House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) issued subpoenas to four investigators from the FBI and IRS involved in the tax crimes investigation of Hunter Biden, the president’s son.
The four officials, Jordan and Smith say, were either present at or had direct knowledge of an Oct. 7, 2022, meeting highlighted by an IRS whistleblower who previously told Congress that prosecutors slow-walked the probe.
According to IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley, U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware David Weiss — who has been heading the probe into Hunter Biden — said in that meeting that he was “not the deciding person on whether charges ares filed” against Hunter Biden in other districts.
But both Weiss, who was granted special counsel status earlier this month, and Attorney General Merrick Garland have contradicted the whistleblower, saying that Weiss had “full authority” to make referrals to charge in other districts.
Smith and Jordan subpoenaed IRS Director of Field Operations Michael T. Batdorf; 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.
Letters to the officials said Waldon, Sobocinski and Holley attended that Oct. 7 meeting and that Batdorf had “direct knowledge” of the meeting after receiving an email from Shapley detailing what happened.
Smith and Jordan said the IRS and FBI had not agreed to voluntarily make the four officials available to the committee.
“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,” Jordan and Smith said in a statement alongside release of the subpoenas Monday.
“Unfortunately, the Biden Administration has consistently stonewalled Congress. 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,” Jordan and Smith said. “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.”
The IRS said in a statement to The Hill that it “remains in contact with the committee on this issue.”
“Although we cannot comment on matters pertaining to specific taxpayers or employees, the IRS continues to work cooperatively with the committee to support its oversight efforts,” the IRS said. “We are committed to proceeding in a manner consistent with our legal obligations to taxpayers and to our employees, and which also ensures the integrity of pending investigations and litigation. We will continue our dialogue with the committee and work to strike an appropriate balance of these important considerations.”
A press release announcing the subpoenas said that the decision to elevate Weiss to special counsel following the whistleblower testimony and collapse of a plea deal for Biden raised “concerns that the Attorney General’s and Mr. Weiss’s statements to Congress were not truthful” about his charging authority.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has floated an impeachment inquiry into Garland over those statements.
The FBI declined to comment on the subpoenas.
Updated at 4:45 p.m.