The testimony of an IRS Whistleblower released Thursday by the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee may lead to tough questions for President Joe Biden and the Attorney General Merrick G. Garland.

Republicans released transcripts from two whistleblowers. One of them said that he saw evidence that Joe Biden had been present when his son Hunter attempted to pressurize a Chinese investor into sending him millions of dollars. The IRS Criminal Supervisory Agent Gary A. Shapley Jr. also claimed that the Department of Justice interfered with the investigation of Hunter Biden’s tax crimes, contrary to Garland.

Although the mainstream media has largely ignored these revelations, Garland and Biden will have to answer several questions in some form or fashion, even if it is only during the campaign.

Five key questions

1. Joe Biden was in the room at the time Hunter Biden pressed a Chinese investor for money? Biden has repeatedly said that he never discussed the business interests of his family. Shapley, however, said:

We obtained a message sent by Hunter Biden on July 30, 2017 to Henry Zhao. Hunter Biden wrote, “I’m sitting here with my dad and we want to know why the promise made hasn’t been kept. Tell the director I want to solve this issue now, before it becomes a problem. This means tonight. Z, if you get a text or call from someone else involved than Zhang or you, I’ll make sure that the man next to me, and everyone he knows, will regret you not following my directions. I am waiting here for the call from my father.”

Shapley stated that the message along with other evidence could have been used to get a warrant for Joe Biden’s house, but Assistant U.S. attorney Lesley Wolf refused on grounds of “optics.”

Shapley stated that the Department of Justice had denied any other attempts to investigate the Bidens. Joe Biden could still be asked if he was actually present or if his son lied in order to extort the foreign investor.

2. Merrick Garland, did he block the appointment of a special prosecutor in the Hunter Biden Case? Merrick Garland said to Congress that U.S. attorney David Weiss, in Delaware, was allowed total freedom in the Hunter Biden case, and that the U.S. Department of Justice, in Washington, D.C., was not involved. Shapley, however, told Congress that Garland had rejected Weiss’ request to appoint an independent counsel after the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia declined to prosecute Hunter Biden in the District of Columbia:

Between March 2022 and October 7th 2022, based on AG Garland’s testimony to Congress and statements made by U.S. attorney Weiss and other prosecutors, I had the impression that they were still debating whether or not to charge tax violations from 2014 and 2015.

United States Attorney Weiss told me later that the D.C. U.S. attorney would not permit U.S. Assistant Weiss charge those years within his district. United States Attorney Weiss then requested special counsel authority to charge in District of Columbia from Main DOJ. I’m not sure if Weiss asked before or after Attorney General’s statement of April 26th 2022. But he said that his request for this authority was denied, and he was told that he should follow DOJ’s processes.

This process ensured that no charges were ever brought in District of Columbia where the statute of limitation on the charges for 2014 and 2015 would expire. In the years under consideration, there was foreign income from Burisma as well as a scheme by which he hoped to evade income taxes via a partnership formed with a convicted criminal. FARA questions could also be raised in relation to 2014 and 2015 Intentionally excluding the years 2014 and 2015 wiped out the most serious criminal conduct, and concealed important facts.

Garland must explain why he refused a request for special counsel if Weiss did indeed have free reign.

3. Merrick Garland lied to Congress about Weiss’s ability file cases in any State? Garland said to the Senate in March that U.S. attorney Weiss could bring charges against Hunter Biden outside of Delaware if needed.

Shapley, however, testified in court that Weiss was denied the right to file such charges both in D.C. as well as the Central District of California.

Around this time there was discussion that the remaining tax year, 2016, ’17, ’18, and ’19 needed to be brought to the Central District in California. The Central District of California United States Attorney’s Office did not explain why the case was delayed until mid-September of 2022 after it had been rejected in D.C.

The Central District of California was notified by the prosecution that the case had been presented to them in mid-September. Martin Estrada, the United States attorney appointed by President Biden, was confirmed at the same time. We asked to be allowed to attend, but were denied.

Garland is almost certain to be asked about the discrepancy in his testimony and Shapley’s.

4. Does the Department of Justice slow down the Hunter Biden Investigation to benefit Joe Biden? Shapley said that career officials in the Department of Justice intentionally slowed down the investigation of Hunter Biden’s tax violations to hit the “window”, before the 2020 presidential elections, and have an excuse to not act. This was presumably done to help Biden’s chances of beating President Trump.

After former Vice President Joseph Biden was announced as the Democratic presumptive nominee for president in early April 2020 by the DOJ, career officials delayed the IRS from taking these investigative measures.

In June 2020, the same career officials had already delayed overt investigative action. It was a long time before the usual 60-90-day period in which DOJ traditionally pauses before an election. There was no doubt that DOJ deliberately slowed down the investigation in this case.

It is another example of how the DOJ has been politicized by Trump, not to help but to harm him.

5. Do you think the Department of Justice has obstructed justice by leaking information to the Bidens’? Shapley said that Assistant U.S. attorney Wolf had warned Hunter Biden’s lawyers about possible aspects of the investigation. She allegedly warned them about a potential search of Hunter Biden’s business records in one instance.

The prosecutorial team will meet again on December 10, 2020 to discuss next steps. Hunter Biden had vacated Owasco’s Washington, D.C., offices. All of his documents were stored in a unit located in northern Virgini