Tipsheet

Dems in Total Disarray As They Fumble Miserably Against IRS Whistleblowers

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  July 19, 2023 4:30 PM

Spencer wrote about the opening remarks from “Mr. X,” an unnamed IRS whistleblower whose identity has finally been revealed. It’s 13-year IRS veteran Joseph Ziegler, a gay Democrat, who, along with Special Agent Gary Shapley, has alleged improper interference from the Biden administration regarding IRS investigations into Hunter Biden. Shapley’s allegations have been public for weeks, even placing Attorney General Merrick Garland in the crosshairs for lying to Congress. 

To recap some of the story, outgoing Attorney General William Barr referred the matter to David Weiss, the Delaware US Attorney, who last year tried to bring charges against the son of the president but was denied. Weiss also requested special counsel status and, yet again, was blocked. That goes against what Biden AG Merrick Garland said about Weiss having every legal remedy at his disposal. But what’s more provocative is that if Weiss did apply for special status, the paper trail would end with Garland. 

Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberley Strassel’s column earlier this month highlighted the bizarre take Garland took with Weiss, claiming he has more authority than a special counsel and could file anywhere. That’s not protocol. 

“As Sol Wisenberg, a former associate and deputy independent counsel, explained on Twitter, to file elsewhere, Mr. Weiss would ‘need some kind of letter from Garland (or an [associate attorney general]) naming Weiss as a special or poo-bah counsel authorized to file charges in the relevant district,’” Strassel wrote. 

“He emphasizes that ‘Garland cannot give that authority verbally,’ there needs to be a ‘written delegation.’ So where is it?” she asked. 

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That veers into possible impeachment territory for Garland, but back to Ziegler’s opening remarks. As Spencer put it, “hoo boy”: 

I have witnessed the corrosion of ethical standards and the abuse of power that threaten our nation. It is within this context that I have chosen to shed light on these actions and expose those responsible. I recognize that while I was present at the start of this investigation and was closely involved with the investigation for roughly five years – that I'm just a part of the story. Others – including my colleague and supervisor Gary Shapley who is here with me today – have their own views and understandings of what took place during this investigation. 

[…] 

Mr. Weiss stated that he had been granted "ultimate authority" over this matter but then later stated in the same letter that his "charging authority" is geographically "limited" and that he would need to ask President Biden appointed U.S. Attorney's[sic] to "partner" with him in charging the case. We know that as recently in March of 2023, even the Department of Justice-Tax Division attorney assigned to the case questioned Mr. Weiss's authority and didn't know where Mr. Weiss was going to charge the case. 

[…] 

My own agency retaliated against me and threatened me with criminal conduct in response to an internal email I sent to IRS leadership, even after years of essentially being left on an island when it came to this investigation. It is not my desire to become a martyr for this case — and I fear effectively ending my career. I did not ask to be in this position, nor did I want to be... 

At the end of the day, I worked on a complex criminal tax investigation over the last 5 years and the investigative process is 999% done and we were in the process of bringing the case to indictment. Since October of 2022, the Delaware AUSAs and DOJ-Tax had effectively stopped communicating with me and my team has ultimately been removed from the investigative team. 

[…] 

I had recently heard an elected official say that I must be more credible, because I am a gay democrat married to a man. I'm no more credible than this man sitting next to me due to my sexual orientation or my political beliefs. I was raised and have always strived to do what is right. I have heard from some, that I am a trator [sic] to the democratic party and that I am causing more division in our society. I implore you, that if you were put in my position with the facts as I have stated them, that you would be doing the exact same thing – regardless of your political party affiliation. I hope that I am an example to other LGBTQ people out there, who are questioning doing the right thing at a potential cost to themselves and others. We should ALWAYS do the right thing, no matter how painful the process might be. I contemplated scenarios that would have been highly regrettable. But I did what was right and I am sitting in front of you here today. 

Hunter Biden’s lawyer accused Shapley of leaking sensitive information to the press. This story never went anywhere because it’s demonstrably false. Shapley obtained all his information on Hunter through legal search warrants and never spoke to reporters from the Washington Post. 

The cross-examination has been unsuccessful because the two men were credible and highlighted potential felonies. They can’t be discredited, and the Democrats’ line of questioning, like this from Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), fell apart like warm bread – it was largely irrelevant. Democrats appeared to have misread or confused the timelines concerning this investigation, and it’s hard to cast these two men as not being solid with their facts when they were in the room when some of the alleged malfeasance was occurring. 

Jonathan Turley, a George Washington University Law School professor, observed in a lengthy Twitter thread that the Democrats were a holy mess against the whistleblowers, incapable of debunking or marginalizing any of the allegations brought forward. All they had was repeated attempts to change the subject, with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) pressing Mr. Shapley about whether he knows who leaked details of this investigation to the press: 

[Emphasis mine]

So far, the Democrats have largely avoided any specific questions on the specific allegations. However, the "look squirrel, squirrel" tactic is hard to maintain as a distraction. That is particularly when you have two respected experts saying "felony, felony." 

The details on from these witnesses is crushing efforts to avoid dealing with the uncharged felonies. Indeed, their eye for details has been on display. These are the green-eye-shade experts who live on facts. Indeed, Krishnamoorthi hammered Shapley on a statement as he tried to object. When he was allowed to speak, he explained that he never made the statement and that Krishnamoorthi was confusing the transcripts. 

The Democrats are usually well prepared and orchestrated in these hearings. That is not the case today. The continual effort to change the subject and to avoid the specific allegations is obvious. It is about a subtle as bringing in a seal bouncing a ball in hearing room. 

This is getting a bit weird. Rep. Khanna is pressing Shapley on whether he respects criminal tax prosecutors or Weiss more. Shapley is trying to explain that the criminal tax attorneys are advisory in the process... 

Rep, Khanna just asked Shapley if he knows of any of this colleagues who spoke to the media. It is reminiscent of when Democrats demanded that reporters reveal their sources 

Rep. Khanna continued to press Shapley if he was a source for the media or knew anyone who was. That was more important than addressing allegations of special treatment given the son of the President in a criminal investigation. 

Two credible and respected federal agents have alleged interference in their work by a politicized Department of Justice run by Joe Biden to protect his son from prosecution on tax matters. The attorney general seems caught up in this circus, seemingly willing to lie to Congress about his prosecuting attorneys’ legal power in this investigation. The overwhelming evidence of wrongdoing cannot be ignored or wiped away through the usual media-DOJ pipelines that have been used to disseminate the Justice Department’s spin on subjects that they don’t want to talk about or want to keep in the news, the latter of which they did for years with the Russian collusion hoax. These two men aren’t Republican operatives, nor do they stand to gain anything here. They’re good guys, and they come off that way. And when Hunter’s lawyers resort to character assassination because that’s all they have left, you know something is up. 

The Biden White House, the Department of Justice, and the attorney general have tried to kill this story in vain. It was already heating up when it looked like Garland committed perjury about this probe. Now, with Shapley and Ziegler’s testimony, there are more grounds for inquiry into the exploits of the Biden Crime Family.