Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy says the GOP will begin an impeachment inquiry into Attorney General Merrick Garland by July 6 after bombshell IRS whistleblower testimony that the top official at the Justice Department interfered in the criminal investigation into Hunter Biden.
Republicans plan to take action after new allegations by Gary Shapley, an IRS whistleblower and 14-year veteran of the agency who claims Hunter Biden has been given preferential treatment by investigators investigating his tax affairs and lying on an application for a gun permit.
Shapley pointed to a WhatsApp message sent by Hunter Biden on June 30, 2017, to Henry Zhao, a Communist Party official, where he threatened him to follow his ‘orders’ and said his dad was with him. Shapley alleges he raised concerns to DOJ prosecutors about the WhatsApp message, who rebuffed his concerns.
On Monday, McCarthy said U.S. Attorney David Weiss — who led the Hunter Biden probe and charged the president’s son last week for violating federal gun and tax laws the previous week following a five-year investigation — must appear before the House Judiciary Committee.
Additionally, the speaker said an impeachment inquiry into Garland would begin July 6 if the IRS whistleblower claims check out as valid.
“By July 6, because of the allegations, by the IRS, because of the whistleblower, and the DOJ — Garland — what he is saying and what David Weiss is saying privately are two different things,” said the speaker.
“And if it comes true what the IRS whistleblower is saying, we’re going to start impeachment inquiries on the attorney general,” pledged McCarthy.
McCarthy said, “What’s interesting is the IRS whistleblower that has no political background, took copious notes, can tell you the date, can tell you the people in the meeting.”
The speaker said the discrepancies between what Attorney General Merrick Garland and U.S. Attorney Weiss have said is a crucial issue.
According to the whistleblower, “U.S. Attorney Weiss stated that he subsequently asked for special counsel authority from Main DOJ at that time and was denied that authority.”
Merrick Garland continues to defend himself
AG Garland publicly defended himself on Friday and said that Weiss, “Was given complete authority to make all decisions on his own.”
“I don’t know how it would be possible for anybody to block him from bringing a prosecution,” said Garland to reporters.
“Some have chosen to attack the integrity of the Justice Department by claiming that we do not treat cases alike. This constitutes an attack on an institution that is essential to American democracy,” continued Garland.
In a tweet, the speaker alluded that the House might move forward on impeachment articles over the weekend.
“We need to get to the facts, and that includes reconciling these clear disparities. U.S. Attorney David Weiss must provide answers to the House Judiciary Committee,” said McCarthy.
“If the whistleblowers’ allegations are true, this will be a significant part of a larger impeachment inquiry into Merrick Garland’s weaponization of DOJ,” McCarthy continued.
On his ‘Verdict’ podcast, GOP Senator Ted Cruz said last week that the Hunter WhatsApp text proves Biden’s business ties to China.
Speaker McCarthy said he is ‘glad’ that Senator Cruz has caught up to the work the House has been doing to uncover the Biden family’s ties to foreign payments.
“Every single day, we’re bringing people in,” said the speaker on the work of his fellow Republicans.
“This is why you have the bank statements now. This is why you know about the 1023. This is why you know about WhatsApp. We’re continuing to do our information much different than anybody else,” said the speaker, referring to the internal FBI FD-1023 form that was uncovered by the House Oversight Committee, which allegedly said Hunter and Joe Biden each received 45 million from a Ukrainian foreign national in exchange for policy decisions.
“Now, we’ve found the president has lied to us because he said they’ve never dealt with anything in China,” added the speaker. “Now, the [IRS] whistleblower says that he was in a meeting with the Chinese company as the vice president.”
According to the whistleblower, Hunter Biden sent a menacing message in WhatsApp to a Chinese Communist Party official and hinted that his father would ensure he was punished if he did not comply with the unspecified demand.
The allegations undercut consistent claims from the administration and the Biden family that Joe wasn’t involved in the younger Biden’s foreign business dealings. However, the accuracy of Hunter’s claims has yet to be determined.
Hunter Biden’s lawyers insist the WhatsApp ramblings are those of a man in the middle of a drug addiction. The White House has repeatedly emphasized that Joe Biden did not know about Hunter Biden’s business affairs.
Friday, a lawyer for Shapley claimed his attempts to attempt to get to the bottom of the WhatsApp story had been spurned by prosecutors.
“The agents wanted to follow up on this, and the prosecutors told them not to because, oh, well, maybe Hunter Biden was puffing or something like that,” said Shapley’s attorney, Mark Lytle.
Thursday, the House Ways and Means Committee released testimony from two IRS whistleblowers — in addition to Shapley — who said the FBI, IRS, and the Justice Department interfered with the investigation of the tax evasion case against Hunter Biden.
