IRS whistleblower opens up on Hunter Biden probe
Gary Shapley tells Bret Baier that US Attorney David Weiss claimed he wasn't calling the shots.
Eileen O'Connor, a former head of the U.S. Justice Department’s tax division, wrote in an op-ed on Wednesday that the judge who is presented with Hunter Biden's plea deal should throw it in the "trash."
"The judge to whom that agreement is presented on July 26 ought to consider rejecting it," she wrote, noting the "plea agreement reportedly reached between Mr. Weiss and the president’s son gives credence to the whistleblowers’ statements."
"Judges can reject plea agreements. That would be an appropriate disposition here. And Congress, in fulfillment of its oversight obligation, must learn and share with the American public what evidence the IRS gathered, what evidence its agents weren’t permitted to obtain, and what charges might have been brought if they had," O'Connor wrote in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal.
O'Connor's op-ed, headlined "Throw Hunter Biden’s Plea Deal in the Trash," asked, "how could the agreement stand?"
Hunter Biden disembarks from Air Force One at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, New York, U.S., February 4, 2023. (REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz)
Fox News confirmed that the Biden will plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax. He also agreed to enter into a pretrial diversion agreement regarding a separate charge of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.
The U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware David C. Weiss said, according to the tax Information, Hunter Biden "received taxable income in excess of $1,500,000 annually in calendar years 2017 and 2018."
O'Connor noted the testimony of Internal Revenue Service whistleblower Gary Shapley, who detailed "roadblocks" he faced in investigating the president's son.
"But on Oct. 7, 2022, Mr. Shapley claims, Mr. Weiss declared in a meeting of the prosecution team that in fact he wasn’t the final decision maker with respect to charges that might be brought against Hunter Biden. It was this statement that shocked and troubled Mr. Shapley such that he braved the consequences of becoming a whistleblower and sought legal counsel on how to do so," she wrote.
President Joe Biden, and his son Hunter Biden arrive at Fort McNair, Sunday, June 25, 2023, in Washington. The Biden's are returning from Camp David. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
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"The Justice Department’s alleged foot-dragging and refusal to permit IRS special agents to follow the evidence allowed the statutes of limitations for 2014 and 2015 to expire, notwithstanding that Mr. Biden’s defense counsel had, according to Mr. Shapley, agreed to more than one extension. Far worse, Mr. Garland’s failure to designate Mr. Weiss a special counsel essentially guaranteed that Mr. Biden wouldn’t be prosecuted for any of his alleged tax crimes," O'Connor continued.
Former Director of National Intelligence and U.S. attorney John Ratcliffe said Sunday that the judge shouldn't accept the plea.
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden joined by Hunter Biden and Ashley Biden attend their granddaughter Maisy Biden's graduation from the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field on May 15, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
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"The judge in this case shouldn't accept the plea, because, as you know, judges are required to look at all of the defendant's conduct. And in this case, you start with some of that conduct being on videotape and showing felony possession of a firearm while using a controlled substance, that's a felony that carries a maximum penalty of ten years.," Ratcliffe said.
"The judge is going to be aware of whistleblower testimony, that the very prosecutors in this case, according to the whistleblower, did more than exercised prosecutorial discretion, they obstructed parts of this investigation, including shutting down an investigation into a WhatsApp text message that shows that the vice president's son and possibly the vice president threatened a Chinese businessman with ties to the Chinese Communist Party and received a $5 million payment a few days later," he continued.
Fox News' Brooke Singman and David Spunt contributed to this report.
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