A federal prosecutor who allegedly placed constraints on the years-long investigation into Hunter Biden said she has parted ways with the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The news emerged on Thursday as now-former Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf of Delaware appeared for an interview with the House Judiciary Committee.
In her opening statement, published by PunchBowl News, Wolf said she “left” the DOJ “a few short weeks ago” but claimed that she showed up to testify “voluntarily” because of her respect for the law.
A source told Fox News that Wolf had planned to leave the DOJ for some time. The exact date and circumstances of the departure were not immediately clear and The Daily Wire reached out to the DOJ seeking further comment.
Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) subpoenaed Wolf last month, seeking her testimony as the GOP-led House reviews how the DOJ has conducted its criminal probe into Hunter Biden and engages in a corruption-focused impeachment inquiry against his father, President Joe Biden.
Jordan explained in a letter to Wolf the various ways in which information obtained by the judiciary panel indicated she was “responsible for many of the decisions to deviate from standard investigative protocol during the Department’s investigation of Hunter Biden.” These included claims that Wolf, either directly or by instructing others, blocked certain lines of inquiry about Joe Biden and tipped off Hunter Biden’s legal team about a planned search of a storage unit.
Wolf said in her statement she was “significantly constrained” in what she could say by rules and regulations due to her now being a former DOJ employee, but she insisted, “At no time did politics play a role in or in any way impact my work as a federal prosecutor.” Wolf also generally talked about how there was “room for disagreement” when attorneys and investigators discussed prosecutorial decisions.
Jordan told reporters after the interview that Wolf “refused to answer most of our questions,” pinning it on “instructions she was given by the Justice Department.”
In addition, testimony from Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblower Gary Shapley alleged that Wolf “obstructed” another U.S. attorney’s team in Pennsylvania from briefing Delaware U.S. Attorney Davis Weiss’ office about bribery allegations concerning Joe and Hunter Biden, the letter said.
Following the collapse of a plea deal and being given special counsel status by Attorney General Merrick Garland earlier this year, Weiss is now locked in a legal battle with Hunter Biden upon securing federal indictments on gun and tax charges against the first son. Still, GOP congressional investigators have pressed for evidence of obstruction in the years that led up to what they dubbed the “sweetheart” plea deal.
Weiss testified in a deposition before the House Judiciary Committee last month, after which Jordan indicated “the key takeaway” was that the prosecutor requested but did not receive special attorney powers that would have allowed him to bring charges outside of his jurisdiction in Delaware last year without the partnership of the local U.S. attorney.
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That would appear to affirm concerns, spurred by whistleblower testimony from Shapley and another IRS agent who also worked on the Hunter Biden case, that the DOJ slow-walked the inquiry in a way that may have precluded other serious charges due to the statute of limitations.
But, according to a statement obtained by The Daily Wire, Weiss told the House Judiciary Committee that “processes” associated with investigative and charging decisions did not “interfere” with his authority. “At no time was I blocked, or otherwise prevented from pursuing charges or taking the steps necessary in the investigation by other United States Attorneys, the Tax Division or anyone else at the Department of Justice,” he testified.