The IRS whistleblower who accused Department of Justice officials of slow-walking a probe into Hunter Biden‘s taxes testified before the GOP-led Ways and Means Committee for six hours on Friday after he canceled a meeting with the Democrat-led Senate Finance Committee.
‘Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley testified for about six hours today to Democrat and Republican staff of the House Ways and Means Committee. Both sides had equal opportunity to ask whatever questions they wanted, and Special Agent Shapley answered all of their questions,’ a member of Shapley’s legal team told DailyMail.com.
In the House, Ways and Means has oversight jurisdiction of the IRS. In the Senate, Finance has the same authority.
Gary Shapley, a 14-year IRS agent, said previously he immediately saw deviations in Hunter’s tax probe investigation when he was assigned the case in January 2020. He became concerned that prosecutors were mishandling the ‘controversial’ case and felt bound to blow the whistle due to his oath of office.
He canceled an appearance before the Finance Committee after his lawyer, former prosecutor Mark Lytle, met with representatives of the committee for ‘hours.’
The committee said they stand ready ‘to arrange a meeting on terms that comply with laws protecting taxpayer data and ensure a fair and rigorous investigation,’ a committee spokesperson confirmed to DailyMail.com.
The spokesperson said they believed Shapley had taken issue with some of their standard meeting processes to ‘protect taxpayer information,’ but would try to reschedule in the future.
Gary Shapley, a 14-year IRS agent, said he immediately saw deviations in Hunter’s tax probe investigation when he was assigned the case in January 2020. He became concerned that prosecutors were mishandling the ‘controversial’ case and felt bound to blow the whistle due to his oath of office
Shapley blew the whistle three years after the investigation began, which is being led by Trump-appointed US Attorney in Delaware, David Weiss. The investigation is looking into potential outstanding tax debt for Hunter’s stint as a board member of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, while his father was VP, as well as a possible false statement for a gun purchase
‘This is a job, and my oath of office is to treat everybody fairly that we investigate,’ Shapley told CBS News. ‘[This case] was way outside the norm of what I’ve experienced in the past. There were multiple steps that were slow-walked — were just completely not done — at the direction of the Department of Justice.
‘When I saw the egregiousness of some of these things, it no longer became a choice for me. It’s not something that I want to do. It’s something I feel like I have to do.’
The registered Republican, who claims he does not get involved in politics, said the alleged mishandling is affecting the ‘fairness of the system’ when taxpayers and ‘subjects of investigations are treated differently.’
Shapley blew the whistle three years after the investigation began, which is being led by Trump-appointed US Attorney in Delaware, David Weiss.
The investigation is looking into potential outstanding tax debt for Hunter’s stint as a board member of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, while his father was VP, as well as a possible false statement for a gun purchase, according to CBS News.
Late last year, an FBI leak revealed agents believed there was enough evidence to support criminal charges, but none ever came. Shapley believed measures were being taken to protect Hunter.
‘Each and every time, it seemed to always benefit the subject,’ he told CBS News. ‘It just got to that point where that switch was turned on. And I just couldn’t silence my conscience anymore.’
NBC News reported ‘growing frustration’ within the FBI over the fact Weiss has not yet brought charges. The investigation began in 2018 and Hunter Biden confirmed DOJ was probing his tax affairs in 2020 shortly after his father won the election. He borrowed $2 million to pay off back taxes.
The former Inspector General of the National Security Agency’s Office began documenting his concerns in June 2020 after he started to wonder if the DOJ was ‘unethically’ acting on the case.
Shapley’s concerns became public last month after his lawyer, Mark Lytle, wrote to Congress seeking protection for the IRS agent.
The letter also revealed that Shapley was removed from the case after attending a ‘charged meeting,’ which prompted him to speak out.
‘It was my red-line meeting,’ the Republican said.
He also claimed to have faced retaliation from IRS leadership after speaking out.
IRS chief Danny Werfel promised no retaliation for any whistleblowers in response to questioning from Ways and Means last month.
Hunter’s team has also accused him of breaking the law.
The White House declined to comment, referring CBS News to a previous statement stating that Joe ‘has made clear that this matter would be handled independently by the Justice Department, under the leadership of a US Attorney appointed by former President Trump, free from any political interference by the White House. He has upheld that commitment.’
The IRS also said it ‘can’t comment on specific taxpayer matters.’
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk