IRS agent seeks whistleblower protections to share allegations of mishandling in Hunter Biden probe | CNN Politics
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Hunter Biden leaves after President Joe Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 17 people during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, July 7, 2022. Susan Walsh/AP CNN —
An IRS supervisory special agent who claims to have information about alleged mishandling and political interference in the ongoing criminal probe into Hunter Biden is seeking whistleblower protections to share the information with Congress, according to a letter obtained by CNN.
"Despite serious risks of retaliation, my client is offering to provide you with information necessary to exercise your constitutional oversight function and wishes to make the disclosures in a non-partisan manner to the leadership of the relevant committees on both sides of the political aisle," Mark Lytle, an attorney for the IRS whistleblower, said in a letter to a handful of Democrats and Republicans leading committees in the House and Senate.
The letter, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, describes the IRS agent as "overseeing the ongoing and sensitive investigation of a high-profile, controversial subject," which a source familiar with the matter confirmed was Hunter Biden.
A spokeswoman for Hunter Biden's legal team declined to comment, as did a spokesperson for the IRS.
Federal prosecutors have been investigating President Joe Biden's son since at least 2018 and have weighed bringing charges against him for tax crimes and a false statement. So far no charges have been filed. GOP lawmakers in the House, meantime, have launched probes into the Biden family finances as well as the so-called "weaponization" of federal government agencies.
According to the letter, the IRS agent can provide information that contradicts sworn testimony before Congress from a high-ranking political appointee, information about "failure to mitigate clear conflicts of interest in the ultimate disposition of the case" and "examples of preferential treatment and politics improperly infecting decisions and protocols that would normally be followed by career law enforcement professionals in similar circumstances if the subject were not politically connected."
Some of the disclosures would contain taxpayer and tax return information, according to the letter.
The handling of the case has been the subject of internal wrangling, CNN has reported.
Some IRS and FBI investigators and Justice Department prosecutors have been at odds about the strength of the case during internal meetings last year. Some Justice officials have raised qualms about whether the evidence is strong enough, while some agents have expressed their belief they have enough evidence to bring charges.
A final decision rests with US attorney for Delaware David Weiss, a Trump appointee who was kept on to oversee the case. Investigators widely anticipated a decision on charges to come in December after last year's midterm election. But the investigation remains ongoing. A spokeswoman for Weiss declined to comment.
The president has said he won't interfere in the Justice Department's independence.
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I tried to fetch the original WSJ article as they were the first to break the story, but it's behind a paywall.
Right now there is a lot of conjecture, but if it's true then those responsible for unethical and/or illegal corruption should be fired, charged and prosecuted as per current law all the way up to the President.
All you have to do is ask. I'm a subscriber.
Right now there is a lot of conjecture, but if it's true then those responsible for unethical and/or illegal corruption should be fired, charged and prosecuted as per current law all the way up to the President.
Let me be the first to give you credit.
Hey, we agree!
If the "Big Guy" is on the take for the usual 10% we need to know about it.
After all, no one Is above the law...starting with presidents....past and present.
This article is about Hunter's taxes being shielded not about Joe himself and there is no indication Joe is implicated in this. Right now it's all about a whistleblower who has not named names OR laid out what the actual crimes may be. When we get that information we'll examine it and see where it goes. It should be investigated until that investigation is exhausted - be it all the way up to the President OR this guy is just a disgruntled government employee and has no specifics. But we need to know. Unfortunately the partisans will entrench themselves and make a circus out of it.
give him the same protection that trump gave whistle blowers...
I think we should all be better than Trump. It won't be difficult as he set a very low bar.
sunlight is the best disinfectant.