An assistant U.S. attorney for the Department of Justice (DOJ) weighed whether it was “worth” conducting a search of President Joe Biden’s Delaware home during an IRS investigation into his son Hunter Biden due to the “optics,” a whistleblower alleged in documents published Thursday.
The IRS wanted to search the Bidens’ Delaware residence where Hunter Biden had stayed for some time after they discovered text messages indicating the two Bidens had been involved in negotiations with the younger Biden’s Chinese business associate, IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley said in an interview with the House Ways and Means Committee on May 26. (RELATED: IRS Revelations: Hunter Said Joe Was In The Room In Message Threatening Chinese Partner)
On Sept. 3, 2020, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf told investigators “there was more than enough probable cause for the physical search warrant there, but the question was whether the juice was worth the squeeze,” Shapley said.
Wolf also said “that optics were a driving factor in the decision on whether to execute a search warrant. She said a lot of evidence in our investigation would be found in the guest house of former Vice President Biden, but said there is no way we will get that approved,” Shapley alleged.
The White House referred the Caller to the DOJ. The DOJ told the Caller, “As both the Attorney General and U.S. Attorney David Weiss have said, U.S. Attorney Weiss has full authority over this matter, including responsibility for deciding where, when, and whether to file charges as he deems appropriate. He needs no further approval to do so.”
David Weiss is the U.S. attorney for the District Court for the District of Delaware, and is the prosecutor overseeing Hunter Biden’s case.
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 22: NASA administrator Bill Nelson (L) and Hunter Biden, (R) son of U.S. President Joe Biden, greet guests during a state dinner at the White House on June 22, 2023 in Washington, DC. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are hosting a state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Modi as part of his first official state visit to the United States. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The prosecutors also wanted to completely remove Hunter Biden‘s name from electronic search warrants, Shapley said.
After Hunter Biden had been assigned Secret Service protection on approximately Dec. 3, 2020, Shapley said IRS investigators “developed a plan for the FBI Los Angeles special agent in charge to reach out at 8 a.m. on December 8th to the Secret Service Los Angeles special agent in charge and tell them that we would be coming to the residence to seek an interview with Hunter Biden and that it was part of an official investigation.”
Before they could execute the plan, Shapley said the FBI headquarters “had notified Secret Service headquarters and the transition team about the planned actions the following day.”
“This essentially tipped off a group of people very close to President Biden and Hunter Biden and gave this group an opportunity to obstruct the approach on the witnesses,” Shapley added.
The investigation into Hunter Biden was launched in November of 2018 “as an offshoot of an investigation the IRS was conducting into a foreign-based amateur online pornography platform,” Shapley said. The whistleblower added that he came forward because “the Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office, Department of Justice Tax, and Department of Justice provided preferential treatment and unchecked conflicts of interest in an important and high-profile investigation of the President’s son, Hunter Biden.”