by Jonathan Turley at Jonathan Turley
Hunter Biden was back in Washington last night for a formal dinner at the White House with the Indian Prime Minister. With his plea deal and settlement in Arkansas, Hunter is apparently back in circulation. However, the House Oversight Committee has released a disturbing report on allegations from two whistleblowers on irregularities and interference in the investigation. The Justice Department is pushing back on these allegations and there should not be a rush to judgment. However, there should be answers.
I have previously stated that I was not surprised by the use of misdemeanors in the tax matters. These whistleblowers are alleging a basis for more serious charges, which may be based on undisclosed evidence. For my part, I have never thought that the tax or gun charges were the most serious matters raised by Hunter’s business dealings. Rather I continue to believe that there was a basis for charges as an unregistered foreign agent under FARA in light of past cases brought by the Justice Department. I also believe that a special counsel should have been appointed on the allegations involving influence peddling by the Biden family.
Yet, the report says that there was an effort to charge the tax matters as felonies and U.S. Attorney David Weiss was rebuffed in his attempt to bring charges in two jurisdictions. I would be frankly surprised that Weiss was prevented in bringing cases before grand juries. Whistleblowers in the IRS may not know the full story on such decisions being made by the U.S. Attorney’s office. However, that should be easily addressed by the Committee in its investigation.
The report also says that efforts to conduct key searches were rebuffed. That is something that these whistleblowers would potentially have direct knowledge of actions. Many of these allegations focus on the role of Assistant US Attorney Lesley Wolf, who is also accused of running interference with IRS agents. Again, in fairness to Wolf, allegations are not proof. She may have had legitimate reasons for her actions or may deny the allegations entirely. At this point, the House needs to call in Wolf to address the allegations.
There is also a very specific (but unverified) account of a message sent by Hunter to a Chinese businessman. Whistleblower Gary Shapley told the Committee:…
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