House Republicans sent a letter to DOJ inspector general Michael Horowitz on Tuesday asking whether the inspector general’s office is being limited in its ability to investigate IRS whistleblower testimony about the DOJ’s Hunter Biden probe.
House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer, Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan, and Ways and Means Committee chairman Jason Smith sent a letter to Horowitz, obtained by National Review, that expresses concern that the DOJ is limiting the inspector general’s office from “fully investigating the disclosures” provided to the IG.
“As you are aware, IRS whistleblowers made protected disclosures to Congress regarding DOJ’s investigation of Hunter Biden,” the letter reads. “Specifically, the IRS whistleblowers testified that DOJ’s investigation was purposely slow-walked and subjected to improper and politically motivated interference. Further, the DOJ and IRS have reportedly engaged in unlawful whistleblower retaliation against the IRS employees. Their testimony raised serious questions about the federal government’s commitment to evenhanded justice.”
The lawmakers go on to say that new evidence corroborates the whistleblowers’ testimony. That evidence includes the collapse of the plea deal reached between now-special counsel David Weiss and Hunter Biden’s defense attorneys.
The lawmakers note Weiss was only appointed special counsel after the plea deal fell apart and that Hunter Biden’s attorneys acknowledged in a court filing that the U.S. attorney’s office in Delaware did not reach out to Hunter Biden to engage in settlement discussions until May, one month after IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley wrote to Congress seeking whistleblower protections to reveal how the investigation into the younger Biden had been plagued by “preferential treatment and politics.”
The letter also points to recent testimony from former Hunter Biden business associate Devon Archer that President Biden was sold as “the brand” by his son for millions of dollars to foreign nationals.
“The DOJ appears to be continuing to sacrifice its professional responsibility to cover for the President’s son—and perhaps, the President himself,” the lawmakers wrote.
The letter on Tuesday comes after the three committees first wrote the DOJ OIG on July 17 asking for a status update about the office’s investigation into the IRS whistleblower’s disclosures.
The DOJ OIG responded to that letter two days later and confirmed that it had received information from Shapley.
“In undertaking this assessment, however, we are mindful of the potential limitation on the OIG’s jurisdiction as a result of Section 8E(b)(3) of the Inspector General Act, 5 U.S.C. § 413(b)(3), which requires my office to refer to DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) ‘allegations of misconduct involving Department attorneys, investigators, or law enforcement personnel, where the allegations relate to the exercise of the authority of an attorney to investigate, litigate, or provide legal advice.’ Consistent with our usual practice when such a potential jurisdictional issue arises, we consult with OPR about the matter,” the letter from the DOJ OIG read.
The three Republicans are now asking the inspector general to provide documents and information to explain whether the IG’s office is “limited in any way from fully investigating the whistleblowers disclosures” based on any law or regulation and if the office is limited, to explain how and why.
The lawmakers gave the inspector general a deadline of September 6 to respond.