Republicans investigating misconduct in Hunter Biden’s criminal case accuse the administration of tipping off the first son before an FBI interview — and are now demanding more documents and testimony to prove it.
Republican lawmakers are heeding allegations from a former FBI special agent who worked on the Hunter Biden case who told them last month he was barred from interviewing the first son in 2020 after the agency tipped off the Secret Service and Biden . transition team.
The agent, who worked for the FBI for more than 20 years and retired from the agency last year, said the interview would take place on Dec. 8, 2020 — weeks after the presidential election.
The agent said Hunter’s Secret Service should be notified of their “intent” to speak with the first son at 8:00 am the morning of the interview.
But instead he learned the night before that both the Secret Service and the Biden transition team had already been notified.
“This essentially tipped off a group of people who were very close to President Biden and Hunter Biden and gave this group an opportunity to obstruct the approach of the witness,” he said in his testimony.
Now James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, R-Ky., is stepping up his investigation to get to the bottom of the allegations.
He issued six subpoenas on Tuesday: one to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to provide documents and the rest to the Secret Service for personal testimony related to the alleged “tip.”
A former FBI special agent who worked the Hunter Biden case was barred from interviewing the first son after the agency tipped off the Secret Service and Biden transition team, according to newly released transcripts
Both the Biden transition team and the Secret Service were notified of the FBI’s intent to speak with Hunter
The Secret Service is housed under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
“The Department of Homeland Security is obstructing our investigation by preventing the Secret Service from responding to Congress,” Comer said in a statement to DailyMail.com. “The American people deserve transparency, not obstruction.”
The former FBI agent said the tip was unnecessary well in advance and may have influenced their investigation.
“I felt like they were people who didn’t need to know what our intentions were,” he said in his testimony in August.
“I believe the Secret Service had to be notified for our safety, for lack of confusion and to reduce conflict, which we would in so many other cases, but I did not understand why the initial notification,” the officer testified. last month. .
The agent was then told to give his contact information to the Secret Service and not approach the house, but wait outside for a call that Hunter was ready for the interview.
However, the officer said he never remembered waiting for a target to call and say they were ready for an interview.
The call never came and the agent had other interviews to do, so he left.
As for the Biden transition team, “I don’t know why that would have happened,” the agent said.
“This is just one example of a systemic problem throughout the investigation that allowed Hunter Biden to avoid accountability and answer tough questions about the source of his income, the legality of his actions, and the people who worked and benefited from his global endeavors. grant access to his father,” Comer says in letters notifying DHS and the Secret Service of the subpoenas.
He also outlines a series of alleged “obstruction” by the agencies that have hindered his committee’s investigation.
The unusual interview attempt took place under the Trump administration while U.S. attorney David Weiss in Delaware oversaw the Hunter Biden case. He was appointed in 2018 and his research is ongoing.
Weiss has since been appointed special counsel on the case by Attorney General Merrick Garland, giving him greater independence from the main Justice Department.
When asked if he had “ever known that U.S. Attorney David Weiss made prosecuting decisions based on political influence,” the agent replied “no.”
IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley, who worked with the FBI agent on the Hunter Biden case, said in an interview last month that the agent was essentially muzzled by the DOJ prior to his interview.
“He got a letter from DOJ the Sunday before basically telling him not to talk,” Shapley said.
“I know he could have confirmed additional material facts about this investigation,” he continued.
“And he confirmed that FBI headquarters had notified the transition team and the Secret Service,” Shapley added, citing allegations that the FBI had notified the Secret Service transition team and Biden of their plan to kill Hunter. Biden in December 2020.
“But really that was all he could talk about.”
The FBI and the Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office have said they can’t share everything with Congress because of an “ongoing investigation” — referring to the Hunter Biden plea deal blast last month.
Both Shapley and former IRS agent Joe Ziegler explained that agents involved in investigating Hunter Biden’s tax affairs advised that he be charged with a felony.
But the Justice Department has not charged him with it, so the two have suggested that politics may have been involved.
Democrats, including top oversight Democrat Jamie Raskin, had accused the Republican of hiding the FBI agent’s testimony that they said the claims of IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler were “undermined.”
The FBI agent who gave testimony later said in his testimony that he had never known anyone in the US law firm in Delaware – which handled the case – who made decisions based on politics.
And he also added that it was “common” for FBI agents and prosecutors to disagree on investigative steps and indictment decisions.
But Republicans are still continuing to investigate alleged interference in the Hunter investigation and any connections to his father, President Joe Biden.
Rep. Comer issued six subpoenas on Tuesday — one to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to provide documents and the rest to the Secret Service for personal testimony related to the alleged “tip”
IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley, left, and IRS Criminal Investigator Joseph Ziegler, are sworn in at a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing of IRS whistleblowers starting in July
Last week, Comer said an impeachment inquiry is “imminent” and that he will use a subpoena to get his hands on emails Joe Biden sent under a pseudonym when he was vice president to discuss Ukrainian affairs with Hunter .
The House Oversight Committee chairman is chasing allegations that Biden and his foreign connections were central to his son’s money-making efforts.
“Joe Biden’s role in this program of spreading family influence continues to grow daily,” Comer told Fox News host Sean Hannity.
“I mean, he was at the center of this.”
The White House insists Biden was never involved in son Hunter’s affairs and on Thursday dismissed Comer’s latest accusations as lies.
(TagsToTranslate)dailymail