Oversight Committee to hear from 2 IRS whistleblowers Wednesday

The House Oversight Committee is expected to publicly hear Wednesday from two IRS whistleblowers whose closed-door testimony alleging that the Hunter Biden criminal probe was mishandled has ignited a firestorm among House Republicans and led to calls to impeach Attorney General Merrick Garland.

House Republicans have capitalized on the allegations – from Gary Shapley, a 14-year IRS veteran who oversaw parts of the Hunter Biden criminal probe, and one of his deputies whose prior testimony was anonymous – to support their claims that the Justice Department has become increasingly politicized to protect Democrats and target conservatives.

The testimony from the IRS whistleblowers has also reignited a new push for potential impeachment proceedings against Garland, as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy faces growing pressure from an increasingly restive right flank eager to take aim at President Joe Biden and his Cabinet. McCarthy fueled the momentum by saying he’s open to an impeachment inquiry if the whistleblowers’ claims hold up.

Shapley and his deputy told the House Ways and Means Committee in June that Justice Department officials slow-walked the criminal probe into Hunter Biden’s tax issues, stymied their efforts to obtain subpoenas and search warrants and repeatedly blocked prosecutors from filing felony charges.

Shapley is expected to testify, “I am here to tell you that the Delaware USAO and Department of Justice (DOJ) handling of the Hunter Biden tax investigation was very different from any other case in my 14 years at the IRS,” according to prepared testimony provided to CNN. “In this country, we believe in the rule of law, and that applies to everyone. There should not be a two-track justice system depending on who you are and who you’re connected to. Yet in this case, there was.”

“I believe that I have a duty to bring the public – and their elected representatives – and provide full transparency of the facts as I know of them regarding the criminal investigation of Robert Hunter Biden,” a 13-year special agent who is referred to as Whistleblower X with the IRS is expected to testify, according to prepared testimony provided to CNN.

They also claimed US Attorney David Weiss, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump and is overseeing the Hunter Biden probe, allegedly said in an October 2022 meeting he could not make final charging decisions against the president’s son, and that he was denied special counsel status when he asked for it.

Republicans have seized on these comments to claim that Garland was not truthful when he told Congress that Weiss had full authority on the investigation. But Garland and Weiss have rejected most, if not all, of the GOP lawmakers’ assertions. Also, it’s common for there to be internal disagreements among investigators, like those described by the IRS agents.

The White House repeatedly pointed out that Weiss had been appointed by Trump in advance of Wednesday’s hearing, encouraging Republicans instead to “focus on the issues most important to the American people.”

“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,” said Ian Sams, a White House spokesman responding to Republican-led congressional investigations. “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.”

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

Weiss also refuted claims made about his title overseeing the investigation, writing in a separate letter to Congress that he never requested special counsel status but rather explored becoming a “special attorney” under a different statute.

House Republican committee chairs have requested interviews from Weiss and a number of individuals involved in the Hunter Biden criminal probe. The Justice Department informed House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, last week that they will make Weiss available “at an appropriate time” when the ongoing criminal investigation into Hunter Biden is officially closed, and offered to start negotiating how to move forward.

Asked whether Wednesday’s hearing with the IRS whistleblowers is a step toward impeaching Garland, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer told CNN, “There’s obviously a lot of eagerness to get the facts out and we’re moving as quickly as we can.” He added, however, that he’s “just in charge of getting the facts out” and that questions of impeachment will come later.

Comer, a Kentucky Republican, is expected to say at the hearing on Wednesday, “We have two brave and credible IRS whistleblowers who have risked their careers to come forward and provide important testimony,” according to excerpts of Comer’s prepared comments provided to CNN. “Their testimony about the DOJ, FBI, and IRS’s investigation of Hunter Biden confirms the committee’s findings. That there is nothing normal about the Biden family’s business activity.”

Garland, a top target of the House GOP, is slated to testify in front of the House Judiciary Committee for a routine oversight hearing in September.

Hunter Biden is scheduled to plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors at a court hearing next week in Delaware.

Democrats on the panel, meanwhile, plan to focus their questioning on the credibility of the IRS witnesses. Freshman Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Democrat, told CNN he will press Shapley on his political background.