told CBS News that his client believes the investigation has been handled differently than any other investigation in his long career with the IRS.
“Political considerations were having an impact on the officers’ decision to take investigative steps in the case. And those political considerations are not typically part of a career investigator’s toolkit,” Lytle explained, but declined to share details of the investigation or identify any. subject
Chris Clark, a lawyer for Hunter Biden, declined to comment. President Biden has previously said he was not involved in his son’s businesses, and no evidence has emerged to refute that.
Lytle sent the letter to seek legal protections that would allow his client to make further disclosures about what his attorney said would indicate “that the typical steps a law enforcement investigator would take were compromised because of political considerations “.
The letter says his client has “already made legally protected statements” to the IRS, the Treasury’s inspector general for Internal Revenue Service and the Justice Department’s inspector general.
Lytle spent 25 years as a white-collar prosecutor handling a range of cases, including complex tax matters. While a career employee at the Justice Department, he had been assigned a brief assignment in the Trump White House, but indicated that his limited role in the administration is unrelated to this matter and that neither he nor his client they are motivated by politics. Lytle would not tell CBS who is paying the agent’s legal bills, saying, “I really don’t want to get into the details of his situation.”
Lytle also recently represented Yoel Roth, the former head of Twitter’s trust and security unit, when he testified before the House Oversight Committee in February.
The agent, Lytle says, has worked for the IRS for more than a decade and has extensive documentation that he says backs up his claims.
“It doesn’t really come down to his credibility, believe it or not,” Lytle said. “Because the things that have happened are very well documented in emails and other communications with the Department of Justice.”
The agent is limited to speaking publicly because of strict rules governing the discussion of any specific taxpayer. Lytle said he is also seeking protection from retaliation. “He wants to make sure he gets it right. And he’s going to need protections from Congress before he can talk about it,” Lytle said.
In October, a source familiar with the investigation told CBS News that the FBI had collected what it believed to be enough evidence to impeach Hunter Biden with tax crimes, as part of an investigation by the US attorney’s office in Delaware that dates back to at least 2019. The decision to file charges based on this evidence rests with prosecutors in the attorney’s office of the USA.
In a 2021 interview with CBS News, Hunter Biden said of the investigation, “I know we’re cooperating 100 percent.”
Last year, CBS News reported that it did obtained financial support from high-powered Hollywood attorney Kevin Morris, who sources said paid Hunter Biden’s outstanding tax debts.
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Jim Axelrod
