WASHINGTON — Two House GOP committee chairmen sent subpoenas to IRS and FBI officials on Monday, compelling them to testify before Congress about a meeting last year where the Justice Department’s investigation into Hunter Biden was purportedly discussed.
For months, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., have been looking into whether political interference has played any role in the federal probe into whether President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, violated any income tax laws or other statutes.
The two chairmen said Monday that they believe the four IRS and FBI officials who are receiving subpoenas were present at or had direct knowledge of an Oct. 7, 2022, meeting where, according to IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley, U.S. Attorney David Weiss said he was not the ultimate authority on whether charges would be filed against Hunter Biden.
The IRS and DOJ have not complied with voluntary requests for testimony, the first of which came in letters from the committees in late June.
“Our Committees, along with the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, have sought these interviews since IRS whistleblowers came forward with concerning allegations of political interference in the investigation into Hunter Biden’s foreign influence peddling and tax evasion. Unfortunately, the Biden Administration has consistently stonewalled Congress,” Jordan and Smith said in a joint statement Monday.
“Our duty is to follow the facts wherever they may lead, and our subpoenas compelling testimony from Biden Administration officials are crucial to understanding how the President’s son received special treatment from federal prosecutors and who was the ultimate decision maker in the case,” the chairmen continued. “Americans deserve to know the truth, especially now that Attorney General Garland has appointed as special counsel the same U.S. Attorney who oversaw Hunter Biden’s sweetheart plea deal and botched the investigation into his alleged tax crimes.”
Earlier this month, Attorney General Merrick Garland said Weiss would serve as the special counsel responsible for continuing the Justice Department’s investigation into Hunter Biden.
The four officials subpoenaed are Michael T. Batdorf, IRS director of field operations; Darrell J. Waldon, IRS special agent in charge; Thomas J. Sobocinski, FBI special agent in charge; and Ryeshia Holley, FBI assistant special agent in charge.
A White House spokesperson declined to comment on Monday’s subpoenas. A spokesperson for the Justice Department also declined to comment. The department has previously cited an internal policy against responding to congressional inquiries while an investigation is ongoing.
“Our longstanding principles and duty to take care that the law be faithfully executed require us to maintain the confidentiality of sensitive law enforcement information and to protect line attorneys and agents so they can do their jobs for the American people free from improper political pressures,” Assistant Attorney General Carlos Felipe Uriarte wrote in a July 24 letter to Jordan.
The fresh subpoenas come nearly two months after Jordan, Smith and Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., pressed senior Biden administration officials to make more than a dozen employees at the IRS, DOJ and Secret Service available for transcribed interviews about allegations of political meddling in the Hunter Biden probe.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
