A federal prosecutor blocked then-Delaware US Attorney David Weiss from bringing tax charges against first son Hunter Biden in southern California late last year, a third IRS official has testified to Congress.
IRS Director of Field Operations Michael Batdorf told the House Ways and Means Committee earlier this month that US Attorney E. Martin Estrada of the Central District of California had declined to partner with Weiss on the case, forcing him to look elsewhere.
The Delaware prosecutor revealed the setback to Batdorf and IRS special agent in charge Darrell Waldon in a December 2022 phone call, according to a transcript of Batdorf’s Sept. 12 interview reviewed by The Post.
“He just said that they had declined and he had to make the decision on where he was going to go,” Batdorf said of the conversation with Weiss.
The disclosure cuts against sworn congressional testimony by Attorney General Merrick Garland, who has repeatedly claimed Weiss had “full authority” to pursue charges against Hunter Biden anywhere in the US.
On Aug. 11, Garland elevated Weiss to special counsel, further undermining the AG’s claim that the Delaware US attorney always had sole charging authority in the case.
The Justice Department’s Tax Division would have also had to sign off on any charges that Weiss sought, according to Batdorf, who added that he recommended felony tax charges against Hunter for alleged offenses dating back to 2014.
Those charges apparently included unreported income the then-second son earned while sitting on the board of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian natural gas company, according to notes taken by IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley.
Shapley and IRS special agent Joseph Ziegler testified earlier this year to the House Ways and Means and House Judiciary Committees that Weiss also informed them of Estrada’s decision to prevent charges.
Shapley alleged that Weiss admitted he was “not the deciding person” in the Hunter Biden tax fraud case during an Oct. 7, 2022, meeting that included Batdorf, Waldon, and two members of the FBI’s Baltimore field office.
Weiss further said he had been prevented from charging the first son in Washington, DC, and had also been denied a request for special counsel status from the Justice Department, according to Shapley.
The whistleblower’s attorneys have since released their client’s hand-written notes of the meeting as well as a summary email he sent four days later to Waldon, who responded: “Thanks, Gary. You covered it all.”
The New York Times has also “confirmed independently” that Estrada declined to partner with Weiss in bringing charges against the first son.
Batdorf told the House panel that he had no reason to doubt Shapley’s notes on the meeting — and that he discussed Weiss’ request for special counsel authority at least once more with Waldon.
In a Sept. 8 transcribed interview, Waldon confirmed that Weiss had presented his case to Estrada’s office but could not “recall the outcome” — contradicting Batdorf’s testimony that they talked “about the Central District of California saying no.”
“What I recall about the case was, we wanted to be a part of the presentation and I asked,” Waldon told the House Ways and Means Committee. “That was not granted. But I do not recall.”
“Anytime a US attorney has to go into another district, there is a process where they collaborate … they talk and decide whether or not they’re going to participate … It was my understanding that they did not want to collaborate on the case,” Waldon also said.
“There was processes that Mr. Weiss would have to work out with the Department of Justice, and that’s my basic understanding,” he added.
FBI Baltimore Special Agent in Charge Tom Sobocinski, who was at the Oct. 7 meeting, testified to the House Judiciary Committee that he could not recall Weiss’ remarks about his charging authority.
FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Ryeshia Holley, who was also present, told the House panel: “I don’t remember him saying that.”
Batdorf in his House interview praised Shapley as a “fantastic agent” and someone who “will get to the bottom” of any investigation. Waldon also affirmed the IRS whistleblower had received the “highest performance rating in recent years.”
But both IRS officials kicked Shapley off the Hunter Biden probe in December 2022, as tensions grew between their office and Weiss over a failure to charge the first son.
“I mean, the decision to remove Mr. Shapley was made by Darrell and I in December, when we knew there was an issue — potential issue going forward,” Batdorf said.
“Gary has a tendency to go to level, like grade-seven, five-alarm fire on everything,” he added. “He has a mindset that if you don’t agree with him, I mean, you’re just incompetent.”
“Before I left the special agent in charge position, in February, I recommended to Mr. Batdorf that Gary Shapley be removed as the SSA from the Hunter Biden investigation, primarily due to what I perceived to be unsubstantiated allegations about motive, intent, bias,” Waldon also said.
“And, again, my goal was to protect the integrity of the investigation and figure out a way forward.”