Two key House Committees issued subpoenas for Biden administration officials as part of an investigation into allegations of political interference on behalf of Hunter Biden, who faces an array of legal issues.
Republican leadership on the House Committee on Ways and Means and House Committee on the Judiciary issued the subpoenas for IRS employees and two FBI agents.
Whistleblower testimony about U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware David Weiss, who is now special counsel in the Hunter Biden case, is what sparked the lawmakers’ inquiry.
In particular, whistleblowers say Weiss told personnel from the IRS and DOJ that he had tried to bring charges against Hunter Biden multiple times and in multiple jurisdictions but was denied.
House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., and Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said in a joint statement that the whistleblower allegations point to “political interference in the investigation into Hunter Biden’s foreign influence peddling and tax evasion.”
“Unfortunately, the Biden Administration has consistently stonewalled Congress,” the lawakers said. “Our duty is to follow the facts wherever they may lead, and our subpoenas compelling testimony from Biden Administration officials are crucial to understanding how the President’s son received special treatment from federal prosecutors and who was the ultimate decision maker in the case.”
The whistleblower testimony contradicts both Weiss and Attorney General Merrick Garland, who recently led Congress to believe that Weiss was the final decision maker in the case.
Hunter Biden is currently expected to face trial after his plea deal over tax and gun-related charges fell apart over questions of whether he would be immune to future prosecution for other alleged crimes.
The subpoenas come after two IRS whistleblowers testified before the House Oversight Committee in July, saying that the DOJ acted improperly in the Hunter Biden investigation.
As The Center Square previously reported, the testimony came from Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley and Criminal Investigator Joseph Ziegler, both IRS employees with a total 27 years of experience at the agency. They said that Hunter Biden’s preferential treatment was unlike than other cases in their decades of experience.
Notably, they testified that Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf helped prevent investigators’ from conducting an interview with President Biden along with a search warrant of the Biden residence in Delaware. The pair also testified that they tried to report the alleged abuse of power using the standard channels but ultimately felt compelled to blow the whistle.
Ziegler said in his testimony that there was abuse of authority, ethical violations and “gross mismanagement” in the Hunter Biden case and called for a special counsel to investigate.
Shapley testified that in the Hunter Biden case, evidence was kept hidden from investigators and that decisions were repeatedly made that benefited Hunter Biden and the president. Shapley called it an “undeniable pattern of preferential treatment and obstruction of the normal investigative process.”
Smith and Jordan said they tried normal interview requests with the IRS and FBI employees but were denied.
How the federal employees will respond to the subpoenas remains to be seen. In the past, Trump administration officials ignored Congressional subpoenas.
“Americans deserve to know the truth, especially now that Attorney General Garland has appointed as special counsel the same U.S. Attorney who oversaw Hunter Biden’s sweetheart plea deal and botched the investigation into his alleged tax crimes,” Smith and Jordan said.
