Republicans respond after IRS whistleblower says Hunter Biden investigation is being mishandled
Fox News
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are calling for the Biden administration to be held accountable for “blocking” Congress and the public from learning more about Biden family members’ business deals with China.
The congressional outcries come as a whistleblower within the Internal Revenue Service alleges an investigation into Hunter Biden is being mishandled by the Biden administration. The whistleblower also alleges “clear conflicts of interest” in the investigation.
“It’s deeply concerning that the Biden Administration may be obstructing justice by blocking efforts to charge Hunter Biden for tax violations,” House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer told Fox News on Wednesday.
Comer, R-Ky., also said “deceptive, shady business schemes” have allowed the Bidens to make “millions from foreign adversaries like China.”
HUNTER BIDEN INVESTIGATION BEING MISHANDLED, ‘CLEAR CONFLICTS OF INTEREST’: IRS WHISTLEBLOWER
“The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability has been following the Bidens’ tangled web of complex corporate and financial records. It’s clear from our investigation that Hunter and other members of the Biden family engaged in deceptive, shady business schemes to avoid scrutiny as they made millions from foreign adversaries like China,” he said. “We’ve been wondering all along where the heck the DOJ and the IRS have been. Now it appears the Biden Administration may have been working overtime to prevent the Bidens from facing any consequences.”
Comer added: “The House Oversight Committee will work to hold accountable anyone in the Biden Administration who may be covering up this criminal activity. The Oversight Committee will also continue to pursue our investigation into the Biden family’s business schemes to determine if President Biden and our national security are compromised. Americans demand answers, transparency, and accountability.”
President Biden’s son Hunter has been under federal investigation since 2018. The investigation concerns the presence of suspicious activity reports (SARs) regarding suspicious foreign transactions.
It is being led by Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss.
Across Congress, Sen. Ted Cruz on Wednesday called for Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to publicly release the SARs found among the Biden family’s tax records.
“There’s no national security reason to keep them private,” Cruz, R-Texas, said during an episode of his podcast. “There’s no reason whatsoever other than if you want to be part of a political cover-up.”
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SARs alone do not indicate wrongdoing or criminal activity but could be an indicator of such behavior.
“The US Department of Treasury needs to release every single suspicious activity report on the Biden family,” Cruz said on Wednesday. “Janet Yellen, you have a choice: You are either actively covering up potential evidence of corruption or releasing every one of them to the American people.”
According to Cruz, the American public should be privy to learning whether the presidential family is guilty of fraud or other abuses of office — or if he is innocent.
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The Texas Republican said the Biden administration should “let the American people decide” if criminal activity was conducted. He added, “If this is benign, release the reports.”
“Secretary Yellen, release every single suspicious activity report on the Biden family,” Cruz said. He continued. “If she doesn’t release those reports, she is complicit in the cover-up.”
In a letter dated April 19, 2023, attorney Mark D. Lytle told members of Congress that a client of his has been overseeing the “ongoing and sensitive investigation of a high-profile, controversial subject since early 2020 and would like to make protected whistleblower disclosures to Congress.”
And that the client is allegedly aware of facts of the case that “contradict sworn testimony to Congress by a senior political appointee.”
Lytle works for the Washington, D.C.-based law firm Nixon Peabody LLP.
Neither Hunter Biden nor any member of his family has been charged with a crime relating to the SARs.
Fox News’ Patrick Ward, Greg Wehner contributed to this report.