WASHINGTON — A pair of IRS whistleblowers testified Wednesday afternoon before the House Oversight Committee about alleged meddling in the Department of Justice investigation of Hunter Biden.
The hearing before the GOP-led panel featured testimony from Gary Shapley, an agent in the IRS’s criminal investigation division, and Joseph Ziegler, who works in the agency’s international tax and financial crimes section. Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said the two witnesses had “critical information” to share about the panel’s investigation into what he alleged is “the Biden family’s influence peddling schemes.”
In prepared testimony released ahead of the hearing, Shapley said that his red line was observing U.S. Attorney David Weiss of Delaware, who oversaw the Hunter Biden case, tell a room full of senior FBI and IRS investigators in October 2022 that he was “not the deciding person on whether charges are filed.” Shapley said he raised concerns during the meeting and that two weeks later, the IRS was entirely cut out of the case by the Justice Department.
In his prepared remarks Shapley was highly critical of Weiss and Attorney General Merrick Garland for not appearing before Congress to address the case and accused them of “using their offices and your tax dollars to put out carefully-crafted, narrow non-denials that have confused rather than clarified for the public — all without being subject to cross-examination on the facts.”
Ziegler’s prepared testimony said, “I have a reason to believe that there was gross mismanagement present throughout this investigation, that there was a gross waste of funds relating to the tax dollars spent on investigating this case, and that there was an abuse of authority with DOJ-Tax and the Delaware United States Attorney’s Office.”
Hunter Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment on the hearing. Ian Sams, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement that House Republicans were “staging partisan stunts to try to damage” President Joe Biden politically.
“Instead of wasting time on politically motivated attacks on a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney, the rule of law, and the independence of our justice system, House Republicans should join President Biden to focus on the issues most important to the American people, like continuing to lower inflation, create jobs, and strengthen health care,” Sams said. “There are real issues Americans want us to be spending our time on, and President Biden believes we can work together to make real progress, if House Republicans would make an effort instead of constantly staging partisan stunts to try to damage him politically. President Biden has upheld his commitment that this matter would be handled independently by the Justice Department, under the leadership of a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney.”
NBC News previously reported that Hunter Biden had reached an agreement to plead guilty to two federal misdemeanor counts of failing to pay his taxes. The president’s son also faces a separate felony gun possession charge that is likely to be dismissed if he meets certain conditions.
Shapley, for his part, has said that U.S. Attorney David Weiss of Delaware was blocked from bringing more serious charges against the president’s son than the ones included in the plea deal, which Weiss has repeatedly denied. President Donald Trump appointed Weiss to oversee the investigation, which began in 2018.
During the hearing, Democrats were expected to try to discredit the witnesses by pointing out that Weiss has stated that he had the ultimate charging authority and also by noting that both of the whistleblowers acknowledge there are often disagreements between investigators and prosecutors.
Earlier this year, Shapley claimed to members of the House Ways and Means Committee that Weiss had sought authority to slap Hunter Biden in Washington, D.C., and California with broader charges. But Weiss recently made clear in a letter to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, that he could have brought charges against Hunter Biden in any U.S. jurisdiction.
In announcing the hearing, Comer alleged in a statement that the whistleblowers had “provided information about how the Justice Department refused to follow evidence that implicated Joe Biden, tipped off Hunter Biden’s attorneys, allowed the clock to run out with respect to certain charges, and put Hunter Biden on the path to a sweetheart plea deal.”
“Americans are rightfully angry about this two-tiered system of justice that seemingly allows the Biden family to operate above the law,” he said. “We need to hear from whistleblowers and other witnesses about this weaponization of federal law enforcement power. This hearing is an opportunity for the American people to hear directly from these credible and brave whistleblowers.”
Zoë Richards and Ken Dilanian contributed.
