Hunter Biden’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the documents.
Democrats on the committee, who voted against releasing the documents, protested that Republicans were misusing their powers for law enforcement purposes and that government watchdogs Justice and the IRS should to be able to investigate separately the complaints of the complainants.
Democrats had used the same authority under the tax code to release former President Donald Trump’s taxes last year, to the outrage of Republicans. Ranking member of the commission Richard Neal (D-Mass.) stressed that, unlike Republicans, Democrats considered the ban on releasing private taxpayer information to be “extremely high” and released Trump’s remarks only after the Supreme Court said the action had a “legislative purpose”.
“There is no corroboration of what happened today,” Neal said of the whistleblowers’ testimony, noting that law enforcement agencies should be able to interview 50 more government employees who were named in the transcription
Smith insisted that Americans deserved to know about the Justice’s uneven application of tax laws evidenced by the Hunter Biden case that he said blatantly favored the wealthy and the politically well-connected.
“I think you’re going to see a level of criminality that I don’t think anyone expected to see in these whistleblower transcripts,” one committee member said. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.), a former federal prosecutor.
Although Hunter Biden ultimately agreed to plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors, as detailed in a Delaware court filing earlier this week, Smith said the IRS recommended that the president’s son Joe Biden was charged with attempting to evade or defeat taxes and fraud or false statement. , both constitute crimes.
“What deal did Mr. Biden get? A slap on the wrist for charges that have put other Americans behind bars,” Smith said.
In his interview with the committee, one of the whistleblowers, Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley, describes a meeting in October 2022 between senior managers of the IRS, the FBI and the US Attorney’s office of Delaware in which David Weiss, the attorney overseeing the investigation, delivered the “devastating” news that the charges filed against Hunter Biden were dismissed in DC, and that Weiss was subsequently denied the authority to special advocate by the Justice.
Weiss took the materials to the Central District of California as a last resort, which also declined to press charges against Hunter Biden.
Shapley said it was clear to all investigators present at that meeting that the testimony provided by Attorney General Merrick Garland to the senator. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) in March that Weiss has “full authority to make these referrals” and was “advised that she should get everything she needs” was false.
The criminal tax investigation of Hunter Biden “has been handled differently than any investigation I have been a part of in the last 14 years of my IRS service,” Shapley said.
A second, unnamed IRS whistleblower said in testimony before the committee that the prosecutors’ conduct in the case “has been frankly appalling, and I don’t think they’re considering the human impact of the decisions they’re making.”
A DOJ spokesman refuted the notion that Weiss did not have full control over the case.
“As the Attorney General and U.S. Attorney David Weiss have said, U.S. Attorney Weiss has full authority over this matter, including the responsibility to decide where, when and whether to file charges as he deems appropriate. He needs no further approval to do so,” the spokesman said in a statement.
According to a statement from Ian Sams, spokesman for the White House, the president has been clear that his son’s case should be handled independently by the Justice Department.
“He’s kept that commitment,” Sams said.
In a June 7 letter to the Speaker of the House Judiciary Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Weiss wrote: “I want to make it clear that, as the attorney general has stated, I have been granted the ultimate authority in this matter, including the responsibility to decide where, when and whether to file charges.” .
“During my tenure as U.S. Attorney, my decisions have been made, and in this matter, they must be made without reference to political considerations,” Weiss said.
Ben Schrekinger contributed to this report.
