House Republicans released transcripts of interviews in which Internal Revenue Service employees alleged that the Justice Department hindered the criminal investigation into the president’s son, Hunter Biden, after a plea agreement was announced in his case, reports the Wall Street Journal. The transcripts released Thursday detailed alleged tensions among IRS agents and the federal prosecutors in the five-year investigation into the younger Biden, with claims that Justice Department officials stymied and slow-walked attempts to charge him with multiple felonies. Two IRS employees shared perspectives on behind-the-scenes government discussions about how to handle the case and alleged that they suffered retaliation for raising concerns internally. The material released by the House Ways and Means Committee don’t include statements from top IRS officials or prosecutors.
The interviews were conducted behind closed doors by committee staff members of both parties. The IRS said it had referred employees’ allegations about retaliation for whistleblowing to its inspector general. Hunter Biden reached an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors. Biden is also expected to enter a diversion program that will allow him to avoid prosecution on a gun possession charge if he remains drug-free and agrees to never own a firearm again. Biden is to make a court appearance on July 26 before U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika. The interview transcripts featured allegations that the main Justice Department interfered with the U.S. Attorney in Delaware, David Weiss, who was appointed by former President Trump and who has remained in office under the Biden administration to oversee the Hunter Biden case. Democrats argued that the transcripts show no political interference in the Biden case and that Republicans are telling an incomplete story.