DOJ facing criticism over allegations it is 'slow-walking' Biden probe
Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich has the latest on Republicans calling on Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel to investigate Biden bribery allegations on 'Special Report.'
EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans are demanding more than a dozen federal officials, including the U.S. attorney in charge of the investigation into Hunter Biden, appear before multiple congressional committees for transcribed interviews regarding allegations of politicization and misconduct at their agencies throughout the years-long probe into the president’s son.
The House Oversight Committee, House Judiciary Committee, and House Ways and Means Committee are conducting a joint- investigation into the federal probe into Hunter Biden, and whether prosecutorial decisions were influenced by politics.
Hunter Biden disembarks from Air Force One at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, New York, U.S., February 4, 2023. (REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz)
Fox News Digital exclusively obtained letters sent by Oversight Chairman James Comer, Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan and Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith sent letters to the Justice Department, Internal Revenue Service and the Secret Service Thursday.
UNITED STATES - May 20: Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. (Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
From the Justice Department, the committees are requesting transcribed interviews with U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss, who led the Justice Department’s investigation into Hunter Biden; Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf, who allegedly blocked lines of questioning in the investigation related to President Biden; U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves, who allegedly blocked Weiss from charging Hunter Biden in his district; Jack Morgan and Mark Daly of the DOJ’s Tax Division; U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California E. Martin Estrada; Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division Stuart Goldberg; Assistant U.S. Attorney Shannon Hanson in Delaware; and Assistant U.S. attorney Shawn Weede.
From the FBI, the committees are calling for Tom Sobocinski, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office; and FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Ryeshia Holley to appear for transcribed interviews.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (Anna Rose Layden/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
From the IRS, the committees are requesting Michael Batdorf, a director within the IRS’ Criminal Investigation division; and Special Agent in Charge of the Washington D.C. Field Office Darrell J. Waldon of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division to appear before the panels for transcribed interviews.
WASHINGTON - MARCH 9: House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
From the U.S. Secret Service, the committees are calling on any Secret Service employees who received the alleged Dec. 7, 2020 "tip-off" from the FBI. An IRS whistleblower alleged that on Dec. 7, 2020, FBI headquarters notified the Secret Service and the Biden transition team about the IRS’ criminal investigative team’s plan to interview Hunter Biden. The whistleblower said that "tipped off" a group of people "close to Hunter Biden" and gave those individuals the "opportunity to obstruct" their approach to the witness.
"The federal government is supposed to work for the American people, but whistleblower evidence shows that several federal employees were working overtime to cover up for the Bidens," Comer, Jordan, and Smith said in a joint-statement provided to Fox News Digital. "We need to hear from these federal employees and other witnesses about this weaponization of federal law enforcement power."
They added: "Americans are counting on us to ensure actors are held accountable and restore the equal enforcement of the law."
Attorney General Merrick Garland attends a news conference to announce recent law enforcement action in transnational security threats case, at the U.S. Department of Justice headquarters on Jan. 27, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Jordan and the House Judiciary Committee will take the lead on the Justice Department and FBI portion of the investigation; with Comer and the House Oversight Committee taking lead on the Secret Service and Smith at the House Ways and Means Committee taking the lead on the IRS.
The joint-investigation comes after IRS whistleblowers came forward with allegations that the entire investigation into Hunter Biden, which began in 2018 as an "offshoot" of an existing IRS probe into a foreign pornography platform, was "influenced by politics," and that the U.S. attorney in charge--David Weiss-- was "constantly hamstrung, limited, and marginalized" by DOJ officials as he sought to make prosecutorial decisions. They also testified that Weiss had requested to have special counsel authority, but was denied.
The Justice Department has denied the whistleblowers’ claims, with Attorney General Merrick Garland saying Weiss was "given complete authority to make all decisions on his own behalf."
Those whistleblowers also that decisions were made "at every stage" of the probe, that "had the effect of benefiting" Hunter Biden.
Those whistleblower allegations became public just days after the Justice Department announced Hunter Biden had entered a plea agreement that would likely keep him out of prison. As part of the deal, the president's son will plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax, and to one charge of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.
David Weiss, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware (Department of Justice)
But whistleblower Gary Shapley, who led the IRS' portion of the probe, said that "the most substantive felony charges were left off the table."
Shapley said that Hunter Biden should have been charged with tax evasion for 2014, and false tax returns for 2018 and 2019. With regard to the 2014 tax returns, Shapley said Hunter Biden did not report income from Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings.
Fox News Digital first reported in December 2020 that Hunter Biden did not report "approximately $400,000" in income he collected from his position on the board of Burisma Holdings when he joined in 2014.
Congressional Republicans are opposing a special counsel to investigate the matter, warning that the House of Representatives, where the GOP has subpoena power, will be blocked from obtaining critical records for their investigations. Lawmakers, like Comer, have also warned that Garland is not to be trusted to have the "sole authority" to appoint a special counsel—specifically in light of the whistleblower allegations.
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