Two IRS whistleblowers alleged sweeping misconduct in Hunter Biden’s tax investigation, new transcripts show

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Two IRS whistleblowers allege gross misconduct, including interference in Hunter Biden’s tax investigation, according to the chairman of the House GOP Ways and Means Committee and newly released transcripts of congressional interviews with officials. whistleblowers.

Earlier this week, Biden agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges related to his failure to pay taxes on more than $3 million in earnings. As part of the deal with Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss — who was appointed by then-President Donald Trump and has been kept on by the current administration to continue the investigation — Biden will avoid charges. full prosecution for a separate charge of possession of firearms. A Delaware judge must approve the deal in a hearing currently set for July 26.

IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley, who recently spoke exclusively with CBS’ Jim Axelrod, told congressional investigators that the IRS’ findings warranted harsher penalties.

“This recommended felony tax evasion, i.e. 7201, is tax evasion, and 7206(1) is misrepresentation of income, also a felony, for the 2014, 2018, and 2019 tax years. And for title 26 7203, which is a failure to file or pay, that’s a misdemeanor charge for ’15, ’16, ’17, ’18, and ’19,” Shapley said.

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“The testimony we just released details a lack of independence by US attorneys, recurring unwarranted delays, unusual actions outside the normal course of any investigation,” Chairman Jason Smith told reporters.

“Evidence shows that Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss attempted to file charges in the District of Columbia circa March 2022 and was unsuccessful,” Smith said. “Weiss has applied for special advocate status at the [Justice Department] in the spring of 2022 and was again refused. Weiss sought to file suit in the Central District of California in the fall of 2022 and that request was denied in January 2023.”

A spokesperson for Weiss declined to comment, but earlier this month, in a letter to Rep. Jim Jordan, the GOP chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Weiss wrote, “I have been granted ultimate authority over this matter, including the responsibility to decide where, when and whether to file a complaint.”

“Throughout my tenure as United States Attorney, my decisions have been made — and as far as the matter is concerned must be made — without reference to political considerations,” Weiss said.

In a statement released Thursday, the Justice Department said: “As Attorney General and U.S. Attorney David Weiss have said, U.S. Attorney Weiss has full authority over this case, including responsibility for deciding where, when and whether to lay charges as he sees fit. He does not need any other approval to do so.

“Two interviews do not make an investigation when more than 50 employees have been named, especially considering that one of them recanted key parts of his testimony earlier this week,” the Democrat from the Democratic Republic of the Congo wrote. House Ways and Means Committee filing Richard Neal after the interview transcripts were released. , “It’s all premature, and the rush shows just how pretentious it is in this staggering abuse of power.”

This week, after the announcement of Biden’s plea deal, Attorney General Merrick Garland said Justice Department leadership had no role in the charging decision. “As I said from the time of my appointment as Attorney General, I would leave this matter in the hands of the United States Attorney (David Weiss) who was appointed by the previous President (Donald Trump.)”

Since winning a majority in the House, Republican members of Congress have focused their investigative powers on Hunter Biden’s trade deals, in some cases from when his father was vice president.

During the presidential campaign, Mr Biden consistently maintained that he was not involved in any of his son’s business dealings and the White House continued to deny any connection.

Congressional Republicans have alleged that Hunter Biden and the president’s brother, James Biden, were involved in a deal with Chinese conglomerate CEFC China Energy in August 2017. And in particular, GOP lawmakers are interested in an email that became public in 2020, when Republicans obtained information. of a laptop that allegedly belonged to Hunter Biden.

The message, whose subject was “Expectations”, describes a “provisional agreement” of “equity” in an agreement with a Chinese energy company.

Two of Hunter Biden’s former business associates, including Tony Bobulinski, who received the message, told CBS News that one line in the email, “10 held by H for the big guy?” is shorthand for 10% held by Hunter Biden for his father.

According to now-public transcripts of the committee interview, Shapley told congressional investigators that interest in references to “dad” and “the big guy” was blocked by a senior prosecutor working for Weiss.

When the email went public in 2020, the author, James Gilliar, told The Wall Street Journal that Joe Biden was not involved. Gilliar did not respond to questions from CBS News.

Hunter Biden’s team did not respond to a CBS News request for comment. One of his lawyers, Christopher Clark, has in the past denied that Biden ever gave consent “to access his computer data or share it with others”, alleging “there have been multiple attempts to hacking, infection, misrepresentation and peddling false information regarding Mr. Biden’s devices and data.”

In his interview with Congress, Shapley also alleged that there was a recovered WhatsAPP message from Hunter Biden dated July 30, 2017 that was addressed to a Chinese businessman he was involved with at the time over an unpaid payment.

“I’m sitting here with my father…we would like to understand why the commitment made was not fulfilled,” Hunter Biden reportedly wrote, according to the transcript. He added: ‘I would like to fix this now before it gets out of control’ and ‘now means tonight’.

In a statement, Shapley said of the now-public transcript, “I believe Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate should come together to consider these facts by interviewing other witnesses and reviewing documents to properly understand what happened during this five-year investigation. I fulfilled my oath of office by participating in this process, following the rules and speaking the truth to the best of my ability, despite the risks. “

The White House referred CBS News to an earlier statement to reiterate only that President Biden was not involved in the investigation of his son. “President Biden has made it clear that this matter will be handled independently by the Department of Justice, under the direction of a U.S. Attorney appointed by former President Trump, free of political interference from the White House,” it says. the press release. “He kept that promise.”

CBS News asked Hunter Biden’s legal team for comment and there was no immediate response.

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Catherine Herridge

Catherine Herridge is a senior investigative correspondent for CBS News covering national security and intelligence based in Washington, D.C.

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