GOP Attacks on the Biden’s: Hopefully and Finally the Truth is Now Here vs. No Where

Two rabid GOP chairman also after AG Garland

SECOND UPDATE: I didn’t even get to post my main topic below (with the FIRST UPDATE) when bingo this SECOND UPDATE arrives with the two most important pieces I think to the entire story that is a complex legal situation.

This second update has two parts: (1) From AG Merrick Garland from U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT here, and (2) and an opinion editorial from law professor at Geo. Washington University, Jonathan Turley possibly blasting AG Garland as a liar from THE HILL here:

The key points regard this hot topic: the IRS whistleblowers saying the AG and FBI are protecting Hunter Biden and his recent plea deals with favors, now including apparently President Biden, too (mostly from Rep. Comer (R-KY) and Rep. Jordan (R-OH) both dead set on burning the entire Biden family top to bottom about who is lying about the investigation of Hunter Biden for the past 5 years re: Biden family corruption.

Key part from AG Garland: He pushed back on claims that the DOJ interfered in the investigation into Hunter Biden, while asserting the “complete authority of the Trump-appointed prosecutor in Delaware leading the probe.” 

His comments come after congressional testimony from two IRS whistleblowers was made public.

The whistleblowers claimed that Hunter Biden received special – and preferential – treatment. Garland told reporters during a press conference on an unrelated matter that David Weiss – the DE Federal prosecutor who began a probe into Hunter Biden’s business dealings in 2018 – was given autonomy in the probe, dismissing the whistleblowers’ claims. 

Republicans have levied accusations that AG Garland and the entire DOJ has treated Hunter Biden gently because of his father’s position. 

Garland said: “As I said at the outset, Mr. Weiss, who was appointed by President Trump as the U.S. attorney in Delaware and assigned this matter during the previous administration, would be permitted to continue his investigation and to make a decision to prosecute any way in which he wanted to and in any district in which he wanted to.”

Turley said in his opinion piece: “I’m not the deciding official.” 

Those five words, allegedly from Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, shocked IRS and FBI investigators in a meeting on October 22, 2022. 

This is because, in refusing to appoint a special counsel, AG Garland Merrick Garland had repeatedly assured the public and Congress that Weiss had total authority over his investigation of Hunter Biden in Delaware.

IRS supervisory agent and one of the two whistleblowers, Gary A. Shapley Jr., told Congress he was so dismayed by Weiss’s statement and other admissions that he memorialized them in a communication to other team members. 

Shapley and another whistleblower detail what they describe as a pattern of interference with their investigation of Hunter Biden, including the denial of searches, lines of questioning, and even attempted indictments. 

The only thing abundantly clear is that someone is lying. Either these whistleblowers are lying to Congress, or these Justice Department officials (including Garland) are lying.

My Note: Below is the first update and then the original post follows – and yes, it’s long and apparently still growing as the two updates (above and below) clearly show. Nevertheless, it’s a critically important issue and the truth MUST prevail – so stay tuned:

FIRST UPDATE: The main post that follows is from Yahoo.news with this headline:

“Hunter Biden-linked account received $5 million days after threatening messages: Sitting here with my father”

Highlights: A bank account linked to President Biden's son Hunter Biden received more than $5 million in August 2017, shortly after his threatening messages — in which he said he was “sitting here with his father” — posted to a Chinese associate revealed this week by an IRS whistleblower, according to documents released by congressional investigators.

Hunter Biden committing a crime or legit business

(As seen on FOX News with Sean Hannity)

On August 4, 2017, Chinese firm CEFC Infrastructure Investment wired $100,000 to Hunter Biden’s law firm Owasco, according to a 2020 report published by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Then, days later on August 8, 2017, CEFC Infrastructure Investment sent $5 million to Hudson West III, a firm Hunter Biden opened with Chinese associates.

The two transactions totaling $5.1 million came within 10 days of messages (one seen on FOX News above on Hannity’s show and by the House Ways and Means Committee). 

In one posted above — and shared to the panel via IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley Jr., who oversaw the agency's probe into Hunter Biden — Hunter Biden blasted business partner Henry Zhao for not fulfilling his commitment and said his father was with him.

I note (again): Nothing nefarious since Hunter Biden back then had several business deals in China that WERE NOT illegal; not one bit.

NOW, THE MAIN STORY BEFORE THE ABOVE UPDATES:

Two IRS whistleblowers and their allegations against Hunter Biden and President Biden seem way out in left field in the validity department based on this recent CNN article with this headline:

“Whistleblowers say IRS recommended far more charges, including felonies, against Hunter Biden”

Legal experts cast doubt on GOP claims of a “sweetheart deal” in Hunter Biden’s case.

CNN – Two IRS whistleblowers told Congress that IRS investigators recommended charging Hunter Biden with attempted tax evasion and other felonies, which are far more serious crimes than what the president’s son has agreed to plead guilty to, according to transcripts of their private interviews with lawmakers.

The IRS whistleblowers said the recommendation called for Hunter Biden to be charged with tax evasion and filing a false tax return – both felonies – for 2014, 2018 and 2019. 

The IRS also recommended that prosecutors charge him with failing to pay taxes on time, a misdemeanor, for 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, according to the transcripts, which were released Thursday by House Republicans.

It appears that this 11-count charging recommendation also had the backing of some DOJ prosecutors, but not from more senior attorneys, according to documents that the whistleblowers provided to House investigators.

In a deal with prosecutors announced earlier this week, Hunter Biden is pleading guilty to just two tax misdemeanors.

The allegations come from Gary Shapley, a 14-year IRS veteran, who oversaw parts of the Hunter Biden criminal probe, and an unnamed IRS agent who was on the case nearly from its inception. 

Shapley approached Congress this year with information that he claimed showed political interference in the investigation. FYI: He and the entire IRS team were later removed from the probe.

Shapley told lawmakers: “I am alleging, with evidence, that DOJ provided preferential treatment, slow-walked the investigation, did nothing to avoid obvious conflicts of interest in this investigation.”

David Weiss, the Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney in Delaware who oversaw the Hunter Biden criminal probe, eventually reached a plea deal where the president’s son will plead guilty to two misdemeanors for failing to pay taxes on time. 

The plea agreement will also resolve a separate felony gun charge, if Hunter Biden abides by certain court-imposed conditions for a period of time. 

Hunter Biden isn’t pleading guilty to any felonies, and he wasn’t charged with any tax felonies. 

CNN reported that prosecutors are expected to recommend no jail time. He is scheduled to appear in federal court in DE on July 26.

Note: It isn’t uncommon for there to be internal disagreements among investigators over which charges to file against the target of an investigation, like the disagreements that the IRS whistleblowers described above. 

For example, CNN reported last year that some FBI and IRS investigators were at odds with other DOJ officials over the strength of the case, and that there were discussions over which types of charges were appropriate and whether further investigation was needed.

Sources familiar with the criminal probe told CNN in April that prosecutors were still actively weighing a felony tax charge against Hunter Biden. And it is common for prosecutors to strike deals with defendants where they plead guilty to a small subset of the possible charges they could’ve faced.

Alleged roadblocks inside DOJ: The DOJ’s probe into Hunter Biden was opened in November 2018, and Codenamed “Sportsman.” 

According to Shapley’s testimony, federal investigators knew as early as June 2021 that there were potential venue-related issues with charging Hunter Biden in DE. Under federal law, charges must be brought in the jurisdiction where the alleged crimes occurred. If the potential charges couldn’t be brought in Delaware, then Weiss would need help from his fellow U.S attorneys.

He looked to Washington, DC, where some of Hunter Biden’s tax returns were prepared, and the Central District of California, which includes the Los Angeles area where Hunter Biden lives. But Shapley also told the committee that the U.S attorneys in both districts wouldn’t seek an indictment.

Shapley contends in his interview that AG Merrick Garland was not truthful when he told Congress that Weiss had full authority on the investigation. Shapley recounted a meeting on October 7, 2022, where, according to Shapley’s notes memorializing the meeting: “Wherein Weiss said: He is not the deciding person on whether charges are filed against Hunter Biden.”

Shapley also testified to committee investigators that it was during this October 2022 meeting that he learned for the first time that Weiss had requested to be named as a special counsel, but was denied.

A second whistleblower, an IRS case agent who also testified to the committee but hasn’t been publicly identified, also told lawmakers that this is what happened. He agreed that Weiss “was told no” when he tried to get the cooperation of the U.S attorneys in in D.C. and Los Angeles, who are Biden appointees. Hunter Biden’s eventual plea agreement was filed in Weiss’ jurisdiction in DE.

This undermines what Weiss and Garland have publicly said about Weiss’ independence on the matter. 

In testimony to Congress in March, Garland said: “S/C Weiss was advised he is not to be denied anything he needs.”

Regarding the claims of political interference with the Hunter Biden criminal probe, Weiss told House Republicans in a recent letter that AG Garland granted him “ultimate authority over this matter, including responsibility for deciding where, when, and whether to file charges.”

After the transcripts were released, spokespeople for the U.S attorney’s offices in D.C. and Los Angeles issued identical statements reiterating that Weiss “was given full authority to bring charges in any jurisdiction he deemed appropriate.”

The DOJ echoed those comments in a statement saying Weiss “needs no further approval to bring charges wherever he wants.”

The whistleblowers also allege that at multiple key junctures, investigators were thwarted in their efforts because prosecutors were concerned about interfering in the 2020 presidential election.

In 2020, IRS investigators sought to conduct search warrants and take other overt steps. But according to Shapley, several weeks before the election, in September 2020, a DOJ prosecutor questioned the optics of searching Hunter Biden’s residence and Joe Biden’s guest home. Later that year, other planned searches were delayed because Trump was refusing to concede and was continuing to contest the results.

Republicans claim unequal justice: Republicans have slammed the plea agreement Hunter Biden struck as a “sweetheart deal,” and said it amounted to a slap on the wrist said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) who also said on Thursday (June 22): “The transcripts reveal credible whistleblower testimony alleging misconduct and abuse” at the DOJ that resulted in preferential treatment for the president’s son. The testimony … details a lack of US 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.”

Democrats on the committee said the transcripts were “a premature and incomplete record” of what happened with the Hunter Biden probe and accused the GOP of a “stunning abuse of power.”

Hunter Biden’s lawyer, Chris Clark, also pushed back in a statement against the whistleblowers claims saying: “It is preposterous and deeply irresponsible to suggest that federal investigators cut my client any slack during their extensive five-year probe. A close examination of the document released publicly yesterday by a very biased individual raises serious questions over whether it is what he claims it to be. It is dangerously misleading to make any conclusions or inferences based on this document.”

Hunter Biden invoked dad’s name to get paid, text shows (refer to graphic above from Hannity’s FOX show): Shapley, the IRS supervisor-turned-whistleblower, told House lawmakers that Justice Department prosecutors denied requests to look into messages allegedly from Hunter Biden where he used his father as leverage to pressure a Chinese company into paying him. The second, unnamed IRS whistleblower also testified to lawmakers about this alleged WhatsApp message.

He was saying that the prosecutors questioned whether they could be sure Hunter Biden was telling the truth that his father was actually in the room in the messages.

The unnamed whistleblower testified that they did not know whether the FBI investigated the message. Shapley told House investigators that a DOJ attorney insisted that the FBI not ask directly about Joe Biden when doing interviews. The FBI asked one key witness about Joe Biden. Shapley said the witness told investigators that some suggestions of the president’s involvement were overstated.

An email sent among business partners of Hunter Biden said an equity stake should be held “for the big guy,” an apparent reference to Joe Biden, who was vice president at the time. But one of the associates told the FBI that it was probably just “wishful thinking or maybe he was just projecting that Joe Biden would get involved if he did not run for president in 2016.”

President Joe Biden has denied having any involvement in his son’s overseas business dealings, where he made millions of dollars from China, Ukraine, and other countries. Republicans are still looking evidence of Joe Biden’s nefarious involvement in deals with

(Hint and FYI: None have been found to date probably because there aren’t any crimes by President Biden).

My 2 Cents: As said this issue is very legally complex (aren’t they all?), but still the truth must prevail and hopefully with the two updates above that is now proven to be true in AG Garland’s favor despite the rabid GOP uproar on a daily basis is now seems.

There may be more – we shall see. But, the cherry picking by many Republicans based on the above back and forth is also painfully obvious. Also, readers here may have to read the above more than once to get the full and complete picture - believe me there are plenty to be seen.

I’ll update as quickly and accurately as possible because this truly is a very critical issue.

Thanks for stopping by.