Republican investigators are probing an alleged effort by Hunter Biden’s lawyers to punish two IRS whistleblowers who raised concerns about the Justice Department’s handling of a tax investigation into the president’s son.
Three different committee chairmen sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland demanding records that could reveal communications between the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Biden’s legal team by September 25.
The whistleblowers, Greg Shapley and Michael Delmar, have alleged that Justice Department officials slow-walked the investigation and blocked prosecutors from filing felony charges against Hunter Biden.
“Hunter Biden’s legal team is engaged in a brazen effort to intimidate and harass the brave Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblowers who exposed numerous apparent irregularities in the Department’s investigation of Hunter Biden,” the letter said.
The GOP chairmen also defended the whistleblowers, saying they “followed the appropriate process by raising their genuine concerns about how the Department conducted its investigation into Mr. Biden.”
The DOJ and Biden’s legal team settled this summer on a plea agreement involving tax evasion and gun charges emerged that could have kept the first son out of prison. But the agreement fell apart under scrutiny by a judge who raised concerns about an immunity clause.
Last week special counsel David Weiss said he intends to seek an indictment against Biden on gun charges by the end of the month, while Biden’s attorney Lowell argued in a statement that a pre-trial diversion agreement “remains valid and prevents any additional charges from being filed.”
The Justice Department has denied the whistleblowers’ allegations. A spokesperson said that the department “takes all allegations of retaliation against whistleblowers seriously” and that it is “committed to protecting the rights of whistleblowers.”
Hunter Biden’s lawyers have also denied the allegations. They said in a statement that the whistleblowers’ claims are “baseless and politically motivated.”
Hunter Biden's lawyers allegedly pressured the Biden Justice Department to investigate and prosecute the 2 IRS whistleblowers who exposed Hunter Biden's preferential treatment by the DOJ.
AG Garland must explain if these allegations are true. pic.twitter.com/Y4cv6Wu8jF
— Rep. Jason Smith (@RepJasonSmith) September 12, 2023