Republicans are threatening to impeach U.S. Attorney Merrick Garland over alleged inconsistencies in the investigation of Hunter Biden, as revealed in testimony given by a whistleblower who works with the Internal Revenue Service. The White House has so far refused to comment.
“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,” said House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in a tweet on Sunday. “If the whistleblowers’ allegations are true, this will be a significant part of a larger impeachment inquiry into Merrick Garland’s weaponization of (the Department of Justice).”
This came after the testimony of IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley became public and his attorneys released a statement.
Shapley alleges U.S. Attorney David Weiss told him and six others in a meeting that Weiss had requested special counsel status from the DOJ because he did not have the authority to bring charges outside his district, but his request was denied.
Shapley’s legal team revealed the names of six witnesses who were present at the meeting in October 2022.
Garland on allegations made by IRS whistleblower
The House Ways and Means Committee released Shapley’s testimony Thursday, which alleged that the DOJ “provided preferential treatment, slow-walked the investigation, (and) did nothing to avoid obvious conflicts” when investigating Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son, as the Deseret News previously reported.
Garland held a press conference on Friday and denied allegations of interference, saying that Weiss was appointed as the U.S. attorney in Delaware under the Trump administration, and that Weiss was told he “would be permitted to continue his investigation and to make a decision to prosecute any way in which he wanted,” per Fox News.
In April 2022, Garland testified under oath to the Senate Appropriations Committee and said that the investigation into Hunter Biden “is being run by and supervised by” Weiss, the Trump-appointed attorney general of Delaware, and that he could bring charges in any jurisdiction.
“He is in charge of that investigation. There will not be interference of any political or improper kind,” he said.
But the whistleblower’s attorneys’ statement says, “That Mr. Weiss made these statements is easily corroborated, and it is up to him and the Justice Department to reconcile the evidence of his October 7, 2022 statements with contrary statements by Mr. Weiss and the Attorney General to Congress.”
Biden says he did not lie about never talking business with his son
The whistleblower’s testimony alleges that the president was involved in his son’s business dealings with foreign entities.
The testimony includes WhatsApp messages between Hunter Biden and Chinese businessman Henry Zhao where Biden makes note of his father being present with him.
“I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled,” Hunter Biden’s message to Zhao from 2017 read. “Tell the director that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand, and now means tonight.”
A reporter asked President Biden Monday if he lied about not speaking with his son about his business deals, according to Fox News. Biden replied, “No.”
Meanwhile, the White House has refused to answer questions about Hunter Biden. On Friday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had a heated exchange with a CNN White House correspondent when asked about Hunter Biden’s invitation to the state dinner last week.
Jean-Pierre said he was present at the state dinner because he is the president’s son.
The CNN reporter, Jeremy Diamond, pushed back on whether he would have been invited, two days after reaching a plea deal with federal prosecutors if he wasn’t the president’s son.
“Again, that’s his son — he’s a family member. It is not uncommon for family members to attend events at the White House. We could look at past presidents; I’m sure you have. So that is not uncommon,” she said. “As it relates to anything related to Hunter, I’m just not going to respond to it from here.”