WASHINGTON – President Biden’s handpicked federal prosecutor in DC confirmed to Congress last week that he will not cooperate with his counterpart in Delaware to bring tax charges against Hunter Biden’s eldest son – arguing that such cooperation is rare because there is “no way” to “quickly in everything.”
Matthew Graves made arguments to the House Judiciary Committee in a deposition on Oct. 3 that broadly corroborated the claims of two IRS whistleblowers who said in dramatic public testimony this summer that Biden appointees at the Justice Department were close to dropping charges against the president’s son.
“The challenge is — especially when you’re talking about US attorneys and US attorneys — do you bring another chain of command. And once you work together, you have to come to a consensus,” Graves told investigators, according to a transcript reviewed by The Post.
“So, as managers, in general, we don’t want to do that,” Graves continued.
“And at the end of the day, if it’s an ongoing investigation, there’s no way, whether it’s three weeks, three months, if it’s a multi-year investigation, we can expedite everything that’s happened before. So you’re like buying a mansion without an inspection, and whatever problems exist, you buy it.”
Graves said that his deputy expressed to Delaware US Attorney David Weiss’s team a willingness to facilitate the prosecution of Hunter Biden on tax fraud charges, but claimed that he had only one 10-minute phone call with Weiss in February or March of last year — before the decision was reached — and did not speak to him again.
Weiss, who was promoted to special counsel in August so she could refile the tax charges outside her district following the July collapse of a plea deal only on trial with the first son, called Graves to ask for help bringing charges in DC.
US Attorney Matthew Graves made the argument to the House Judiciary Committee in an Oct. 3 deposition. The Washington Post via Getty Images
About three weeks after the phone call, Graves said his office refused to cooperate following a review of case materials covering allegations that Hunter Biden, while his father was vice president, failed to pay taxes on income from employers in places like Ukraine while living in DC.
“My understanding at a high level is, there is some interaction with [assistant US attorneys] in Delaware. They get some material related to the case or related to the investigation. I don’t know specifically who the individuals were that they were interacting with or what materials they were reviewing or collecting,” Graves said.
“To the best of my recollection, no, I did not review any of the underlying case material,” he added.
Graves said that he wouldn’t refuse to help Weiss if she tried to pursue the case in DC, but it wasn’t clear what Weiss saw about the path forward since they weren’t talking yet.
President Joe Biden, and his son Hunter Biden.AP
“I think the best way to characterize the decision is, we’re directing — I’m directing to say that we’re not going to continue to be local counsel in that case,” Graves said.
“Can I tell him, ‘No, we’re not going to support you, I’m not going to prepare my grand jury’? I mean, I never considered it, but I guess I could tell him ‘no’.”
Another Biden-appointed US attorney, Martin Estrada of Los Angeles, was accused by an IRS whistleblower of blocking tax charges against Hunter Biden, resulting in a since-collapsed plea deal for allegedly evading more than $2 million in federal taxes from 2014-2019.
Graves said his office refused to cooperate following a review of case materials covering allegations that Hunter Biden.CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Some charges in DC may have expired due to the statute of limitations.
Under questioning, Graves defended the veracity of Attorney General Merrick Garland, who told Congress twice under oath that Weiss had the authority to prosecute Hunter Biden outside his district — before IRS agents Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, who worked on the case, contradicted him.
The leak of whistleblower allegations comes amid a House impeachment inquiry into whether President Biden corruptly abused his position as vice president to help the foreign business interests of his relatives in countries such as China, Russia and Ukraine.
Shapley and Ziegler laid out extensive allegations in their own testimony to Congress, saying that career DOJ lawyers in Weiss’ office prevented them from taking various investigative steps, including telling Hunter Biden to use a planned search and interview approach.
Hunter Biden leaves federal court Tuesday, Oct 03, 2023.Saquan Stimpson – CNP
The whistleblowers also said they were prevented from investigating President Biden’s alleged role in the affairs of his son and brother James Biden, despite direct communications involving him.
When pressed about Weiss’ authority to bring charges outside his district, Graves said, “as I understand the letters and public reports, he was assured by the attorney general, who heads our department, that he would be able to bring whatever charges he wanted wherever he wanted. bring such charges as he thinks fit.”
“So, I mean, I can — this has never happened, but I can make all kinds of determinations that I want to make myself. If the deputy attorney general or the attorney general calls me and says, ‘You’re going to do the opposite of what you said,’ I’m going to do the opposite of what I said. That’s how the department works,” Graves added.
Garland’s defenders say that her disputed congressional testimony was at issue with her decision to make Weiss a special counsel. Republicans say, however, that Garland appears to have lied under oath – committing a federal crime.
While Weiss is widely understood to need a special counsel or slightly different special counsel status to bring charges outside of Delaware — which requires signatures from the Justice Department’s tax attorney and either the attorney general or deputy attorney general — Graves claims that in theory, he could bring the case through other methods.
“What can be done, right, if you want to go ahead is, he can have all of his trial team designated as special assistant United States attorneys in DC, and they will be designated as such, and -” Graves began.
“And did you tell him you were willing to do that?” committee representatives were pressed.
“Never – that never came up. But they will be designated as such, and then the grand jury indictment will be returned under my name,” Graves said.
Graves also said that it was unusual for Weiss’ office to seek permission from the Justice Department’s Tax Division to bring charges against the eldest son, saying it was “quite common” for prosecutors to start their own cases without approval.
Prosecutors in the division have argued the charges against Hunter Biden during a June 15, 2022 meeting, according to three IRS officials who previously testified to the House committee.
A month earlier, members of the Tax Division had also met with Hunter’s defense attorney, who reportedly expressed doubts to prosecutors about pursuing the case given its political implications, according to Politico.
Weiss has yet to file federal tax charges against Hunter Biden outside of Delaware, but in September filed three felony charges related to illegal gun possession in the First State.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
