Just days after Hunter Biden reached a sweetheart plea deal with his father's Justice Department to avoid jail time for tax and gun crimes, the House Ways and Means Committee unveiled new testimony from IRS whistleblowers alleging roadblocks were set before them to ensure preferential treatment to President Joe Biden's son. What's more, whistleblower testimony claims that the U.S. attorney overseeing the probe of Hunter's alleged tax crimes had his attempts to charge hunter in 2022 denied.
Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) confirmed on Thursday that his committee had "credible whistleblower testimony alleging misconduct and government abuse that is resulting in preferential treatment" for the president's son, Hunter Biden. That testimony regarding the investigations "for tax crimes that include evading taxes on income from foreign sources," the Missouri Republican explained, could only be taken by the Ways and Means Committee.
🚨BREAKING: @WaysandMeansGOP just released the testimony of IRS whistleblowers who investigated Hunter Biden for tax evasion on money received from foreign entities. Despite thousands of pages of evidence, they were stonewalled & retaliated against after recommending prosecution. pic.twitter.com/B7nGyCwvID
— Office of Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (@RepMalliotakis) June 22, 2023
The multiple whistleblowers with whom transcribed interviews were conducted revealed three key "areas of focus," according to Smith:
- The federal government is not treating taxpayers equally when enforcing tax laws.
- The Biden Department of Justice is intervening and overstepping when it comes to the investigation of the president's son.
- Whistleblowers report they have faced almost immediate retaliation.
Smith outlined how, "not one, but two IRS employees, are blowing the whistle with evidence that the federal government is not treating taxpayers equally when enforcing tax laws." The individuals participating in interviews with the Ways and Means Committee "were working on an investigation into Hunter Biden that opened in November of 2018 as an offshoot of a separate corporate investigation by the IRS." That is, the investigation of Hunter came about in the natural course of another IRS investigation, not due to a request from any political or other entity.
Smith recounted the whistleblower testimony that "the IRS recommended charges against Hunter Biden that included attempt to evade or defeat tax, a felony, fraud or false statements, a felony, and willful failure to file returns, supply information, or pay tax." Those crimes covered an estimated $2.2 million in unreported tax "on global income streams to Mr. Biden and his associates from Ukraine, Romania, and China," Smith explained.
The whistleblowers detailed "foreign payments to Hunter Biden including $664,000 from the Chinese company State Energy HK, a large diamond worth $80,000 and a Porsche worth $142,000," just a "fraction of the total" Hunter received.
Whistleblowers described the fruits of their investigation as "a clear-cut case for tax liability on these payments," but said "they found themselves hamstrung internally," according to Smith. Their testimony to the Ways and Means Committee "details a lack of U.S. attorney independence, recurring unjustified delays, unusual actions outside the normal course of any investigation, a lack of transparency...and bullying and threats from the defense counsel."
BREAKING: According to IRS whistleblowers, DOJ tipped off Hunter Biden about a search of his storage unit, prohibited investigators from executing a warrant on Joe Biden's guest house, and repeatedly prohibited charges from being brought against Hunter Biden.… pic.twitter.com/9j7H8BkqEe
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) June 22, 2023
"Few Americans qualify for such soft-glove treatment from federal investigators," Smith noted of the way Hunter Biden's case was handled by IRS leadership.
Even worse, the whistleblowers' "testimony shows that U.S. Attorney of Delaware David Weiss [who was leading the investigation of Hunter Biden] tried to bring charges in the District of Columbia around March of 2022 and was denied," Smith recounted. "Weiss sought Special Counsel status from the [Justice Department] in the spring of 2022 and was once again denied. Weiss sought to bring charges in the Central District of California in the fall of 2022 and had that request denied in January of 2023," Smith added. "Yet U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland told Congress that Weiss had all the authority necessary to pursue the charges. Well, which is it?" Smith asked rhetorically.
Press Conference: Public Release of IRS Whistleblower Transcripts https://t.co/Dh9IHuliPV
— Rep. Jason Smith (@RepJasonSmith) June 22, 2023
After seeing this apparent misconduct that sought to shield Hunter from prosecution, the IRS whistleblowers said "they tried multiple times to sound the alarm internally at the IRS and raise concerns with the Department of Justice prosecution team." For their attempts to raise concerns, the whistleblowers say they were punished by being passed-over for promotions and had roadblocks placed in the course of their other unrelated investigations.
"These individuals are risking their careers and reputations to do the right thing," Smith said commending the whistleblowers, "which is to come to our committee. The only committee that can legally receive their testimony and share it with the House of Representatives."
In a statement released on Thursday, Chairman Smith added:
The American people deserve to know that when it comes to criminal enforcement, they are not on the same playing field as the wealthy and politically connected class. The preferential treatment Hunter Biden received would never have been granted to ordinary Americans.