Hunter Biden investigation: Jim Jordan hammers lead investigator after whistleblower reveal
Reese Gorman
Video Embed
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) urged other IRS employees to come forward while Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan pressed David Weiss on his statements of “ultimate authority” during Wednesday’s IRS whistleblower hearing.
Smith, who was brought onto the committee for the hearing, said the testimony of the IRS whistleblowers, supervisory agent Gary Shapley and special agent Joe Ziegler, was credible and praised them for coming forward.
WHITE HOUSE LAUNCHES PROGRAM TO LABEL CYBERSECURITY RISKS OF SMART DEVICES
“After raising their concerns internally at the IRS, these whistleblowers were discouraged and demoralized and turned to Congress as a last resort,” Smith said in his opening statement. “They bravely reported wrongdoing to us. And what have President Biden’s allies – including Hunter Biden’s lawyers – done? They’ve responded with a vicious smear campaign to discredit these whistleblowers and discourage others from coming forward and may have even coordinated with the White House on that effort. This is a disgrace.”
He urged other possible whistleblowers at the IRS to come forward to his committee and said there would be “zero tolerance for any retaliation against whistleblowers by DOJ or the IRS.”
Jordan, who sits on the Oversight Committee, hit Weiss, the lead U.S. attorney on the Hunter Biden investigation, for continually switching his story.
“On April 26, in front of the United States Senate, the Attorney General said David Weiss is in charge of the investigation,” Jordan said. “On October 7, in a meeting with Gary Shapley, one of the whistleblowers, David Weiss said I’m not the deciding official. Who you going to believe?”
On June 7, in a letter, Weiss said he had been granted “ultimate authority” on the case, then on July 1, Weiss sent a letter to Jordan saying he stood by his previous statements but expanded on them.
“Mr. Weiss can’t keep his story straight,” Jordan said. “Three different stories in a five-week time frame.”
Jordan continued by talking about the whistleblowers praising their testimonies.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“You know whose story hasn’t changed, these two guys,” he said, motioning to the whistleblowers. “Their testimony has been consistent throughout their testimony has been the same. And guess what, two days ago, an FBI agent confirmed their testimony.”
Shapley and Ziegler, who were both originally assigned to the Biden criminal investigation, alleged in their testimony that the Justice Department’s decisions in the investigation were “influenced by politics,” saying investigators were blocked from questioning Hunter Biden, that Weiss was blocked from bringing charges in the jurisdiction of his choice and that his request for special counsel status was denied.