IRS investigators on the Hunter Biden tax case were unable to secure an interview with a key former business associate of the first son, IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler told Congress.
Shapley and Ziegler testified Dec. 5 before the House Ways and Means Committee and told lawmakers how IRS agents on the Hunter Biden investigation were prevented from interviewing Tony Bobulinski, a former business associate who was involved with Hunter Biden’s business dealings with Chinese infrastructure company CEFC. (RELATED: FBI Knew New York Post’s Hunter Biden Laptop Story Was Real Ahead Of 2020 Election, FBI Form Shows)
FULL TESTIMONY TRANSCRIPT:
“So the interview of Anthony Bobulinski. He went into the FBI and offered information. They didn’t ask him questions. We were never afforded the opportunity, as the investigative team, to go in there and interview him, to find out if the things that he was saying was true and correct. And that would have been a logical step that we would have taken. So we will never know what that might have accomplished,” Ziegler told Republican Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick.
Ziegler’s statement was revisited by Republican Florida Rep. Greg Steube during his round of questioning later on in the closed-door session. (RELATED: IRS Whistleblowers Unable To ‘Verify’ Loans White House Claims Joe Biden Sent To Family Members, Testimony Shows)
“So somebody in DOJ wouldn’t allow you to interview Bobulinski,” Steube asked Shapley and Ziegler. Both said Steube was correct.
Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware Lesley Wolf prevented the IRS investigative team from interviewing Bobulinski, Ziegler said. Both IRS whistleblowers have accused Wolf of giving Hunter Biden special treatment throughout her time on the Department of Justice (DOJ) criminal investigation centered around Hunter Biden’s taxes.
Wolf worked extensively on the Hunter Biden case under Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, now special counsel on the Hunter Biden investigation. Weiss defended Wolf and his team of prosecutors when he testified before the House Judiciary Committee in November, according to a transcript reviewed by the Daily Caller.
She departed from the DOJ in the wake of the IRS whistleblower allegations. Witness testimony confirmed key allegations initially brought forward by Shapley and Ziegler in May and June, House Republicans said in a lengthy report released on Dec. 5.
House Judiciary Committee lawmakers subpoenaed Wolf in November to have her testify about her role in the Hunter Biden case. She appeared for closed-door testimony Thursday and refused to answer most questions related to the IRS whistleblower allegations, Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan told Fox News.
“So you guys reached out in your typical investigative activities and wanted to interview him, and she said no,” Steube followed up. (RELATED: Hunter Biden’s Drug Addiction Defense Shattered By New California Indictment)
“So as a team, as an investigative team, that was another step that we wanted to undertake, was to do an interview,” Ziegler replied. He went on to mention Bobulinski’s interview with the FBI.
“But not you guys who were at the time handling the Hunter Biden investigation into the businesses and the tax dealings?” Steube continued. Shapley and Ziegler said he was correct.
Ziegler made similar remarks about the Bobulinski interview attempt in his Dec. 5 opening statement released by the Ways and Means Committee. He clarified an FBI document summarizing the agents’ communications with Bobulinski is not an FD-302 interview summary, as it was listed on the Ways and Means Committee’s website when the document was released in September.
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 05: Internal Revenue Service Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley (2nd L) and IRS Criminal Investigator Joseph Ziegler (R), who both worked on the federal investigation into Hunter Biden, arrive for a hearing 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)
Ziegler briefly discussed the failed attempt to interview Bobulinski in a September affidavit that accompanied the release of the FBI document.
“I can recall that agents on the investigative team brought up on multiple occasions to the assigned prosecutors that they wanted to do an interview of Bobulinski with the assigned case agents. I can recall being told that they would think about it and then ultimately being told there was no need for the team to interview Bobulinski,” Ziegler said in the affidavit.
Bobulinski told the FBI in October 2020 the Hunter Biden laptop contents were real and recalled meeting with Joe Biden to talk business after his vice presidency concluded, according to the FBI summary of its interview with Bobulinski. Text messages first reported by Fox News also indicate Bobulinski met with Joe Biden in May 2017 after his vice presidency.
The Sinohawk discussion centered around a joint venture proposal called “Sinohawk” involving Bobulinski, the Biden family and Chinese firm CEFC. Sinohawk would be split between two holding companies, Oneida Holdings and Hudson West IV. Bobulinski, Gilliar, Hunter Biden, James Biden and business associate Rob Walker were supposed to own Oneida through their respective LLCs, the FBI document indicates.
“Further, BOBULINSKI met with JOSEPH BIDEN inperson on May 2, 2017 at approximately 10:30 PM at the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel bar in Beverly Hills, California where they discussed SINOHAWK. On the following day, May 3, 2017, BOBULINSKI was JOSEPH BIDEN’s guest at the Milken Institute conference, where JOSEPH BIDEN was a speaker. After his speech, BOBULINSKI met with JOSEPH BIDEN for about fifteen minutes backstage,” the FBI document reads.
The New York Post first reported on Oct. 15, 2020 a May 2017 email exchange where James Gilliar, a business associate of Hunter Biden’s, referred to his father as “the big guy” and suggested giving him an equity stake in a potential business deal.
“10 held by H for the big guy?” Gilliar infamously quipped. Shapley testified IRS agents were not allowed to look further into what his email meant.
Bobulinski also recalled the CEFC partnership beginning during Joe Biden’s vice presidency, although no payments were made, according to the FBI document.
“CEFC had used its relationship with HUNTER BIDEN and JAMES BIDEN – and the influence attached to the BIDEN name – to advance CEFC’s interests abroad. HUNTER BIDEN and JAMES BIDEN did not receive any monetary compensation for their assistance in these projects. HUNTER BIDEN and JAMES BIDEN did not receive any compensation because JOSEPH BIDEN was still VPOTUS during this time period,” the FBI document states.
In March 2017, Walker received $3 million from Chinese firm State Energy HK and distributed roughly $1 million to Gilliar and $1 million to Biden family members, bank records released in March by the House Oversight Committee show. Joe Biden’s vice presidency concluded in January 2017 at the end of the Obama administration.
The State Energy HK payments are included in a federal indictment leveled against Hunter Biden by a California grand jury on Dec. 7 for nine tax-related charges. In addition, the California indictment confirms the CEFC discussions began in October 2015, when Joe Biden was the sitting vice president.
READ THE INDICTMENT:
The FBI interviewed Walker in December 2020, and he confirmed the State Energy HK account was a CEFC carveout, an FBI interview transcript shows. He recalled CEFC associates meeting with Joe Biden after his vice presidency at a time when Hunter Biden was trying to close out a deal. (RELATED: Chinese Business Associate Paid Hunter Biden $1,000,000 For Non-Existent Legal Services, Docs Show)
The Sinohawk negotiations fell through, and instead Hunter Biden created Hudson West III, his own business venture with CEFC associates. Hunter Biden transferred Hudson West III funds to his Owasco P.C. business account in 2017 and 2018 until the business venture dissolved, the California indictment states.
“In total, HWIII made seven transfers to Owasco, PC in 2017 totaling approximately $1.445 million. The Defendant then transferred approximately $555,000 of these funds from Owasco, PC’s Wells Fargo Account to Business Associate 3. In 2018, HWIII made another 15 transfers to Owasco, PC, totaling approximately $2.1 million, and the Defendant transferred approximately $843,999 of these funds to Business Associate 3,” the indictment states.
The business associate in question appears to be Hunter Biden’s uncle and business partner James Biden, who worked with him on the Hudson West III deal, an interview memo released by the Ways and Means Committee shows. (RELATED: James Biden Told Healthcare Firm His Last Name Could ‘Open Doors’ And Promised Middle East Investment, Court Docs Show)
Bank records released in November by the Oversight Committee also indicate James Biden received funds from Hudson West III through Hunter Biden’s Owasco P.C. account. The State Energy HK bank records show James Biden’s LLCs received roughly a third of the funds sent to Biden family accounts.
Hunter Biden’s attorney wrote a letter in October accusing Bobulinski of lying to the FBI, NBC News first reported. He vehemently denied the accusation in a statement to the Washington Free Beacon. Bobulinski’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment. (RELATED: ‘What Are They Afraid Of?’: Hunter Biden Says Joe ‘Saved My Life,’ Refuses To Appear For House GOP Deposition)
The House Oversight Committee is seeking an interview with Bobulinski as part of the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden based on his son’s foreign business dealings and the IRS whistleblower allegations.
House Republicans voted Wednesday night to formalize the impeachment inquiry and strengthen its legal authority.