A significant development in Washington, D.C. is that the House Judiciary Committee has scheduled a transcripted interview with Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf, who is involved in the federal investigation into Hunter Biden. The meeting took place in private on Thursday morning following Wolf’s subpoena to testify before the panel last month.
Fox News reported that sources say Wolf is no longer with the Justice Department, having left weeks ago as a result of long-term plans to leave the organization.
The charges made by whistleblowers Gary Shapley, who oversaw the IRS’s portion of the Hunter Biden investigation, and Joseph Ziegler, a seasoned special agent in the IRS’s Criminal Investigation Division, are the main subject of the interview. They assert that during the course of the Hunter Biden investigation, which got underway in 2018, prosecutorial choices were influenced by politics.
Shapley accused Wolf of trying to limit questions about President Biden that were asked while the probe was going on. He specifically said that Wolf attempted to restrict inquiries over apparent allusions to Biden as “dad” or “the big guy,” asserting that there was no particular crime involved in that line of inquiry. It is said that this approach infuriated the FBI.
In addition, Shapley stated in court that in October 2020, Wolf examined and accepted probable cause in an affidavit for a search warrant for Hunter Biden’s home but finally chose not to conduct a physical search. Wolf, he said, had worries about the “optics” and whether such acts could be approved.
Furthermore, Wolf is charged with anticipatorily alerting Hunter Biden’s defense team to an impending search of his storage facility.
The House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo. ), the Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), and the Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) are leading a larger House impeachment investigation into President Biden, which includes the testimony given today. The investigation is looking into the possibility that the federal investigation into Hunter Biden may become politicized, as well as the international commercial ventures of the Biden family and the President’s purported role in or gain from them.
President Biden has continuously denied having anything to do with his son’s business dealings.
When Hunter Biden refused to show up for a deposition before the House Oversight Committee on a subpoena, the situation around him took a turn for the worst. Rather, he made a public statement on Capitol Hill disputing the Republican-led investigation for his impeachment and claiming his father had no participation in his commercial affairs. Comer and Jordan have responded by threatening to declare Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress.
Hunter Biden made his public remarks soon after being accused by Special Counsel David Weiss for a four-year scam involving fake tax returns and unpaid federal income taxes. In relation to $1.4 million in taxes that have since been paid, the charges—which were brought before the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California—include three felonies and six misdemeanors. Hunter Biden has entered a not guilty plea to federal firearms charges against him as well. Abbe Lowell, his lawyer, is attempting to get these charges dropped.
Amidst these developing events, Weiss’s research continues.