Democrats now accuse Republicans investigating business deals with Biden of HIDING FBI agent’s testimony ‘undermining’ IRS whistleblowers, claims Hunter

Rep. Jamie Raskin, top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, wrote a letter to Chairman James Comer demanding the Republican release transcripts of an interview with an FBI agent he says undermines last week’s whistleblower testimony.

Raskin, D-Md., said in the July 17 interview, the FBI agent assigned to the Hunter Biden investigation rejected the House Republicans’ allegation of political interference in the prosecution of President Biden’s son. by (U.S. Attorney David Weiss). .’

Raskin said that during the two-hour interview, which included both Democratic and Republican committee aides, the former FBI supervisor “undermined” the July 19 testimony of IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler.

“Although almost two weeks have passed since this interview, you have yet to publicly release the transcript of the interview, despite my call to do so and your claim that you would ‘like’ to release it.”

Supervisory Republicans said in a tweet that they sent the transcript to the Democratic staff the day after the interview was transcribed — and would make it public once it was reviewed.

“The transcript goes through the normal review process where the witness reviews it and makes any corrections. Once that process is complete, we will release it.”

Raskin, who has defended the Biden family against the committee’s aggressive investigations into their business deals, claimed that Comer had refused to give Democratic staff a copy of the Hunter Biden laptop hard drive they are combing through. He called on the chairman to release all material related to their investigation.

“I urge you to stop hiding important evidence and instead commit to disclosing all investigative steps taken and all materials collected as part of this investigation.”

Raskin claimed that the whistleblower testified that during his ten years of experience at the U.S. law firm in Delaware, he never knew that David Weiss allowed any political influence in prosecution decisions.

The whistleblowers also criticized U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf for refusing to request a search warrant in October 2020 to search Joe Biden’s Delaware boarding house, where Hunter lived, and the storage unit where he kept documents.

But the FBI agent reportedly said it has long been DOJ and IRS policy not to seek warrants for officials or political candidates when needed information can be obtained in less “intrusive” ways.

Oversight Republicans, led by James Comer, said in a tweet that they sent the transcript to Democratic staff the day after the interview was transcribed — and would release it publicly once it was reviewed

The agent told the commission “that in determining whether to seek a warrant, it is not only appropriate, but DOJ policy, that prosecutors consider additional factors beyond whether or not a warrant exists.” a probable reason, when the warrant involves property of a political candidate or an attorney or could raise sensitivities in the election year,” Raskin said.

The agent also testified that the Secret Service had been tipped off about the FBI’s intent to interview Hunter Biden, but that was standard operating procedure “for the safety of those agents seeking to approach a Secret Service protected person.” The agent confirmed he was told the Biden transition team would also be notified.

IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley and IRS Criminal Investigator at the International Tax and Financial Crimes Division Joseph Ziegler, who publicly testified to the House Oversight Committee for six hours last Wednesday, said they were told on December 8, 2020, the day they were supposed to interview Hunter Biden, to wait outside his residence for a call from the younger Biden.

Ziegler said he had never been told to handle an interview this way. Hunter’s call never came and the officers were unable to interview him.

Both officers allege that Hunter, the 52-year-old son of President Joe Biden, was treated differently from other taxpayers and that the case was handled in a special way — which made them feel compelled to come forward.

The whistleblowers explained that after its investigation into Hunter Biden’s tax affairs, the IRS recommended that he be charged with a felony — but that the Justice Department did not charge him.

Ziegler claimed that the Biden family’s total foreign earnings totaled about $17 million.

The agents said Weiss had wanted to press charges in the District of Columbia and Southern California last year, but was denied both times by DOJ officials.

Weiss said he has “never been denied the authority to bring charges in any jurisdiction.”

On Wednesday, Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to a pair of tax crimes and a gun crime in a dramatic turn of events. His plea deal imploded when the judge informed him that he would not be protected from future prosecution – specifically mentioning a possible felony of failing to register as a foreign agent.