Officials from the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ) were “openly mocking” congressional inquiries about the Hunter Biden investigation into his taxes and firearms possession, a newly released IRS memo alleges.
IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley wrote a memo in December 2020 outlining the Hunter Biden investigation and potential obstacles to gathering additional evidence. One of those obstacles was the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) for the District of Delaware and the FBI allegedly ignoring congressional requests and “openly mocking” the lawmakers who sent the requests, Shapley said in the memo. (RELATED: Hunter Biden’s Lawyers Plot Second Amendment Defense To Fight Gun Charges)
READ THE MEMO:
“The FBI is a participating agency that is forcing decisions upon IRS-CI even though the only viable charges are currently tax charges. The assigned AUSA does not allow dissenting opinion without verbal admonishment,” Shapley’s memo reads.
“The USAO and FBI received congressional inquiries concerning this investigation and have repeatedly ignored their requests, openly mocking the members of congress who made the requests. It appears that someone at DOJ leaked information to the media after our day of action,” the IRS agent added.
He states in the memo that the Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office (USADE) prevented investigators from carrying out a search warrant on Hunter Biden’s Virginia storage unit. The USADE did not respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment by the time of publication.
Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, the lead prosecutor in the Hunter Biden investigation, wrote a letter to Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham in July denying Shapley’s accusations. Internal DOJ emails obtained by the Heritage Foundation indicate Weiss’ letter potentially violated DOJ policy on responding to congressional inquiries about the case.
Shapley and a retired FBI agent involved with the Hunter Biden case testified that the Joe Biden presidential transition team was tipped off to plans to interview Hunter Biden at his California residence Dec. 8, 2020. The Hunter Biden interview ended up not happening after investigators waited outside his residence, according to FBI communications.
READ THE FBI COMMUNICATIONS:
The IRS whistleblower wrote a similar memo in May 2021 laying out potential “campaign finance criminal violations” and how they were allegedly ignored by Delaware U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf. Shapley and IRS whistleblower Joseph Ziegler accused Wolf of stonewalling search warrants and tipping off Hunter Biden’s defense counsel during the investigation. Shapley’s December 2020 memo described how the Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office allegedly prevented investigators from carrying out a search warrant on Hunter Biden’s northern Virginia storage unit. Internal emails confirm Wolf prevented federal agents from investigating Joe Biden.
The campaign finance issue Shapley identified was connected to Hollywood attorney Kevin Morris’ alleged payment of roughly $2 million of Hunter Biden’s overdue taxes, Shapley testified to the House Ways and Means Committee in May. Hunter Biden’s failed guilty plea with the DOJ confirms Biden had roughly $2 million of taxes paid off by a third party without naming the individual.
The New York Times, the New York Post and other outlets have identified Morris as Biden’s financial benefactor. Morris is also helping pay Hunter Biden’s mounting legal bills as he struggles to find other financiers, according to CNN.
The House Ways and Means Committee released the IRS documents Sept. 27 as part of a trove of documents substantiating the testimony from IRS whistleblowers Shapley and Ziegler. Both whistleblowers accused DOJ officials of giving Hunter Biden special treatment during the investigation into his taxes and firearm possession. The Ways and Means, Judiciary and Oversight Committees are investigating the IRS whistleblower allegations.
“The growing body of evidence further calls into question the Justice Department’s attempted sweetheart plea deal for Hunter Biden, and the reasons for appointing the architect of that plea deal as the special counsel for Hunter Biden’s case, in light of officials’ efforts to protect President Biden and his son,” Republican Missouri Rep. Jason Smith, Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee said in a press release about the documents.
Hunter Biden was expected to plead guilty in July to two tax misdemeanors and a felony gun charge in Delaware. His guilty plea agreement for the tax offenses and pretrial diversion agreement for the gun charge fell apart in court because of scrutiny from Delaware U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika. The younger Biden ended up pleading not guilty to the tax charges.
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Weiss special counsel in August to continue the Hunter Biden investigation. Weiss filed a motion when he became special counsel to dismiss Biden’s tax charges to potentially charge him in the District of Columbia or the Central District of California. Noreika approved Weiss’ motion and dismissed Biden’s Delaware tax charges without prejudice.
Shapley and other officials on the Hunter Biden case have testified that Biden-appointed U.S. attorneys in D.C. and the Central District of California refused to cooperate with Weiss on potentially charging Hunter Biden prior to his special counsel appointment.
The New York Times confirmed E. Martin Estrada, the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, refused to partner with Weiss. D.C. U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, the Daily Caller previously reported.
Garland told the House Judiciary Committee in September that the U.S. attorneys “could refuse to partner” with Weiss prior to his special counsel appointment. He followed up by asserting Weiss could have requested additional authority under section 515 and he would have been granted it.
Hunter Biden was indicted in September on federal gun charges connected to his October 2018 purchase of a Colt Cobra revolver when he allegedly suffered from a crack cocaine addiction. He pleaded not guilty to the charges at an arraignment Tuesday, and his attorneys plan on using the Second Amendment to defend him.