House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Republicans would open an impeachment inquiry against Attorney General Merrick Garland by July 6 following testimony from an IRS explosive whistleblower that the top Justice Department official interfered in the criminal investigation of Hunter Biden.
Republicans plan to take the action following new allegations from IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley, a 14-year veteran of the agency, that Hunter Biden was given preferential treatment by investigators reviewing his tax affairs. and lying on a gun license application.
Shapley pointed to a July 30, 2017 WhatsApp message Hunter sent to Chinese Communist Party official Henry Zhao threatening him to follow his “orders” and saying his father was with him. Shapley alleges he raised his concerns about the WhatsApp message with DOJ prosecutors, who dismissed his concerns.
McCarthy told Fox & Friends on Monday that U.S. Attorney David Weiss — who led the Hunter investigation and charged the president’s son last week with violating federal tax and gun laws after a 5-year investigation – must appear before the House Judiciary Committee.
Additionally, the speaker said an impeachment investigation into Garland will begin by July 6 if the IRS whistleblower claims to verify.
The president’s son was staying at the guesthouse of Biden’s home in Delaware when he wrote to Communist Party official Henry Zhao on July 30, 2017, threatening him to follow his “orders.”
“On July 6, because of the IRS allegations, because of the whistleblower and the DOJ — Garland — what he says and what David Weiss says privately are two different things,” the speaker said.
“And if what the IRS whistleblower says comes to pass, we’re going to open impeachment inquiries into the attorney general,” McCarthy promised Monday on Fox & Friends.
He said “what’s interesting is the IRS whistleblower who has no political background, took lots of notes, can tell you the date, can tell you who was at the meeting.”
McCarthy said the discrepancies between what U.S. Attorney Weiss said and what Attorney General Merrick Garland said is the key issue to resolve.
According to the whistleblower, “U.S. Attorney Weiss testified that he then requested special counsel authorization from the Main DOJ at that time and was denied that authority.”
However, Garland publicly defended himself on Friday, saying Weiss “was given complete authority to make all decisions on his own.”
“I don’t know how it would be possible for anyone to prevent him from suing,” Garland told reporters.
“Some have chosen to attack the integrity of the Department of Justice by saying that we do not treat cases the same way. This constitutes an attack on an institution essential to American democracy,” Garland continued.
The speaker had hinted that the House might move forward on articles of impeachment in a tweet over the weekend.
“We have to get to the facts, and that involves reconciling these obvious disparities. US Attorney David Weiss must provide answers to the House Judiciary Committee,’ McCarthy said Sunday.
“If the whistleblowers’ allegations are true, it will be an important part of a larger impeachment inquiry into Merrick Garland’s weaponization of the DOJ,” he continued.
Senator Ted Cruz on his “Verdict” podcast last week said the Hunter WhatsApp text proves Biden’s business ties to China.
McCarthy says he’s “glad” Cruz caught up on the work the House did to uncover the Biden family’s ties to the foreign payments.
“Every day we bring people in,” McCarthy said of his Republicans’ work.
That’s why you have the bank statements now. That’s why you know 1023 That’s why you know WhatsApp. We continue to do our reporting very differently than anyone else,’ McCarthy said, referring to internal FBI form FD-1023 uncovered by the House Oversight Committee that allegedly said Joe and Hunter Biden had each received $5 million from a Ukrainian foreign national in exchange for political decisions.
“Now we found out that the president lied to us because he said they never dealt with anything in China,” the speaker added. ‘Now the [IRS] the whistleblower says he was in a meeting with the Chinese company as vice president.
According to the whistleblower, in WhatsApp Hunter sent a threatening message to a Chinese Communist Party official and implied that his father would ensure he was punished if he did not comply with the unspecified request. .
Hunter Biden is seen with his father, President Joe Biden
Mark Lytle, an attorney for IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley, told Fox News on Friday that attempts to try to confirm Hunter and Joe Biden’s whereabouts when Hunter claimed in July 2017 that his father was sitting next to had been turned down by prosecutors.
Hunter Biden’s attorney, Chris Clark, has cited his clients’ horrific addiction during a time when a whistleblower said his client threatened a Chinese businessman while saying his powerful father was “sitting next door.” of me”.
The allegations undermined consistent claims by the Biden family and administration that Joe was not involved in his son’s foreign business dealings, though the accuracy of Hunter Biden’s claims did not implicate could be determined.
Hunter’s lawyers insisted WhatsApp was the ramblings of a troubled man in the midst of drug addiction: The White House repeated its insistence that Joe Biden had no knowledge of his son’s affairs.
On Friday, a lawyer for Shapley claimed his attempts to get to the bottom of the WhatsApp story had been rebuffed by prosecutors.
“The agents wanted to follow up on this and the prosecutors told them not to because, oh, well, maybe Hunter Biden was blowing or something,” said Mark Lytle, the attorney for Shapley.
On Thursday, the House Ways and Means Committee released testimony from two IRS whistleblowers — including Shapley — who said the Justice Department, FBI and IRS interfered with the investigation into the case. of tax evasion against Hunter Biden.
Jason Smith, a Missouri Republican who chairs the committee, said the testimony “outlined government misconduct and abuse at the IRS and FBI in the Hunter Biden investigation.”
“Whistleblowers describe how Biden’s Justice Department stepped in and overruled a campaign to protect Joe Biden’s son by delaying, disclosing and denying an ongoing investigation into Hunter Biden’s alleged tax crimes.”
The committee said on Thursday: “The allegations indicate a regular campaign of: unequal treatment of tax law enforcement; Justice Department interference in the form of delays, disclosures, and denials in the investigation of tax crimes that may have been committed by the president’s son; and finally, retaliation against IRS employees who reported the misconduct.
