By Jason Lord and Jackson Richman
Democrats are mostly sidestepping making comments on whistleblower revelations alleging that First Son Hunter Biden received “preferential treatment” during an investigation into felony tax crimes.
In stunning allegations made public on June 22, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Supervisor Special Agent Gary Shapley claimed the Department of Justice (DOJ) and IRS had interfered with an investigation into $2.2 million that Hunter Biden received from foreign sources, including Ukraine, China, and Romania, which he never reported to the IRS.
Due to the nature of the Internal Revenue Service Code, only the House Ways and Means Committee can hear and release testimony from IRS whistleblowers to the full House.
On June 22, the panel gathered to do just that, voting 25–18 along party lines to release lightly redacted versions of the transcripts. Every Democrat on the panel voted against releasing the transcripts to the public.
Since then, Democrats are largely evading making comments on the allegations.
Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard Neal (D-Mass.) briefly commented to The Epoch Times on his “No” vote.
“As of yesterday it was a half-baked case, we’re just gonna have to wait and see,” said Neal. “They didn’t make a presentation that cut new ground, I can tell you that.”
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), who does not sit on the Ways and Means panel, simply told The Epoch Times that he “[does] not think it’s accurate” to say that the DOJ and IRS shielded Biden.
When pressed to explain further, Sherman did not reply.
Democrats have also avoided discussing the issue on social media. So far, no Democratic member of the Ways and Means Committee has commented on the charges on Twitter or elsewhere.
Republicans React to Allegations
Republicans have been more outspoken about the allegations.
“Is there anybody that would really be surprised?” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) told The Epoch Times when asked for his reaction. “I was not surprised.
“First of all, it’s outrageous, … it’s corrupt. And it speaks of an authoritarian, leftist type of government.”
But “more damning,” Biggs said, was the allegation that President Joe Biden stood by as Hunter Biden demanded payment from Chinese Communist Party official and businessman Henry Zhao.
IRS investigators were reportedly able to authenticate the WhatsApp message to Zhao, in which Hunter Biden demanded payment from him. In the text, Biden highlighted that his father was in the room with him by way of a threat.
“I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled,” Hunter Biden wrote, further expressing the wish to “resolve this before it got out of hand.”
“Now means tonight,” Biden said, warning that if anyone but the Chinese official he was in communication with tried to reach out about the payment disagreement, “I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction. I am sitting here waiting for the call with my father.”
Biggs said of the message, “That shows absolute corruption, so we have to follow and track that one down.”
The Arizona congressman is one of several Republicans in the House who has already given his backing to moves to impeach Biden over allegations of corruption.
Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) said the IRS allegations “[confirm] once again that the agencies that are designed to protect and serve the American people are being weaponized against them.”
“The DOJ and the FBI—at least at the top—have been corrupted, and it’s a serious concern,” said Johnson, referencing the Republicans’ ongoing investigation into the weaponization of the federal government through the House Judiciary Committee. “When the people lose their faith in our institutions, our system of justice, there’s no greater threat to a Republic.
“So we have to follow up aggressively. We’ve got to get to the bottom of the truth and and follow that truth where it leads.”
Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.) agreed.
The allegations show that “there’s two tiers of justice,” she said.
“If that had been you, they would have come after you immediately,” Harshbarger told The Epoch Times. “So it’s just unfathomable that they would protect that man just because he’s the president’s son.”
The charges are “not surprising at all,” said Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.), referencing House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer’s (R-Ky.) ongoing investigation into allegations of corruption by the Bidens.
Evidence unearthed through an earlier FD-1023 form—a type of document used by the FBI recording allegations about potential criminal activity from the FBI’s confidential human sources—submitted by a trusted FBI informant alleges that the president accepted at least $5 million as a bribe from a foreign national. Still, more recent allegations put that figure at at least $10 million, partly through the use of shell companies.
“My bigger question, however,” said Mills, “is that—given the fact that [Hunter Biden has] worked with China’s government and all the others—why has he not been prosecuted on … the Foreign Agent Registration Act?”
According to the DOJ, the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) “requires certain agents of foreign principals who are engaged in political activities or other activities specified under the statute to make periodic public disclosure of their relationship with the foreign principal, as well as activities, receipts and disbursements in support of those activities.”
A handful of other Republicans have also raised the prospect of charging Biden under FARA.
Earlier this week, the Justice Department announced Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and admitted to illegally possessing a gun despite being a drug user—moves that will likely see Hunter avoid jail time. These charges, particularly in the light of new whistleblower disclosures, strike many Republicans as far too late.
However, U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who is leading the investigation into Hunter Biden, has said the investigation is “ongoing.”
