Hunter Biden’s attorneys are reportedly pushing the Justice Department to prosecute IRS whistleblowers after the House Ways and Means Committee voted to approve the public disclosure of IRS whistleblower allegations.
In June, the committee voted to make public multiple instances of alleged political interference in which the DOJ “thwarted, hampered or interfered” with the IRS tax investigation into Hunter Biden. IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel confirmed the rights of agency whistleblowers to make protected disclosures to Congress.
WATCH — IRS Whistleblower: Weiss “Is Not Independent” and He’ll Give Hunter “Preferential Treatment” Again:
Despite the procedure and confirmation, Hunter Biden’s lawyers demanded the DOJ prosecute the whistleblowers for disclosing details about the probe to Congress, the New York Times reported.
The lawyers’ request to prosecute the whistleblowers appears to be motivated by the impact of the whistleblowers’ testimony on the investigation.
According to the Times, the DOJ planned to let Hunter Biden off the hook without charges until two whistleblowers came forward:
Now, the I.R.S. agents and their Republican allies say they believe the evidence they brought forward, at the precise time they did, played a role in influencing the outcome, a claim senior law enforcement officials dispute. While Mr. Biden’s legal team agrees that the I.R.S. agents affected the deal, his lawyers have contended to the Justice Department that by disclosing details about the investigation to Congress, they broke the law and should be prosecuted.
Earlier this year, The Times found, Mr. Weiss appeared willing to forgo any prosecution of Mr. Biden at all, and his office came close to agreeing to end the investigation without requiring a guilty plea on any charges. But the correspondence reveals that his position, relayed through his staff, changed in the spring, around the time a pair of I.R.S. officials on the case accused the Justice Department of hamstringing the investigation. Mr. Weiss suddenly demanded that Mr. Biden plead guilty to committing tax offenses.
…
As the testimony from the I.R.S. agents took hold, Mr. Biden’s legal team felt the ground shift beneath them. The U.S. attorney’s office suddenly went quiet.
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) speaks during a House Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing on February 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) called the alleged attempt to push the DOJ to prosecute IRS whistleblowers unacceptable intimidation.
“@nytimes is reporting that Biden family attorneys are now pushing the Biden DOJ to prosecute IRS whistleblowers for sharing information with Congress,” Comer posted on Twitter.
“These brave whistleblowers testified under oath and deserve protection. This witness intimidation is unacceptable,” he added.
RELATED VIDEO — IRS Whistleblower Shapley: Special Counsel Decision Shows We Told the Truth, Garland and Weiss Didn’t:
IRS whistleblowers leveled damning allegations against the DOJ’s probe into Hunter Biden. Among the allegations, the whistleblowers alleged Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf refused to allow investigators to ask about President Joe Biden being “the big guy,” the DOJ twice prevented United States Attorney David Weiss from bringing stronger charges against Hunter Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland refused to name a special counsel in the tax investigation, and the IRS recommended charges against Hunter Biden that were not approved by Garland.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality
