Top House Republicans Pledge Investigation Into IRS Whistleblower Allegations

Top House Republicans Pledge Investigation Into IRS Whistleblower Allegations
President Joe Biden, with son Hunter Biden, arrives at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, N.Y., on Feb. 4, 2023. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
Joseph Lord
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Reps. James Comer (R-Ky.), Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), and Jason Smith (R-Mo.), who head up three important panels in the House of Representatives, on June 28 released a joint statement promising a full investigation into whistleblower allegations made against the Justice Department’s Hunter Biden probe.

Each of the three has led different investigations into President Joe Biden’s family and government through their respective panels.

Comer leads the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, which has been looking into the Biden family’s business dealings and alleged foreign influence peddling scheme.

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 30: U.S. Rep. James Comer (R-KY), Chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, speaks at a media event at the National Press Club on January 30, 2023 in Washington, DC. Comer outlined his committee's agenda for the upcoming Congress including his plan to investigate President Biden's son Hunter Biden and his overseas business deals. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 30: U.S. Rep. James Comer (R-KY), Chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, speaks at a media event at the National Press Club on January 30, 2023 in Washington, DC. Comer outlined his committee's agenda for the upcoming Congress including his plan to investigate President Biden's son Hunter Biden and his overseas business deals. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Jordan, through the House Judiciary Committee Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, has been investigating allegations that Biden has “weaponized” federal law enforcement against his political rivals.

Smith, who heads up the House Ways and Means Committee, is the most recent lawmaker to enter the investigative field, unveiling on June 22 stunning revelations from whistleblower IRS Supervisor and Special Agent Gary Shapley, who alleged that the IRS and Department of Justice (DOJ) had given Hunter Biden “preferential treatment,” interfering in the investigation to shield the president’s son from having search warrants or charges pressed against him.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) reveals at a June 22 hearing in Washington that Hunter Biden received "preferential treatment" from the IRS and DOJ over his tax fraud allegations. (Joseph Lord/The Epoch Times)
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) reveals at a June 22 hearing in Washington that Hunter Biden received "preferential treatment" from the IRS and DOJ over his tax fraud allegations. Joseph Lord/The Epoch Times
On June 28, the three lawmakers announced in a joint statement that they would “[pursue] a thorough investigation into this misconduct to deliver the transparency and accountability that the American people demand and deserve.”

“Politicization and misconduct at the Department of Justice and IRS during the investigation into Hunter Biden reveal a two-tiered system of justice and unequal application of the law. According to whistleblower testimony, the Justice Department refused to follow evidence that implicated Joe Biden, tipped off Hunter Biden’s attorneys, allowed the clock to run out with respect to certain charges, and put tax-cheat Hunter Biden on the path towards a sweetheart plea deal,” the congressmen wrote.

Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) listens to discussions during John Durham’s testimony in Congress in Washington on June 21, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)
Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) listens to discussions during John Durham’s testimony in Congress in Washington on June 21, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Shapley told the Ways and Means Committee—the first to hear his testimony due to a section of IRS Code only allowing that panel to hear and release whistleblower allegations to the full House—that the DOJ “hamstrung” the investigation into the Bidens for political reasons.

“At every stage decisions were made that had the effect of benefiting the subject of the investigation [Hunter Biden],” Shapley said. “These decisions included slow-walking investigative steps, not allowing enforcement actions to be executed, limiting investigators’ line of questioning for witnesses, misleading investigators on charging authority, delaying any and all actions months before elections.”

Elsewhere in his testimony, Shapley said, “After former Vice President Joe Biden became the presumptive Democratic nominee for President in early April 2020, career DOJ officials dragged their feet on the IRS taking these investigative steps.”

In one case, the IRS investigators were reportedly able to authenticate a WhatsApp message in which Hunter Biden was apparently demanding payment from a  Chinese business associate. In the text, Hunter Biden said that his father was in the room and invoked his father’s name to threaten the person.

Shapley also said IRS investigators were told by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf that, because evidence needed for the investigation would be found in a guest house owned by Joe Biden, “there is no way” that a search warrant for evidence would ever get approved.

Additionally, Hunter Biden’s attorneys were allegedly given “crucial information” about the investigation, Shapley said.

Hunter Biden attends his father Joe Biden's inauguration as the 46th President of the United States on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 20, 2021. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool/Reuters)
Hunter Biden attends his father Joe Biden's inauguration as the 46th President of the United States on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 20, 2021. Jonathan Ernst/Pool/Reuters

In such an instance, the attorneys were made aware that the IRS knew about documents stored in a Northern Virginia storage unit, giving them time to remove any documents that could be used in the case against their client, he said.

Hunter Biden ultimately received a plea deal that drew sharp criticism from Republicans, many of whom described it as a “sweetheart” deal.

According to the whistleblower, the IRS ultimately recommended three charges against Hunter Biden in regard to $2.2 million of unreported income from foreign sources: a felony attempt to defeat or evade tax charges, making felony fraudulent or false statements, and willful failure to file returns, supply information, or pay tax—serious charges that could land an American, if convicted, in prison for years.

Last week, the Justice Department announced that Hunter Biden had agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and admitted to illegally possessing a gun despite being a drug user, a move that will likely see him avoid jail time.

Comer, Jordan, and Smith said these allegations along with the plea deal constitute “a mockery of the core American value of equal justice under the law.”

“This weaponization of the federal law-enforcement power to benefit the Bidens adds to Americans’ growing mistrust in our institutions,“ they wrote. ”If we are to remain a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, Congress has a duty to conduct rigorous oversight of this abuse of power and hold bad actors accountable.”

Top officials relevant to the allegations have denied them.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said that any allegations of DOJ misconduct or overreach in Biden’s case were unfounded.
After the White House initially declined to comment on the allegations, Biden on June 28 reiterated his long-repeated claim that he had no role in his son’s business dealings.
Comer, Jordan, and Smith will likely face pushback from Democrats in Congress, who have so far largely sidestepped commenting on the matter. Elsewhere, Democrats have suggested that Republican-led probes against the president are political, and are intended to hurt the president’s image.