There is chaos behind the scenes at the DOJ: Mark Lytle
Mark Lytle, the attorney for IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley, weighs in on Hunter Biden's plea deal falling apart on 'The Story.'
Mark Lytle, the attorney for IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley, called for a special counsel to investigate the Biden family hours after Hunter Biden’s plea deal fell apart.
The first son was expected to plead guilty to two counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax and one count of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance. But Judge Maryellen Noreika did not accept the plea agreement, questioning the constitutionality — specifically the diversion clause and the immunity Hunter Biden would receive. After prosecutors said Hunter Biden pleading guilty to the two misdemeanor tax offenses would not immunize him from future charges, he wound up pleading "not guilty."
Lytle told "The Story" Wednesday that he believes the testimony of IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler played a role in Judge Maryellen Noreika’s decision to reject the plea deal.
HUNTER BIDEN'S COUNSEL FACES POSSIBLE SANCTIONS AFTER ACCUSATIONS OF LYING IN CRIMINAL TAX CASE
Supervisory IRS Special Agent Gary Shapley (L) and IRS Criminal Investigator Joseph Ziegler are sworn-in as they testify during a House Oversight Committee hearing related to the Justice Department's investigation of Hunter Biden, on Capitol Hill July 19, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
"I think it had to be an important part of it. I mean, the two whistleblowers stood just a week ago in front of Congress and they were cross-examined for more than 6 hours. They had behind-the-scenes interviews for more than 14 hours combined. These guys, Joe Ziegler, Gary Shapley, my client, they exude credibility," the attorney said.
"They have credibility. They have experience as law enforcement officers, particularly with the IRS. And so I think it carries weight what they have to say."
Ziegler testified before Congress in mid-July that Hunter Biden, his family members and business associates received over $17 million due to business dealings in China, Ukraine and Romania.
Those deals included multimillion-dollar payments to Biden family-linked companies from 2014 to 2019, including $7.3 million from Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings.
Lytle told host Martha MacCallum there is one thing that "no one’s really talked about" during Hunter’s appearance at a Delaware court.
"They haven't actually talked about the fact that the prosecutors, Leslie Wolf, the tax division attorneys, who all agreed to recommend felony charges they're no longer on the case. These prosecutors showed up today in the courtroom. They're absolutely new to the case. And how could they figure out, you know, five years of investigation in a couple of weeks? No one's really talked about that," he explained.
"I think all of this chaos, if you will, behind the scenes of the Department of Justice really just supports the point that there really needs to be a special counsel, that this has really just been too messed up."
Hunter Biden’s legal team exits a Federal Courthouse at the Caleb Boggs Federal Building in Wilmington, Delaware on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. The president’s son plead not guilty to two misdemeanor charges after his plea deal was rejected. (The Image Direct for Fox News Digital )
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Lytle continued, arguing there needs to be a "special counsel who not only can decide what to do with the Bidens, the Biden family, the president, in terms of charges, but also write a report about what happened behind the scenes here so it never happens again because clearly a lot of wrong things were done and we're hoping that Congress will be able to get to the bottom of it and flush out what caused the preferential treatment, the wrong decisions on investigative steps."
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Fox News’ Jessica Chasmar contributed to this report
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