Hunter Biden Probe: IRS Whistleblowers Testify Before House

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Facts

• Two IRS whistleblowers, Gary Shapley, an agent in the IRS's criminal investigation division, and Joseph Ziegler, who works in the international tax and financial crimes section, testified on Wednesday before the House Oversight Committee about alleged meddling in the Justice Dept.'s (DOJ) investigation into Pres. Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden.¹
• The pair accused the DOJ of 'slow-walking investigative steps' into Hunter Biden, claiming it delayed taking any action in the months before Joe Biden's 2020 win, with Shapley alleging Delaware US Attorney David Weiss, who led the investigation, was denied a request to pursue a tax case out of the state.²
• This comes after US Attorney General Merrick Garland previously testified that he told Weiss he could obtain a special status to pursue the case outside of Delaware if he wanted. While Shapley contradicted this, he also stated that he has never claimed Garland 'knowingly lied to Congress.'³
• In his prepared statement, Ziegler said he had 'a reason to believe' that the DOJ committed 'gross mismanagement,' a 'gross waste of funds relating to the tax dollars spent on investigating this case,' and that both the DOJ and IRS committed an 'abuse of authority.'¹
• Shapley also claimed a US attorney reached out to Hunter's lawyers before the IRS was to execute a search warrant on his storage unit. While this isn't unusual for high-profile suspects, Shapley alleged it possibly interfered with evidence collection.²
• The series of hearings began in June after Hunter agreed to plead guilty to federal misdemeanor tax offenses as part of a deal with prosecutors. Meanwhile, the DOJ has previously denied the whistleblowers allegations.⁴

Sources: ¹NBC, ²Washington Post, ³The Hill and ⁴Associated Press.

Narratives

• Republican narrative, as provided by Townhall. While US Attorney Weiss was told he could pursue his case outside of Delaware, what Democrats won't tell you is that the offer came under the condition that he bring other Biden-appointed attorneys to help him lead the investigation — in other words, he was going to have establishment hacks babysit him to make sure he didn't get too close to the truth. The DOJ is rotten to its core and needs new fire alarm mechanisms.
• Democratic narrative, as provided by The New Republic. This latest hearing didn't reveal anything new: As has been the case since this sham began, the whistleblowers made outlandish accusations without providing a shred of evidence. What this case did achieve, however, was proving that the DOJ is actually an example of how an independent justice system is supposed to work. Biden neither removed any of the Trump-appointed prosecutors who were investigating him nor did his son get away with his crimes.

Predictions