IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler were not able to confirm to congress the supposed loans Joe Biden sent his family members after his vice presidency concluded.
Both IRS agents testified Dec. 5 in front of the House Ways and Means Committee and neither could “verify” the existence of loans between Joe Biden and his family members when he was out of office, according to a newly released transcript of the whistleblower testimony. (RELATED: Comer, Jordan To Begin Contempt Of Congress Proceedings Against Hunter Biden After He Defies Subpoena)
FULL TESTIMONY TRANSCRIPT:
“So Joe Biden is being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for, quote, ‘repayments’ to him of loans that he gave. Were you prevented from actually finding out whether or not those checks from Joe Biden’s account were ever given to those people who are now repaying him?” Republican Texas Rep. Beth Van Duyne asked the whistleblowers.
“I don’t believe we ever obtained records that would have shown us any light on those transactions,” Shapley replied.
“Do you believe that those records would exist?” Van Duyne followed up.
“Oh, yeah, absolutely” Shapley answered. (RELATED: Joe Biden Leads Were ‘Off The Table’ During Hunter Biden Investigation, IRS Whistleblowers Testify)
The White House has repeatedly defended the financial transactions between Joe Biden and other Biden family members by saying the transactions were repayments for loans.
Joe Biden received a $40,000 check in September 2017 from sister-in-law Sara Biden, the wife of James Biden, after a string of transactions beginning with a $5 million payment from a Chinese firm to Hudson West III, Hunter Biden’s business venture with Chinese infrastructure firm CEFC, according to bank records released in November by the House Oversight Committee.
A bank investigator later flagged the money transfers from Hudson West III into Hunter Biden’s Owasco P.C. bank account. He sent Joe Biden multiple payments from Owasco P.C. in late 2018 that appear to be related to a truck purchase, a bank record released by Comer shows.
“Look at the time period of that. That is right around the same time that this Hudson West Three agreement was up and running, and then you have all this other indication that there was some sort of perceived involvement from the former Vice President Joe Biden. So when you put all of that together, it paints a pretty clear picture,” Ziegler told Van Duyne in reference to the $40,000 payment.
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 05: Internal Revenue Service Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley (L) and IRS Criminal Investigator Joseph Ziegler (R), who both worked on the federal investigation into Hunter Biden, testify before the House Ways and Means Committee in the Longworth House Office Building on December 5, 2023 in Washington, DC. The Ways and Means Committee is hearing testimony from Internal Revenue whistleblowers Service Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley and IRS Criminal Investigator Joseph Ziegler, who both claim they were blocked from pursuing leads that would lead to more serious charges during their five-year investigation into Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The check sent by Sara Biden is classified as a loan repayment. A $200,000 check James Biden wrote to his brother in March 2018 is also classified as a loan repayment.
“Mr. Ziegler, the Biden administration has attempted to dismiss concerns over hundreds of thousands of dollars in money-exchanging hands between Biden family members – ultimately ending up in payments to Joe Biden – as stemming from loans and loan repayments. In your investigation of Hunter Biden, did you uncover any evidence that would prove or show these payments to, in fact, be loans or loan repayments?,” asked Republican Missouri Rep. Jason Smith, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
“In all the different scenarios – Burisma, CEFC, all those different scenarios – there was nothing to verify that they were loans in the evidence,” Ziegler replied.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer said in October the bank records in his possession do not indicate loans sent by Joe Biden to his family members. (RELATED: Hunter Biden’s Financial Backer Feared Political ‘Risk’ Caused By Delinquent Tax Returns, Docs Show)
White House spokesman Ian Sams has accused Comer of deception regarding the contents of the bank records. The Biden Administration rejected Comer’s request to release financial documents to verify the supposed loans between Joe Biden and his family members.
“The House Republicans know this. They have in their possession financial records showing Joe Biden gave his brother the money, then his brother paid the loan back,” Sams said on Twitter in November.
James Biden sent Joe Biden the money on the same day he received it from distressed healthcare firm Americore, according to the House Oversight Committee. He signaled to Americore the Biden name could “open doors” and promised a substantial Middle East investment, bankruptcy court documents show.
Bank records viewed by the Washington Examiner appear to suggest Joe Biden sent his brother $240,000 through law firm Monzack, Mersky, McLaughlin, and Browder. The law firm is associated with multiple companies used by Hunter and James Biden for business purposes and it’s unclear whether the account was Joe Biden’s personal account, a GOP Oversight Committee aide told the Examiner.
Mel Monzack is a longtime attorney for the Biden family and previously worked for then-Senator Joe Biden’s failed 2008 Democratic presidential campaign, the Daily Mail reported.
Shapley and Ziegler were both leading IRS investigators during the ongoing Department of Justice (DOJ) criminal investigation into Hunter Biden’s taxes and firearms possession. The IRS agents previously testified with accusations the DOJ gave Hunter Biden special treatment over the course of its investigation overseen by U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware David Weiss, who is now special counsel for the Hunter Biden probe. (RELATED: DOJ Declined Top Hunter Biden Prosecutor’s Request For Additional Authority, Testimony Confirms)
Witness testimony by Weiss and numerous officials involved with the case confirmed core tenets of the IRS whistleblowers’ initial testimony, House Republicans laid out in a Dec. 5 report. The White House disputed Shapley and Ziegler’s allegations in a circulated memo pushing back against the House GOP’s impeachment inquiry into President Biden.
Weiss rejected accusations of political bias when he testified before the House Judiciary Committee, according to a transcript reviewed by the Caller. He did confirm two Biden-appointed U.S. Attorneys declined to cooperate with him on the case. (RELATED: DOJ Prosecutor Accused Of Protecting Joe And Hunter Biden Departs Her Post)
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 13: White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre talks to reporters in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on December 13, 2023 in Washington, DC. White House National Security Council Coordinator For Strategic Communications John Kirby was repeatedly asked about President Joe Biden’s remarks at a Tuesday fundraiser that were critical of Israel’s political leadership and that Israel is starting to lose global support over its “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday President Biden is “proud of his son” and declined to answer specific questions surrounding Hunter Biden’s decision not to appear for a closed-door briefing in front of the House Oversight Committee.
Jean-Pierre said President Biden would not pardon his son and referred reporters to Hunter Biden’s legal team. She called the impeachment inquiry “wasted time” and a “baseless political stunt” Thursday, echoing a statement from President Biden Wednesday night. She repeatedly insisted there is “no evidence” to back up the impeachment inquiry.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said Wednesday they will initiate contempt proceedings against Hunter Biden because he did not comply with a subpoena to show up to the deposition.
Instead, the younger Biden held a press conference on Capitol Hill where he defended his father and attacked his political opponents for supposedly weaponizing his addiction.
“Let me state as clearly as I can: My father was not financially involved in my business, not as a practicing lawyer, not as a board member of Burisma. Not in my partnership with a Chinese private businessman. Not my investments at home nor abroad and certainly not as an artist,” he stated.
House Republicans voted Wednesday night to formalize the impeachment inquiry into President Biden launched in September without a floor vote. The House Ways and Means, Oversight and Judiciary Committees are leading the impeachment inquiry centered around Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings and the IRS whistleblower testimony.
Burisma paid Hunter Biden as much as $83,333.33 per month when he was a board member of the company, bank records show. His salary dropped significantly after Joe Biden’s vice presidency concluded, according to an indictment leveled against Hunter Biden by a federal grand jury in California. Shapley and Ziegler said in a statement the indictment vindicated their testimony. (RELATED: Chinese Business Associate Paid Hunter Biden $1,000,000 For Non-Existent Legal Services, Docs Show)
READ THE INDICTMENT:
Hunter Biden is facing nine tax charges in California and three gun charges in Delaware as part of special counsel Weiss’ ongoing investigation. He pleaded not guilty to the gun charges in October and his lawyers are attempting to have the charges dismissed.
“Based on the facts and the law, if Hunter’s last name was anything other than Biden, the charges in Delaware, and now California, would not have been brought,” Hunter Biden’s defense attorney Abbe D. Lowell said about the California tax charges. Shapley and Ziegler said in a statement the California indictment vindicated their testimony.
The new indictment goes through the income Hunter Biden received from his foreign business dealings and how he allegedly failed to pay over $1 million worth of taxes. (RELATED: Hunter Biden’s Drug Addiction Defense Shattered By New California Indictment)
“The Defendant engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019,” the indictment reads.
“Between 2016 and October 15, 2020, the Defendant individually received more than $7 million in total gross income. This included in excess of $1.5 million in 2016, $2.3 million in 2017, $2.1 million in 2018, $1 million in 2019 and approximately $188,000 from January through October 15, 2020.”
The Biden family and its business associates received more than $24 million from individuals and entities based in Ukraine, Russia, China, Romania and Kazakhstan beginning in 2014 and ending in 2019, according to a House memo circulated in September.
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE – JULY 26: Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, departs the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on July 26, 2023 in Wilmington, Delaware. Biden pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges in a deal with prosecutors to avoid prosecution on an additional gun charge. However, the federal judge overseeing the case unexpectedly delayed Biden’s plea deal and deferred her decision until more information is put forth by both the prosecution and the defense. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Hunter Biden made just under $1 million from Hudson West III in 2017 and an additional $664,000 from a Chinese infrastructure firm, according to his failed guilty plea with DOJ prosecutors. CEFC paid Hunter Biden $100,000 the day after he appeared to send a text on Aug. 3, 2017 bragging about how the “Biden’s [sic] are the best” at doing what the firm wants, according to the Oversight Committee.
“The agreement that I referred to does not name Joe Biden, but there was a belief in the investigation that James Biden was a cover for Joe Biden,” Ziegler said of the Hudson West III business agreement he referred to in the opening statement of his testimony.
In March 2017, Hunter Biden’s business associate Rob Walker received $3 million from State Energy HK and distributed about $1 million of the funds to Biden family members, bank records released by the Oversight Committee show. The California indictment contains identical information about the payments from Hudson West III and State Energy HK.
Monzack Mersky Mclaughlin and Browder is the registered agent for Robinson Walker LLC, the company used by Rob Walker to receive the CEFC payments through State Energy HK, according to the Daily Mail.
Walker told the FBI in a December 2020 interview State Energy HK was a CEFC account and said Joe Biden met with CEFC associates after he left office, a transcript of the interview shows.
“So the money that comes in from State Energy HK March of 2017, the timing of that is so significant, I think, looking back at everything that it makes sense that maybe there was some sort of agreement there that they weren’t going to pay it while — pay that money while the former Vice President was in office,” Ziegler said of the State Energy HK payments.
“The significance of the March 2017 was that they withheld payment from that Chinese company until then-Vice President Biden was no longer in office,” Shapley concurred.
Devon Archer, another former business associate, testified in July before the House Oversight Committee. He said Joe Biden spoke with his son’s business associates about 20 times and recalled a spring 2015 dinner Joe Biden attended alongside a Burisma executive. House lawmakers have issued subpoenas for Walker, James Biden and additional business associates to appear for depositions.
Joe Biden denied communicating with his son’s business associates Dec. 6 after the Ways and Means Committee released email metadata indicating he exchanged over 50 private emails with Eric Schwerin, Hunter Biden’s ex-business associate and accountant.
White House visitor logs indicate Hunter Biden’s business associates visited more than 80 times during the Obama administration, Fox News reported. Archer appeared to visit the White House right after receiving his first payment from Burisma during his time as a board member of the company.
Joe Biden previously denied Archer’s testimony during a confrontation with Fox News reporter Peter Doocy. Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson shared in August a personalized letter then-Vice President Biden wrote to Archer.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.