Tipsheet

Why Merrick Garland Should Pay Attention to What Happens on July 6

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  July 04, 2023 8:30 PM

House Republicans coughed up the ball with the FBI. Rep. James Comer (R-KY), who chairs the Oversight Committee, didn’t follow through on his threats to hold Chris Wray in contempt for refusing to turn over the FD-1023 report, which detailed a bribery scheme that involved Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and Burisma Holdings. The FBI’s confidential informant has smoking gun evidence that the Bidens each received $5 million in 2015-16 and that the payments were documented in a ledger of Mykola Zlochevsky, co-founder of Burisma Holdings, who also has recordings of phone conversations. And not for nothing, he’s also an asset for Russian intelligence. After the bureau turned over the document to Congress for review, Comer tossed the contempt hearings. 

Now, with the IRS whistleblower evidence with Hunter Biden, House Republicans can find redemption. The narrative from the Department of Justice was that the tax investigation into Hunter was independent and that the US attorney looking into the matter, David Weiss, was free to execute whatever legal remedy was at his disposal. That line was repeated by Attorney General Merrick Garland, which turns out to be a lie. Weiss tried to charge Hunter last year but was blocked, and even tried to obtain special counsel status, which was also denied. The New York Times even confirmed this, though they buried it 21 paragraphs into their story about it: 

…in mid-2022, Mr. Weiss reached out to the top federal prosecutor in Washington, Matthew Graves, to ask his office to pursue charges and was rebuffed, according to Mr. Shapley’s testimony. 

A similar request to prosecutors in the Central District of California, which includes Los Angeles, was also rejected, Mr. Shapley testified. A second former I.R.S. official, who has not been identified, told House Republicans the same story. That episode was confirmed independently to The New York Times by a person with knowledge of the situation. 

Garland lied, so when can we impeach him?  Well, first, we need the blessing of Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and he seemed very receptive to the idea based on his remarks on June 26 (via Free Beacon) [emphasis mine]:

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) said Republicans will open an impeachment investigation into Attorney General Merrick Garland if whistleblower allegations about the Justice Department’s mishandling of its Hunter Biden investigation are substantiated. 

IRS investigator Gary Shapley … told Congress that Garland’s Department of Justice blocked the agency from bringing felony tax charges against Biden. Shapley alleged that U.S. Attorney David Weiss told investigators he did not have final say in bringing charges against Biden, which contradicts Garland’s claims that he would not interfere in the investigation. 

McCarthy says the inconsistencies in Garland and Weiss’s statements could warrant an impeachment inquiry. 

"If it comes true what the IRS whistleblowers are saying," McCarthy said ... on Fox and Friends, "we’re going to start impeachment inquiries into the attorney general." The speaker said he would begin impeachment investigations into the attorney general on July 6, barring significant problems with whistleblower testimony. 

You read this in two ways: one is that these hearings will happen in two days, or we have the timeframe to watch the House GOP chicken out as they did over the contempt threats lobbed at FBI Director Wray.