The Biden administration has denied any interference within the Hunter Biden investigation, despite IRS whistleblower testimony -- buttressed by some contemporaneous evidence -- to the contrary. Attorney General Merrick Garland and now-Special Counsel David Weiss have stated publicly that Weiss had 'ultimate authority' on charging decisions, but that appears to be contradicted by meeting notes and emails from last year. We've also learned more details recently about the implosion of two versions of a sweetheart plea deal for the president's son, including the questionable, pro-deal involvement of various DOJ officials. In testimony this week, Garland again asserted that the investigation was independent, but said he could not 'recollect' whether he'd personally spoken about probe with anyone at the FBI.
The whistleblowers have alleged that the investigation was limited, stymied and hamstrung in multiple ways. In the same House hearing, Garland employed heavily-parsed language in addressing the claim that Biden-appointed prosecutors were unwilling to move forward with felony charges in their jurisdictions against the son of the man who appointed them. This undermine the 'ultimate authority' talking point. The attempted squaring of that circle was, shall we say, a bit tortured:
AG Merrick Garland just admitted that David Weiss did NOT have full authority during the Hunter Biden investigation.
— House Republicans (@HouseGOP) September 20, 2023
"They could refuse to partner with him."
This directly contradicts Garland's previous claims about Weiss' authority. pic.twitter.com/xZYJhz2PWG
The Washington Examiner now reports that "a third IRS official confirmed that Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss faced roadblocks when attempting to bring charges against Hunter Biden, contradicting denials issued Wednesday by Attorney General Merrick Garland." This further bolsters the credibility of the original two whistleblowers:
IRS Director of Field Operations Michael Batdorf told the House Ways and Means Committee in a closed-door interview on Sept. 12 that he felt “frustrated” by the refusal of the Justice Department to approve tax charges that IRS agents viewed as well-supported by evidence, according to a transcript of the interview obtained by the Washington Examiner. He also said the IRS removed agent Gary Shapley, a whistleblower, from the Hunter Biden case at the direction of Weiss despite having done nothing wrong. Batdorf’s testimony was the latest piece of evidence to suggest Weiss did not enjoy the unfettered authority to pursue Hunter Biden that Garland and others claimed he had...In addition to the two Joe Biden-appointed U.S. attorneys who refused to allow Weiss to bring charges against Hunter Biden in their districts, Batdorf said the DOJ Tax Division opposed bringing charges.
Batdorf said DOJ Tax argued against charges for Hunter Biden during a June 2022 meeting with Weiss and IRS officials, who were in favor of advancing the case...“DOJ Tax would have to authorize charges prior to David Weiss recommending an indictment or prosecution,” Batdorf said during his interview...“So, I mean, my understanding is that, I mean, he can’t make that decision without DOJ Tax authorization,” Batdorf said. The IRS supervisor confirmed that Hunter Biden’s defense team was given an unusual number of chances, possibly as many as four, to meet with DOJ Tax investigators and argue why its client should not face charges. Tensions between DOJ Tax and the IRS investigators over the strength of the case began after DOJ Tax officials started meeting with Hunter Biden’s defense lawyers, Batdorf said.
Batdorf declined to attribute these dynamics to politics or a Biden protection scheme, per the report, but the players are who they are, and the results are what they are. If the "tensions" over potential charges started to arise after DOJ officials began meeting on an "unusual number" of occasions, one wonders why that might have been the case. I'll remind you that Hunter's lawyers are alleged to have invoked Joe Biden's name in pushing for a no-accountability resolution to the First Son's alleged crimes, suggesting that the president would be called as a witness against the state. DOJ higher-ups then seemed strikingly amenable to an agreement that would effectively make all the unpleasantness go away. For his part, the president, who oversees the Justice Department, has also publicly declared that his son did "nothing wrong." The fact pattern of this whole affair reeks of undue influence and improper political considerations.
Because the attempted collusion between the DOJ and the defense team got blown up by the whistleblowers, and then the judge in the case, new charges were ultimately filed. I've already expressed my skepticism about what they represent, but the younger Biden has now been ordered to appear in court early next month, his request for a video arraignment having been denied:
Hunter Biden, President Biden's son, must appear in-person for his arraignment on three felony gun charges that is set for Oct. 3. https://t.co/t1uxNYqb0M
— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 21, 2023
I'll leave you with my substantive discussion with Tristan Leavitt, one of the attorneys representing Shapley. This interaction aired before the Examiner revealed additional corroboration of Shapley's testimony: