OAN’s Daniel Baldwin
1:11 PM – Thursday, June 22, 2023
A IRS whistleblower’s testimony alleges the Department of Justice intervened in the investigation into Hunter Biden. The whistleblower details that the DOJ blocked two search warrants, stopped investigators from asking about the “big guy,” and even halted a probe into a suspicious WhatsApp message.
“IRS investigators say they found themselves hamstrung internally,” said Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Jason Smith.
Smith says the testimony offers detailed evidence that the federal government is “not treating taxpayers equally when enforcing tax laws.”
“The testimony we have just released details a lack of U.S. attorney independence, recurring unjustified delays, unusual actions outside the normal course of any investigation, a lack of transparency across the investigation and prosecution teams and bullying and threats from the defense counsel,” Smith said.
The testimony showed that, when preparing to interview Hunter Biden’s business associate Rob Walker, Assistant United States Attorney Lesley Wolf told investigators she “did not want to ask about the big guy and stated she did not want to ask questions about “dad.”
Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to two counts of federal tax misdemeanors and struck a deal with federal prosecutors to resolve a felony gun charge. But Smith says the IRS recommended a much harsher punishment.
“The testimony we released today shows the IRS recommended charges against Hunter Biden that included attempt to evade or defeat tax, a felony,” said Smith. “Fraud or false statements, a felony, and willful failure to file returns, supply information, or pay tax. These tax crimes cover an estimated 2.2 million in unreported tax on global income streams to Mr. Biden and his associates from Ukraine, Romania, and China totaling 17.3 million from 2014 to 2019.”
“Mr. Biden personally received 8.3 million,” continued Smith. “Whistleblowers detailed foreign payments to Mr. Biden, including $664,000 from the Chinese company State Energy HK, a large diamond worth $80,000 and a Porsche worth $142,000.”
Smith revealed that the DOJ stopped a probe into a WhatsApp message dated July 30, 2017 where Hunter Biden threatened Chinese businessman Henry Zhao, saying his “father” was sitting with him.
“I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled,” Hunter Biden wrote.
“I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction,” Hunter Biden continued.
The whistleblower also claimed that the DOJ blocked two search warrants seeking evidence from Hunter Biden – one for Joe Biden’s residence where Hunter was living and another for a storage locker for corporate documents. The whistleblower explained that Wolf rejected the warrant on Biden’s home in 2020.
“So [Wolf] stated, ‘The decision was whether the juice was worth the squeeze.’ And also a statement made here was that she said that, well, we had to consider the optics of doing a search warrant on, you know, Hunter Biden’s residence and/or the guest house of President Biden,” the testimony read. “She further states about the guest house of Joe Biden that there was no way we’d get that approved.”
Smith detailed the warrant on the storage unit, claiming Hunter Biden’s attorneys had been tipped off on the possible search.
“Investigators had probable cause to search a Northern Virginia storage unit in which Hunter Biden had stored files,” Smith explained. “Attorneys for Biden were made aware prior to any search, providing them valuable time to remove any materials that could be useful evidence.”
“We heard AUSA Wolf had simply reached out to Hunter Biden’s defense counsel and told him about the storage unit, once again ruining our chance to get to evidence before being destroyed, manipulated, or concealed,” the testimony read.
The whistleblower even confirmed that then-Vice President Biden met with officials from the Chinese energy company CEFC.
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