Below is my column in Fox.com on the disclosure of a letter from counsel for an IRS whistleblower alleging political influence with the criminal investigation of Hunter Biden. There is much that we still do not know, including the credibility and evidence of the whistleblower. However, false statements to Congress are criminal acts and the allegations have to be taken seriously.
Here is the column:
“No one f**ks with a Biden.” That statement by President Joe Biden last year to a Florida mayor seems more than just a boast this week after a whistleblower at the Internal Revenue Service surfaced. The Wall Street Journal reported that a career IRS Criminal Supervisory Agent has alleged preferential treatment given to Hunter Biden in tax investigations. The whistleblower also alleges that he or she has information that contradicts the testimony of “a senior Biden political appointee.”
The timing of the letter itself was notable. For years, the Democratically controlled committees blocked any investigation into allegations of corruption and influence peddling by the Biden family. Before the takeover by the Republicans in the House, this whistleblower would have had little reason to seek protection from a Committee with demonstrably little interest in such allegations.
In fairness to the Democrats, both parties have used their power to shield presidents or political allies. However, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability has now uncovered an array of new facts that are shedding light on what could be one of the largest influence peddling efforts in history. For a city where influence peddling is a virtual cottage industry, that is saying a lot. Even in this premier league of corruption, the Biden family is the G.O.A.T.
Just this week, Chairman Comer revealed that new financial documents show six additional Biden family members may have benefited from foreign payments. That brings the total to nine Biden family members who appear on suspicious transactions or bank records. The identity of these family members and the underlying payments remain unclear, but the past disclosures of alleged influence peddling by Hunter Biden and his uncle James warrant full investigation.
The Bidens have long counted on an enabling media to tamp down coverage of corruption allegations. The most remarkable effort was successfully burying the Hunter Biden laptop story before the election. The Bidens were able to get the media to buy into the effort. For many reporters, even the acknowledgment of this corruption would be a self-indictment of their own lack of curiosity and integrity.
Yet, there has also been a notable lack of perceptible movement in any of the investigations of the Bidens. Take the investigation of David Weiss, the U.S. attorney for the District of Delaware. Weiss is looking into an array of possible crimes, including tax violations, unlawful work as a foreign agent, unlawful foreign transactions and other offenses. Many of these crimes are relatively easy to investigate but the investigation has moved at a glacial pace.
There is ample evidence of Hunter working for foreign entities without registering as a foreign agent — a crime that the Justice Department used liberally against other defendants like Trump’s former campaign chair, Paul Manafort. There are also clearly false statements used by Hunter in relation to his possession of a handgun that appear undeniable.
However, years have passed without any indictment from Weiss or any state counterpart. At the same time, Attorney General Merrick Garland has steadfastly ignored the obvious basis for the appointment of a special counsel despite repeated references to the President as an intended recipient of influence peddling proceeds.
That history has fueled concerns over whether federal investigations are being manipulated or misdirected.
The allegation of political influence at the IRS could add an additional potential criminal element to the mix. Section 7212 of the Internal Revenue Code makes it a felony for anyone “corruptly” to attempt to “obstruct or impede the due administration of” the Internal Revenue Code.
Notably, Hunter recently called for the IRS to investigate his critics and potentially strip groups of their tax exempt status.
The use of the IRS to target political enemies or protect political allies has long been a concern for Congress. Protections against political influence were ramped up after the Nixon Administration. In one of the recorded conversations from the Oval Office, Nixon explained his expectations for the next commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service:
“I want to be sure he is a ruthless son of a bitch, that he will do what he’s told, that every income tax return I want to see I see, that he will go after our enemies and not go after our friends. Now it’s as simple as that. If he isn’t, he doesn’t get the job.”
Nixon’s infamous enemies list with hundreds of names were sent to the IRS for action. Even with the Nixon reforms, allegations of political manipulation of the IRS have continued. During the Obama Administration, former IRS official Lois Lerner and others were accused of targeting conservative groups. Lerner later refused to testify in Congress and was found in contempt.
More recently, there were similar concerns raised by a house visit of the IRS to the home of journalist Matt Taibbi — on the same day that he testified on the censorship efforts of the Biden Administration.
The sensitivity over the possible use of the IRS for political purposes runs deep with the public. The IRS is the one federal agency that requires every citizen to annually disclose information on the income, expenses, and family arrangements. Perhaps for that reason, the IRS has long been the least popular agency,according to polls.
The expanding investigation of the House Oversight Committee could also make things more difficult for the Administration.
I previously wrote how the Weiss investigation could be used to defuse the Hunter Biden scandal by producing some relatively limited charges and a favorable plea bargain. President Biden and the media could then go into the 2024 election by saying that the matter is closed. More importantly, with the closure of the investigation, most of the information reviewed by Weiss would ordinarily remain undisclosed.
The problem is that, while the delay worked to the advantage of the Bidens before the 2020 election, it may now work against them. With the House turnover, committees are uncovering far more information. Recently, Republicans pressured Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to lift long-standing bars on disclosing suspicious activity reports (SARs) related to Hunter Biden.
A plea will no longer have the advantage of keeping evidence from the public. With the public disclosure of information, the basis for possible criminal charges will also be made public. It then becomes more difficult to scuttle or minimize criminal charges against Hunter Biden.
The most recent spin of Democrats is that influence peddling is legal. That is technically true but the means used for influence peddling can often prove criminal, including false statements to investigators. However, regardless of whether this is a crime, it is most certainly a form of corruption. We should want to know if the Biden family received millions from foreign sources to influence national policies or priorities.
For Democrats, this should not be the hill to die on. The party has already embraced censorship. It should not now embrace corruption.
Jonathan: So now the GOP HOAC has an IRS agent that allegedly has docs showing Hunter Biden was given preferential treatment by the IRS? You say the Committee could uncover “one of the largest influence peddling efforts in history”. That’s a tall order considering that Nixon set the standard for influence peddling, law breaking and corruption. Since January Comer and Jim Jordan have had several hearings but came up empty handed to support your claims.
As to the Delaware US Attorney David Weiss’ investigation, that began in 2018, we don’t know much other than media reporting. The Washington Post reports that the investigation is “focused more closely on whether he [Hunter] had reported all of his income and whether he had lied on a gun purchase paperwork…” The WP also noted Hunter paid over $1million in back taxes and there is no indication any of Hunter’s income went to his dad.
The current HOAC investigation involving the IRS agent reminds me of how you hyped the Committee’s investigation of Hunter Biden’s art work. Back in February Chairman Comer alleged a “novice artist” was getting huge amounts for his paintings that could not be justified. Comer speculated Hunter was getting secret money from foreign interests intent on influencing Biden administration. Comer demanded that Gorges Burges, the art galley owner, come and testify about the sale of Hunter’s art work. What happened to that investigation? Apparently into a black hole inside the HOAC.
I look on the current House GOP various Biden witch hunt investigations like the hype by Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship venture. After a technical problem the Starship rocket lifted off Texas this morning but blew up at 9:33am EDT over the Gulf. I predict the same result for the various GOP House investigations of the Biden family! But you will continue to push the Biden family “corruption” scandal but that is what you get paid to do.
Hey folks, the Biden team is now promulgating new regulations that will have people with better finances paying HIGHER interest rates for a mortgage in order to subsidize lower income people with ostensibly worse credit ratings.
So in our new life in DOUBLESTANDARDSTAN we have riskier loans costing less than more secure loans???? This only makes sense if a) you are trying to only redistribute wealth or b) are intentionally trying to cause an economic meltdown like that which occurred in 2008. Once the people with bad credit get the loans, default on said loans, get foreclosed on said loans and walk away from their obligations we may see the housing market take a tumble. But hey…EQUITY over EQUALITY!
Hullbobby,
That’s a tax on mortgages.
I wonder how long before Biden’s WH gets sued.
That’s a tax on mortgages.
Yep. And California is going to tax electricity, according to your wealth. Democrats are on a role. busy violating the Constitution.
Sounds like Obama care.
Time to re-read “The Little Red Hen”.
Biden can’t decide whether to run or not because a) if he thinks he is in deep trouble he will bow out hoping to end the feeding frenzy or b) if he thinks he is in deep trouble he needs to stay in the race in order to retain the juice to keep quashing the investigations. Only an in power Democrat has the juice to keep the Delaware investigation going quietly for 4 years.
PS. I forgot to add that the bigger the down payment you put down on your new home the more it will cost you???? Think about that. So the 24 year old single woman that has a 450 credit rating and puts down 3% will get a better rate than the married couple with a 700 credit rating putting down 20%.
This is the financial version of “fat is healthy” being pushed by the equity fascists.
HullBobby,
Yep. Read that one yesterday (alt-media) and did a OT post to the good professor’s blog as a PSA.
Thank you professor and Darren for allowing me to do so.
As I stated in my comment, do everything right, save, pay off your debts in a timely manner, get punished by the Biden admin to fund all those whom did not.
Ham/cheese sandwich 2024! Deli meat and dairy products are more appealing than Biden/Harris!
America has fallen asleep watching cnn. The alarm is ringing but no one hears it. Snooze button – another half hour. Oops, America woke up too late.
@kennedy
Yes, but that alarm has been blaring since at least 2008. Some people just won’t wake up. Said to my 55 year-old NPR loving brother recently, ‘There is liberal in the classical sense, and then there is woke.’. His response, I kid you not: ‘What’s woke?’. 🙄🙄
Kennedy Obrien and James,
Funny, I just read that while Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was announcing his 2024 presidential bid, a fire alarm went off.
His response was,
“Nice try!”
Who would do such a thing?
Some would declare a Trumpists!
I would be more inclined to believe it was a Biden supporter or someone deep in the DNC.
The “decorated supervisory IRS agent,” as described in Mark Lytle’s letter to the Congress, appears to have covered all the bases here, right down to not telling her own lawyer facts that would violate IRS code – a very important detail. For this person – whomever she is – to step forward is a big deal if it’s not a plant of some sort. I hope Turley and others are correct in their “assumptions.” Mark Lytle, the agent’s attorney, has a great resume according to his company bio: “For more than five years, he [Lytle] was the Chief of the Financial Crimes and Public Corruption Unit at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, where he supervised more than 15 federal prosecutors whose investigations and trials covered just about every white-collar matter possible, including: fraud, corruption, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, health care fraud, securities fraud, insider trading, defense industry procurement fraud, fraud instituted on the intelligence community, and financial institution fraud.”
Lytle is no slip-and-fall guy and his presence in the case has already probably caused considerable concern, if not angst, within the halls of Justice, the WH and Congress. By all accounts, this is a serious law firm, known and respected for this kind of work at the highest level and so this story, I’m sure, has legs, as they say. Plus, given how meticulous the lawyer and his client have been thus far in following the “system,” I would expect them to have in hand sufficient hard evidence in the forms of emails, recorded telephone messages, and other iron-clad proof of the facts asserted. I doubt if a lawyer of the caliber of Mark Lytle would engage with a client who was either disingenuous or unproven.
Suspicious Activity Reports are more than perfunctory forms. They are sent to FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) – which is more than a repository of useless reports. It has a responsibility and the authority to investigate each and every SARs report for evidence of money laundering and/or other crimes involving national security. As a member of the Treasury Department, both FinCEN and IRS work closely and have access to financial records of a very specialized nature. Right now, speculation is that the “official” who gave false testimony to congress was the AG Merritt Garland. Janel Yellen also has testified on this issue. Right now, mostly because of the presence of Mark Lytle, this case has to be taken seriously. When you spend 15 years investigating and prosecuting fraud, corruption, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations and other so-called white collar crimes, you should know the real thing when it shows up on your doorstep.
JJC,
Thank you for writing up that summary and the background into Mark Lytle.
Thank you, UpstateFarmer, for noticing. You can usually tell the credibility of a claim by the claimant’s attorney. Remember Stormy Daniels and her attorney Michael Avanatti. I believe he’s doing time in a federal pen nowadays. So much for him and her. Celebrity lawyers do not always make the most credible advocates for their clients. It’s those quiet no-name guys that tend to attract sincere and credible clients. Mark Lytle appears to be that sort of lawyer. By the way, I said he was a prosecutor in the EDVA for 15 years. It actually was for 5 years but he supervided 15 other prosecutors. Best wishes.
Many, if not all of us, have noticed. I thank you too.
Thank you, Ron, I appreciate that very much. Turley is a great resource and well worth supporting at times. He reminds us of the kind of Democrats our parents and gradparents knew.
JJC, Turley’s site is great and one reason it is great is due to the comments section and that is because of great commenters like you, Upstate, Ron and many others. There are only 3 or 4 stiffs that try to ruin the section, but the great many good people make it a ton of fun as well as being very informative, even to us old timers that have been out of school for many, many years.
1000% Agree.
IRS special investigator Irwin Schyster warns against itemizing & writing off a dirt nap.
It is not tax deductible! Irwin is going after dead beat dads & tax beats.
Wow! No longwinded, irrelevant dissertations from’ the usual suspects’. This calls for breaking out a keg of Bud-Light!!@
ZZDoc is the new G.O.A.T.
@Estovir: Flattery will get you everywhere, Doc.
ZZDoc,
Thank you for the laugh!
@UpstateFarmer….always game to please!
They embraced corruption long time ago!
Best line in the article: “Even in this premier league of corruption, the Biden family is the G.O.A.T.”
If false statements to Congress are a criminal act, why weren’t people like Clapper and HRC, to name only a few, prosecuted for perjury? Rhetorical question.
Mary, one of our great commenters on this site, don’t forget Comey and McCabe as well. Also, why wasn’t Lois Lehrner sent to prison?
Most false statements to Congress aren’t criminal. In order to be a crime, they have to be knowingly and willfully material false statements (if they’re not knowingly and willfully false, no crime; if it’s not materially false, no crime). And it’s not a perjury prosecution, it’s an 18 U.S. Code § 1001 prosecution.
Anonymous, are you saying that Comey and McCabe, two heads of the FBI weren’t aware that they were lying? Another lame attempt to cover for your Democrat masters.
a) You’re begging the question by saying that they were lying. Perhaps what you mean is “are you saying that Comey and McCabe, two heads of the FBI weren’t aware that they were” making a *false statement*?
And how would I know, since I’m not a mind-reader?
b) You ignore the fact that it not only has to be knowingly and willfully false, it ALSO has to be *materially* false.
You can’t even bring yourself to quote whatever false statement you’re referring to, for us to check whether it meets all the conditions.
An IRS whistleblower is alleging political influence with the criminal investigation of Hunter Biden. His wayward son and his own involvement with the boy’s shenanigans has kept Biden on the fence deciding whether or not he will continue to plague the nation with another run for the Emperor’s Throne. As this newest concern unfolds, it is certain his seat on the fence will go on longer. Let’s hope the octogenarian is seat belted not to fall off.
One picture versus a thousand words
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.gettyimages.com%2Fphotos%2Fsad-man-with-hat-sitting-on-fence-picture-id156462611&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=05b6dcc8f60de7718b1d26a3ae31fa1fedcee79fd38696aae649211d7613ca80&ipo=images
No One Is Above The Law!
Let me rephrase that.
You little people are Below the law.
Us important people not so much.
Not you Trump.
The entire Executive Branch, and ESPECIALLY the DOJ, FBI and IRS, are solidly on Team Biden’s Russian Disinformation Team. And Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss is perfecting his own version of what crypto folks call a “slow rug”. Thank you, Jonathan, for an excellent article.
And Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss is perfecting his own version of what crypto folks call a “slow rug”.
In reality, Garland has prevented Weiss from investigating Biden, or adjacent persons to POTUS. Garland has repeated under oath in front of Congress that Weiss has full autonomy to follow the evidence where ever it leads him. In reality Garland has severely limited Weiss.
Turley said Both parties protect their own.
To SOME extent that is true.
But it is not True equally. further EXACTLY how that protection is being done Matters.
Most of us understant that the IRS and the Executive generally may not be used to coverup potential crimes, or to target ONLY oponets based on weak allegations of crimes.
The case against Manafort and other Trump associates should never have been brought.
FARA is unconstitutional. But now that it has been successfully used against republicans it must either be FOUND unconstitutional or used against democrats behaving even more egregiously.
Further Manafort was not receiving tens of millions in foreign funds to influence his brother, his father, or even those in government.
Manafort hired Tony Podesta – Democrat, to do the actual lobbying. Podesta – also not registered as required by FARA was never prosecuted.
Conversely Hunter Biden was Directly lobbying federal agencies, and the vice president of the united states – as well as others in the Obama White House
During the Trump administration the Executive branch was weaponized Against Trump.
During the Biden administration it is weaponized against Biden’s enemies.
If Trump was ever caught as Nixon was – he should go to jail.
Why arent the Biden’s in jail ?
When you lose the home court advantage it can really be a b—-h. Better to come clean now because, if the democrats lose the White House in 2024, I don’t think there will be many pleas for mercy or clemency or any willingness to listen to those pleas. Of course by then Joe would be able to act like his real self and would be declared incompetent to stand trial.
I have been watching for the Democrats support of the Biden admin to run in 2024.
With all the baggage of the Biden Crime Family, now this, I think we could see a real turn of Democrats to Kennedy.
Nonsense. If Biden loses in 2024 he can pardon his son (and himself) on the way out.
Hunter’s real risk is that Joe Biden dies, and Harris throws Hunter under the bus (as she would).
I hope he bought Life Insurance because nobody will sell him a policy now.
Influence pedaling?
There’s a bit more to that.
Treason could be a charge as well.
Tony Bobulinski TOLD US the Bidens were Corrupt
Hunter’s Laptop TOLD us the Bidens were Corrupt….50 of the TOP Intel people(all with TOP SECRET CLEARANCE) TOLD us it was the RUSSIANS
Everyone of those 50 should be JAILED FOR LIFE or Executed for Treason!
NO ONE DOES ANYTHING!
50 “top” intel people = Tony Blinken x 50
General Nuisance, 50 times zero is zero. So make it 50 x 1. Oh yeah, don’t forget Jake Sullivan.
the DOJ, IRS, FBI and all other 3 letter agencies are laughably 100% corrupt for DEMOCRATS
Time to cut federal government 50% and then move 75% of DC fed gov to the heartland
DC is Lost!
Regardless of political persuasion, the problem is that crooked politicians, bureaucrats and their families never face any consequences. Start having public executions of crooked “public servants” and the problem goes away in a New York minute.
Biden/Fetterman 2024! The clear choice platform!
Independent Bob,
I will do you one better: Ham/Cheese sandwich 2024! Deli meat and dairy products! The clear choice platform!
😉
Should not embrace corruption? Too late. By decades.
PatrickO. You beat me to it. They shouldn’t embrace corruption, but they do. They shouldn’t ignore their oath of office, but they do. Only in elected federal government can one become mysteriously wealthy and nobody can ask why.