Third IRS Agent Says Joe Biden’s DOJ Blocked David Weiss from Charging Hunter
A third IRS agent reportedly told House investigators last week that President Joe Biden’s Justice Department blocked now-special counsel David Weiss from charging Hunter Biden, seemingly contradicting Attorney General Merrick Garland’s assertion that Weiss had complete authority to charge the president’s son.
“He was given complete authority to make all decisions on his own,” Garland said in June of now-special counsel David Weiss.
Weiss investigated Hunter Biden for five years for tax, gun, and Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) violations. The probe came to a head when IRS whistleblowers alleged in April that two Biden administration political appointees within the DOJ worked to block charges against Hunter Biden for tax violations against recommendations.
United States Attorney David C. Weiss. (Screenshot/CBS News)
IRS Director of Field Operations Michael Batdorf told the House Ways and Means Committee on September 12 that the DOJ’s tax division opposed charging Hunter Biden during a June 2022 meeting with IRS officials and Weiss.
“DOJ Tax would have to authorize charges prior to David Weiss recommending an indictment or prosecution,” Batdorf said in a transcribed interview, the Washington Examiner reported.
“So, I mean, my understanding is that, I mean, he can’t make that decision without DOJ Tax authorization,” Batdorf, who was IRS agent whistleblower Gary Shapley’s senior in the IRS chain of command, said.
Notes from Shapley show he quoted Weiss as saying he was “not the deciding person” on charging Hunter Biden with tax, gun, and FARA violations.
IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley, left, and Joseph Ziegler, an IRS Agent with the criminal investigations division (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Shapley’s subordinate, Joseph Ziegler, the second IRS whistleblower, supports Shapley’s allegation. The claim is also backed by Shapley’s boss, Special Agent in Charge Darrell Waldon, who confirmed Weiss did not have the authority to charge Hunter Biden.
Batdorf also told investigators he believed his team was frustrated that Weiss found opposition to prosecuting Hunter Biden. “I was frustrated,” he said. “[Weiss] was probably a little frustrated … because he now had to make some decisions on what he was going to do.”
President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden arrive at Fort McNair, Sunday, June 25, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
“David Weiss made his decision to go forward in May. I’m not sure what drove that decision,” Batdorf added.
In addition, Batdorf confirmed that Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf was taken off the case in May or June, the Examiner reported. According to the New York Times, Hunter Biden’s lawyers worked with Wolf to draft the sweetheart plea deal that collapsed under judicial scrutiny.
Fourth IRS Agent Says D.C. and California Prosecutors Blocked Hunter Biden Charges
IRS agent Darrell Waldon echoed IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley’s testimony that prosecutors in Washington, DC, and California previously blocked now-special counsel David Weiss from charging Hunter Biden in those jurisdictions.
“Mr. Weiss went to the U.S. Attorney’s Office — I can’t recall the dates — and they did not agree to prosecute the case in D.C.,” Waldon told the House Ways and Means Committee during a transcribed interview in September, the Washington Examiner reported.
“I’m aware that it was presented to the District of Columbia and, at some point, the Central District of California, I believe,” he added.
Waldon’s transcribed interview comes after he previously confirmed Shapley’s claims in April of political interference. Waldon later left the Hunter Biden case for another responsibility within the IRS.
As the investigation progressed, Weiss never charged Hunter Biden in the jurisdictions of Washington, DC, or California. Instead, he formed a sweetheart plea agreement with Hunter Biden that collapsed in July under judicial scrutiny. Shapley’s testimony in April reportedly triggered the plea deal, filed in Delaware. Weiss later brought three gun-related charges in Delaware against Hunter Biden.
The recent testimony by Waldon, who was Shapley’s boss, is notable because Attorney General Merrick Garland testified Wednesday that nobody had the authority to block Weiss from charging Hunter Biden, though “they could refuse to partner with him.”
“You said [Weiss] had complete authority, but he’d already been turned down. He wanted to bring an action in D.C. and the US Attorney there said, ‘No, you can’t’ — and then you go tell the U.S. Senate, under oath, that he has complete authority?” House Oversight Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) asked.
“No one had the authority to turn him down; they could refuse to partner with him.” Garland replied.
“You can use whatever language — ‘refuse to partner’ is turning down,” Jordan replied.
“It is not the same under a well-known Justice Department practice,” Garland claimed.
In point two of the email to Waldon, Shapley recapped that “Weiss stated he is not the deciding person of whether charges are filed. I believe this is a huge problem — inconsistent with DOJ public position and Merrick Garland testimony.”
Waldon replied to Shapley, “Thanks, Gary. You covered it all”:
Shapley, along with his subordinate, Joseph Ziegler, the second IRS whistleblower, support the allegation. In addition, IRS Director of Field Operations Michael Batdorf told the House Ways and Means Committee on September 12 that the DOJ’s tax division opposed charging Hunter Biden.
IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley, left, and Joseph Ziegler, an IRS Agent with the criminal investigations division, are sworn in at a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing with IRS whistleblowers, Wednesday, July 19, 2023, in Washington. (Stephanie Scarbrough/AP)
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
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