AG Merrick Garland takes fire from Republicans
House Republicans peppered Attorney General Merrick Garland with questions during a hearing Wednesday about the probe into Hunter Biden, the president’s son. As The Center Square previously reported, two IRS whistleblowers testified before Congress that the DOJ abused its power and interfered in their inquiry into Hunter Biden’s alleged tax crimes. Notably, they testified that the investigation was slowed so that the statute of limitations could run out on some charges. Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley and Criminal Investigator Joseph Ziegler, both IRS employees with a combined 27 experience years at the agency, testified before Congress that Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf helped block investigators’ plan for an interview of the president and a search warrant of the Biden residence in Delaware. “Everyone knows why they did it,” House Judiciary Chair Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said at the hearing. “Those tax years, that… involved the president. It’s one thing to have a gun charge in Delaware. That doesn’t involve the president of the United States. But Burisma? That goes right to the White House.” Garland seemed to preempt some of these criticisms in his opening statement, saying he was not obligated to do the bidding of the president or Congress. He declined to give specific answers to many of the Republicans’ questions, including around the federal indictment of former President Donald Trump. “Our job is to pursue justice, without fear or favor,” Garland said in his opening statement. “Our job is not to do what is politically convenient. Our job is not to take orders from the president, from Congress, or from anyone else, about who or what to criminally investigate. As the President himself has said, and I reaffirm today: I am not the president’s lawyer. I will also add I am not Congress’s prosecutor.” That reference to Congress’s prosecutor is an apparent reference to Republicans’ frustrations with the DOJ for not prosecuting Hunter Biden more aggressively. House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., has released a steady stream of evidence in recent months alleging that Hunter Biden was involved in an overseas “bribery scheme” and that his father knew about it. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who kicked off an impeachment inquiry on the same issue, pointed to about 150 U.S. Treasury Department suspicious activities reports filed by the agency around Hunter Biden’s dealings as well as bank records and the testimony from IRS whistleblowers who said the Biden family and associates received around $20 million from entities in adversarial nations. Special counsel David Weiss indicted Hunter Biden earlier this month over a gun purchase he made in 2018 after his plea deal unexpectedly fell through. Hunter Biden, who is also expected to face tax charges, was ordered by a federal magistrate judge on Wednesday to appear in court at his Oct. 3 hearing. Garland has taken fire over a string of incidents where critics say the agency has wrongly weaponized its power and targeted Americans, including working with social media groups to censor American posts and allegedly being more aggressive in prosecuting conservatives and right-leaning groups. “As someone who grew up in the Soviet Union, I’m disturbed by the fact that so many hardworking Americans—including my constituents—are afraid of political persecution by our own government,” said Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind. “Unfortunately, it does not seem like AG Garland is.” House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., recently sent a letter to the National Archives and Records Administration requesting travel records for Air Force Two after allegations that Hunter Biden may have used the vice president’s plane for his overseas deals when his father held that position in the Obama administration. Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
Republicans investigate alleged political interference in Hunter Biden case
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 lawmakers 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 Joe 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. Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
Ted Cruz calls for special counsel to investigate Attorney General Merrick Garland
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is calling for a special counsel to investigate Attorney General Merrick Garland over perjury and obstructing justice claims. Cruz did so as U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-California, said the House would begin an impeachment inquiry into Garland after IRS whistleblowers came forward to members of Congress alleging Garland blocked an investigation into Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son, and lied about it under oath. McCarthy tweeted, “We need to get to the facts, and that includes reconciling these clear disparities. U.S. Attorney David Weiss must provide answers to the House Judiciary Committee. If the whistleblowers’ allegations are true, this will be a significant part of a larger impeachment inquiry into Merrick Garland’s weaponization of the DOJ.” IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley testified before Congress that the U.S. Attorney in charge of an investigation into Hunter Biden, David Weiss, said he wanted to bring charges but was prevented from doing so by Garland. McCarthy also told Fox News the inquiries would start by July 6. In his podcast, “Verdict with Ted Cruz,” on Monday, Cruz said, “The evidence is mounting and mounting and mounting … it is getting so bad even the corrupt corporate media cannot ignore this anymore.” Cruz played a clip of Garland saying at a news conference, “I certainly understand that some have chosen to attack the integrity of the Justice Department … by claiming that we do not treat like cases alike,” referring to what senators have argued when comparing how President Biden and former President Donald Trump have been treated by the department. “Nothing could be further from the truth. We make our cases based on the facts and the law,” Garland said. Cruz said Garland is “the one who has politicized this process and is burning down the integrity of the Department of Justice to the ground. The people accusing him work for him … they are his own … employees, and they’re … mad.” Cruz said Garland’s response was self-righteous and compared him to a despot. He also said what Garland said was “objectively false: ‘We use the same standards for everyone.’ Well, OK, you’re name is Biden you can have classified documents everywhere … but if you’re Trump, we’re sending in the stormtroopers.” “It’s time the Department of Justice needs to appoint a special counsel to investigate Merrick Garland for obstruction of justice and perjury,” he said. Cruz cited Shapley’s testimony, which indicated that Garland committed perjury and lied under oath to Congress. Garland then removed him from the case, which Cruz said is illegal and needs to be investigated. Cruz called for an investigation after he previously called out the deputy director of the FBI over bribery allegations related to both the president and his son, and is still demanding answers. Cruz also welcomed the House impeachment inquiry, saying, “There is serious evidence that Merrick Garland lied to me, under oath, when I questioned him about his role in obstructing the Hunter Biden probe.” When asked by Newsmax’s James Rosen about the accusations, White House spokesman John Kirby walked out of the room and wouldn’t answer questions. At another press briefing, when similar questions were asked, another White House spokesperson said she didn’t know what the reporters were referring to and didn’t have a comment. When asked if the White House believed Garland committed perjury, she smirked and made several facial expressions, shaking her head, and said, “I don’t have any comment on this.” Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
