What Hunter Biden Whistleblower Testimony Reveals

On Thursday, the House Ways and Means Committee released the testimony of two Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblowers regarding claims that federal agencies acted to impede an investigation into the tax affairs of President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden.

Gary Shapley, one of the whistleblowers, told the committee in a May 26 deposition that he had evidence that the Department of Justice (DOJ) "provided preferential treatment, slow-walked the investigation, did nothing to avoid obvious conflicts of interest in this investigation," the documents show.

He also said that Hunter Biden's attorneys had allegedly been tipped off about developments in the investigation and that multiple requests to bring charges in the case were denied.

The DOJ denied the whistleblowers' claims, stating that the U.S. attorney in charge of the case, David Weiss, had the authority to bring an indictment if he thought it was warranted.

While it is too soon to tell what the allegations amount to, the documents do reveal fresh details about the investigation into Biden's tax affairs.

Why Does It Matter?

House Republicans are investigating the overseas business dealings of Hunter and the Biden family, including allegations that Hunter's father, Joe Biden, used his public role when he was vice president to influence them.

The House Oversight Committee has already released records which it said showed money flowing from foreign bank accounts through a conduit to Biden family members. It is also investigating claims that Joe Biden acted to protect Hunter's position at a Ukrainian gas firm.

Hunter Biden has denied any wrongdoing, while his father called the claims "a bunch of malarkey."

The various disclosures build a picture ahead of the 2024 election of allegations of corruption surrounding the Biden administration.

While Republicans say they are acting proportionately to the allegations, Democrats have argued it appears like retribution for the release of former President Donald Trump's tax records in December.

On Tuesday, the Department of Justice charged Hunter Biden with failure to pay income tax and the illegal possession of a weapon. In an agreement reached with his lawyers, prosecutors allowed him to plead guilty to a misdemeanor tax offense while avoiding another charge.

But the whistleblower testimony casts doubt on the plea deal, playing into GOP suggestions that it was designed to be a "slap on the wrist."

Republican Missouri Representative Jason Smith, the Ways and Means chair, said Hunter Biden had received "preferential treatment" and that the federal government was "not treating all taxpayers equally."

What Are the Claims?

Shapley said that the investigation into Hunter Biden by the U.S. attorney's office in Delaware was "handled differently than any investigation I've ever been a part of for the past 14 years."

He said some of the decisions made in the case "seem to be influenced by politics," citing an example of DOJ officials having supposedly "dragged their feet" over a request for physical search warrants of addresses in California, Arkansas, New York, and Washington, D.C., in March 2020.

Shapley alleged that the team he had led in the IRS investigation into Hunter Biden's tax affairs was repeatedly denied access to Hunter Biden's laptop while in the FBI's possession and was told by the FBI how many people they could interview.

After a storage unit containing documents came to light, Shapley alleged Hunter Biden's defense team was informed by the U.S. attorney's office before a search warrant could be executed.

When a 90-page memo recommending prosecution over tax evasion and false return charges was presented to the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C., Shapley alleged that the Biden appointee for the office had declined to bring charges and that Weiss "had no authority to overrule them."

Shapley claimed Weiss said at an October 7, 2022, meeting that he was "not the deciding official on whether charges are filed" and "shocked us with the earth-shattering news" that the D.C. office "would not allow him to charge in his district."

He added that Weiss had later brought the materials collected in the investigation to the Central District of California, which also declined to bring charges.

Another current IRS agent, whose identity was redacted but described themselves as a Democrat, said the IRS "retaliated" against him and that he had been "removed and replaced" from the investigation. He said that he was not present at the October 7, 2022, meeting referred to by Shapley.

The DOJ denied the alleged obstructions of the investigation, telling the Associated Press that Weiss has "full authority over this matter, including responsibility for deciding where, when, and whether to file charges as he deems appropriate. He needs no further approval to do so."

In a June 7 letter to Republican House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, Weiss wrote: "I want to make clear that...I have been granted ultimate authority over this matter, including responsibility for deciding where, when, and whether to file charges."

He added that his decisions had always been made "without reference to political considerations."

Newsweek reached out to Hunter Biden's attorney via email for comment on Friday. The DOJ declined to comment.

What Do We Now Know?

In the reams of testimony, Shapley alleged that Hunter Biden had used his father's political stature to pressure a Chinese businessman, quoting from a July 30, 2017, WhatsApp message he said the IRS had obtained in which Hunter Biden told the investor that he was "sitting here waiting for [a] call with my father."

Shapley wrote in an affidavit that he had been assigned as an IRS supervisory special agent in the investigation of Hunter Biden's tax affairs in January 2020. He remained in that role until being removed in May 2023 after becoming a whistleblower.

The other whistleblower said in his deposition that he had been at the IRS since 2010 after working as an external auditor. He said he testified after being invited by the committee.

Shapley also said in his deposition that the investigation into Hunter Biden, first opened in November 2018, was codenamed "Sportsman" and was an "offshoot" of an investigation into a "foreign-based amateur online pornography platform"—though he did not say how the two investigations were related.

Emails and letters also disclosed by the Ways and Means Committee show that the anonymous whistleblower contacted IRS commissioners Douglas O'Donnell and Daniel Werfel on May 18, alleging impropriety.

Special agents in the Washington, D.C. field office responded the following day cautioning against ignoring the chain of command.

Correspondence also show that the matter was referred to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and the DOJ's Inspector General for investigation. In a June 7 letter to Smith, Werfel stressed that retaliation against whistleblowers "will not be tolerated in any circumstance."

An IRS spokesperson told Newsweek it could not comment on specific taxpayer matters under federal law, but said: "Commissioner Werfel is deeply committed to protecting the rights of whistleblowers and took immediate action by contacting the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration when allegations of retaliation were first raised in media reports.

"We respect this important process. Upon review of the findings and recommendations of TIGTA or any independent authority that completes a full investigation of a whistleblower claim, the IRS will take all necessary measures to ensure that whistleblower rights are fully protected."

Update 06/23/23, 12:32 p.m. ET: This article was updated to include comment from an IRS spokesperson and to note that the DOJ declined to comment.