The IRS removed the “entire investigative team” that was in charge of overseeing a criminal investigation into Hunter Biden, one month after a whistleblower came forward to Congress to allege the investigation was being mishandled, according to a new report.
The Justice Department reportedly ordered the team’s removal, according to the New York Post.
An IRS criminal supervisory special agent came forward to Congress in April seeking whistleblower protection to share with lawmakers information that allegedly showed the investigation into potential tax crimes by the younger Biden was being mishandled.
Now, the whistleblower’s attorneys claim the team’s removal from the investigation is retaliation for his decision to come forward.
“Today the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Supervisory Special Agent we represent was informed that he and his entire investigative team are being removed from the ongoing and sensitive investigation of the high-profile, controversial subject about which our client sought to make whistleblower disclosures to Congress. He was informed the change was at the request of the Department of Justice,” attorneys Mark Lytle and Tristan Leavitt wrote to Congress.
While the whistleblower has not named the Hunter Biden case in his comments, several outlets have confirmed the concerns are about the investigation into the younger Biden.
“On April 27, 2023, IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel appeared before the House Committee on Ways and Means. He testified: ‘I can say without any hesitation there will be no retaliation for anyone making an allegation or a call to a whistleblower hotline.’ However, this move is clearly retaliatory and may also constitute obstruction of a congressional inquiry,” the lawyers added.
The pair went on to say their client “has a right to make disclosures to Congress” and is protected from retaliatory personnel actions, “including receiving a ‘significant change in duties, responsibilities, or working conditions’ (which this clearly is) because of his disclosures to Congress.”
“Any attempt by any government official to prevent a federal employee from furnishing information to Congress is also a direct violation of longstanding appropriations restriction. Furthermore, 18 U.S.C. § 1505 makes it a crime to obstruct an investigation of Congress,” the lawyers wrote.
The attorneys called on Congress to “give this matter your prompt attention.”
“Removing the experienced investigators who have worked this case for years and are now the subject-matter experts is exactly the sort of issue our client intended to blow the whistle on to begin with,” they said.
In a letter to Congress last month, Lytle claimed his client had information that would “contradict sworn testimony to Congress by a senior political appointee,” as well as information about a “failure to mitigate clear conflicts of interest in the ultimate disposition of the case.”
The April letter, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, claims the would-be whistleblower has evidence showing “preferential treatment and politics improperly infecting decisions and protocols that would normally be followed by career law enforcement professionals in similar circumstances if the subject were not politically connected.”
Lytle told lawmakers at the time that his client had made legally protected disclosures internally at the IRS and said his goal is to “ensure that my client can properly share his lawfully protected disclosures with congressional committees.”
Delaware U.S. attorney David Weiss is leading a criminal investigation related to Hunter Biden’s taxes. The investigation, which first began in 2018, also pertains to whether Hunter Biden made a false statement in connection with a gun purchase.
In addressing the investigation in December 2020, Hunter Biden said that he was “confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately.”
In October, reports indicated that the FBI believed it had enough evidence to charge Hunter Biden with tax crimes.