House Republicans are probing concerns that the Department of Justice (DOJ) may be hampering an investigation by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) into whistleblower disclosures regarding the tax investigation of Hunter Biden.
Among other disclosures, the whistleblowers said they were blocked from carrying out otherwise lawful search warrants over concerns about the political “optics” of pursuing investigatory leads.
The tax charges ultimately recommended against the first son, two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay tax, fell far short of the series of felonies proposed by prosecutors.
Following the disclosures, the whistleblowers said, they faced almost immediate retribution from their superiors—illegal under U.S. laws intended to protect whistleblower disclosures.
However, a request for the DOJ OIG to investigate, Republicans said, has yielded few results, prompting concerns among Republicans investigating the matter that the DOJ may be “hindering” the investigation for political reasons.
The testimony offered by Mr. Shapley and Mr. Ziegler, the Republicans said, “raised serious questions about the federal government’s commitment to evenhanded justice.”
“IRS whistleblowers made protected disclosures to Congress regarding DOJ’s investigation of Hunter Biden,” they wrote. “Specifically, the IRS whistleblowers testified that DOJ’s investigation was purposely slow-walked and subjected to improper and politically motivated interference. Further, the DOJ and IRS have reportedly engaged in unlawful whistleblower retaliation against the IRS employees.”
The Republican chairmen argued that evidence uncovered in the interim has continued to corroborate the claims made by the whistleblowers.
According to testimony from Mr. Devon Archer, a business associate of Mr. Biden’s, then-Vice President Joe Biden was “the brand” that his son used to make these high-level business contacts, which include high-ranking Chinese, Russian, Ukrainian, and Romanian sources.
On July 26, Mr. Biden appeared in a Delaware district court for a hearing on his plea agreement, under which Mr. Biden was to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax crimes and have a felony firearms charge diverted as part of a pretrial agreement.
However, that agreement went much further, theoretically granting Mr. Biden total immunity from any prosecution for tax, gun, or drug crimes committed between 2014 and 2019, when most of Mr. Biden’s high-level business deals took place.
During that hearing, prosecutors acknowledged that Mr. Biden could be open to further prosecution, including violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Possible Political Interference
Republicans suggested that this move—and the plea agreement itself, which Mr. Biden’s lawyers said was not sought by the U.S. attorney’s office until May 2023—were indicative of further DOJ interference to protect the president’s son.“The DOJ appears to be continuing to sacrifice its professional responsibility to cover for the President’s son—and perhaps, the President himself,” the legislators wrote.
This conduct, they said, raises concerns that the DOJ may be preventing the OIG from carrying out a full investigation into the matter.
Republicans wrote that they requested an update on the status of the whistleblower investigation on July 17. At that point, the OIG confirmed that they had received information from the whistleblowers, but “have not indicated whether their office is meaningfully investigating the disclosures.”
In response, Mr. Horowitz said his agency was “mindful of the potential limitation on the OIG’s jurisdiction” over the matter, citing provisions in the Inspector General Act requiring that such issues be referred to another body within the DOJ.
Their comments, the Republicans said in a press release, “raise concerns that DOJ is hindering the OIG’s ability to investigate.”
“Based on your statements and the DOJ’s pattern of politically motivated actions, we are concerned that the DOJ is limiting your office from fully investigating the disclosures provided to your office,” the three lawmakers wrote in the letter.
They concluded with a request for clarification on the matter, including whether the OIG has been “limited in any way from fully investigating the whistleblowers’ disclosures,” and if so, how and why these limitations are in place.
