House Republicans announced on Tuesday an inquiry into the treatment of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblowers who raised concerns about the criminal investigation of Hunter Biden, the son of the president, being slow-walked by top officials in a way that could have precluded serious charges.
A trio of committee chairmen sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland demanding records that could reveal communications between the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Biden’s legal team by September 25, the latest in a wave of missives seeking information about the conduct of the probe.
They cited a letter that attorney Abbe Lowell sent to Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) in late June “asserting without evidence” that IRS agents Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler had violated federal law with their whistleblower disclosures. Also mentioned by the GOP chairmen was a New York Times report that said Biden’s legal team telling the DOJ that the whistleblowers broke the law and should be prosecuted.
“Hunter Biden’s legal team is engaged in a brazen effort to intimidate and harass the brave Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblowers who exposed numerous apparent irregularities in the Department’s investigation of Hunter Biden,” the letter said.
The GOP chairmen also defended the whistleblowers, saying they “followed the appropriate process by raising their genuine concerns about how the Department conducted its investigation into Mr. Biden.”
After Congress received testimony from the whistleblowers earlier this year, the DOJ and Biden’s legal team settled this summer on a plea agreement involving tax evasion and gun charges emerged that could have kept the first son out of prison. But the agreement — dubbed a “sweetheart plea deal” by Republicans — fell apart under scrutiny by a judge who raised concerns about an immunity clause.
The DOJ indicated last week that special counsel David Weiss intends to seek an indictment against Biden on gun charges by the end of the month, while Biden’s attorney Lowell argued in a statement that a pre-trial diversion agreement “remains valid and prevents any additional charges from being filed.”
Smith was joined by Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) in signing the new letter to Garland. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced earlier on Tuesday that the three committee leaders would work together in spearheading an impeachment inquiry against Hunter’s father, President Joe Biden, which could embroil the entire Biden family.
The Daily Wire reached out to the DOJ and Lowell’s firm seeking comment on the new letter.