Two veteran IRS investigators launched harsh criticism of the Justice Department on Wednesday over its handling of the tax case against Hunter Biden, accusing the agency of shielding him from felony charges because of politics and preferential treatment.
During an hours-long hearing of the House Oversight Committee, the investigators, Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, detailed how they believed their work to investigate Mr. Biden, the president’s son, was obstructed and walked over slowly by Justice Department officials under both Trump and Biden. presidencies
“There shouldn’t be a two-way system of justice based on who you are and who you’re connected to,” said Shapley, a special agent in the IRS’s criminal division for 14 years. “In this case, though, there was.”
Mr. Biden reached a deal with the Justice Department to plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges and accept terms that would have allowed him to avoid prosecution on a separate weapons charge, but investigators said they had recommended criminal charges against him.
“As the special agent on this case, I thought the felony charges were well supported,” Mr. Ziegler, the lead IRS caseworker on the Hunter Biden investigation.
Mr. Ziegler described a litany of Mr. Biden: Falsely claiming business deductions for payments made to the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, a hotel room for his drug dealer, a sex club membership and a Columbia University tuition payment for his daughter adult .
“I still think a special counsel is needed for this investigation,” he added.
Before regaining control of the House this year, Republicans vowed to use their power to investigate President Biden and his family, launching wide-ranging investigations. It was clear from their approach Wednesday that House Republicans believe the testimony of the two IRS officials is their most compelling evidence yet.
Three committee chairs: Reps. James R. Comer of Kentucky, who heads the Oversight panel; Jim Jordan of Ohio of the Judiciary Committee; and Jason Smith of Missouri of the Ways and Means panel joined forces to lead the cross-examination of witnesses during the hearing.
But if the proceedings were at times a sober account of the facts and details of a high-profile but secretive investigation, it also devolved into partisanship, hyperbole and, in a spectacle rarely seen in a courtroom of Capitol Hill, sexually explicit material.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, the right-wing Republican from Georgia, showed nude photos of Hunter Biden engaging in sexual acts while questioning whether evidence found on his laptop soliciting prostitutes amounted to human trafficking.
“Viewer discretion is advised,” he warned before beginning his presentation.
“Should we show this to the committee?” asked Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the panel, after Ms. Greene had shown several photographs and video screenshots.
Democrats repeatedly expressed dismay at the tone of the hearing, and the White House condemned it.
“Despite years of obsession and countless taxpayer dollars wasted on a wild goose chase, the @HouseGOP has not offered a single piece of credible evidence of the President’s misconduct,” White House spokesman Ian Sams wrote. on Twitter. “This waste of time reflects the extraordinarily misguided priorities of House Rs.”
Shapley accused both Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and David C. Weiss, the United States attorney in Delaware, of falsely asserting that Mr. Weiss had full authority to prosecute Hunter Biden, allegations that both men they have denied
Mr. Weiss has said he is willing to testify when necessary.
Mr. Shapley described feeling stymied by the state of the investigation and said his frustration crossed a “red line” when he heard Mr. Weiss said in a meeting that he did not, in fact, have full capacity to file charges wherever he wanted. the country, contradicting the public statements of Mr. Garland.
House Democrats chalked up that accusation to a simple misunderstanding, but Shapley and Ziegler said it was more serious than that.
Shapley also singled out Delaware U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf for criticism. He said he blocked a search warrant at President Biden’s residence because of concerns about “optics” and said he stopped questioning of the elder Biden.
Ms. Wolf “told investigators that they should not ask about President Biden during witness interviews, even when her son’s business communications clearly reference him,” Shapley testified.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Delaware declined to comment.
The two IRS investigators said they faced internal reprimands after filing their whistleblower disclosures.
“By coming forward, I think I’m risking my career, my reputation and my casework outside of the investigation that we’re here to discuss,” said Ziegler, who described himself as a Democrat married to a man.
Several Democrats on the committee praised the witnesses and said they should be treated with respect. Mr. Raskin argued that Republicans have been throwing everything at the wall in an attempt to discredit President Biden.
They have produced no evidence that the president has committed any crime and promoted a potential witness who claimed to have evidence of corruption by the Biden family, only to learn that he was accused of negotiating arms deals with China and Iran.
“We can conclude that this Inspector Clouseau-style search for something that does not exist has turned our committee into a theater of the absurd, an exercise in futility and shame,” said Mr. Raskin.
Mr. Raskin also introduced into the record a letter from Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudolph W. Giuliani, who served as former President Donald J. Trump’s personal lawyer and was tasked with digging up the dirt from the Bidens in Ukraine.
“There has never been any factual evidence, just conspiracy theories spread by people who knew exactly what they were doing,” wrote Mr. Parnas to Mr. to eat “With all due respect, Chairman Comer, the narrative you are pursuing for this investigation has been proven false many times over, by a wide range of respected sources. There is simply no merit to further investigating this matter.”
Glenn Thrush contributed to the report.
