WASHINGTON – The former federal prosecutor charged with protecting President Biden and his son Hunter during a criminal investigation testified 79 times to Congress that he was “not authorized” by the Justice Department to answer questions about the case, according to transcripts reviewed by The Post.
Former Delaware Assistant US Attorney Lesley Wolf repeatedly cited a five-page authorization letter from Associate Deputy Attorney General Bradley Weinsheimer as she refused to answer questions during a House Judiciary Committee hearing last week.
Weinsheimer’s Dec. 12 letter, also reviewed by The Post, said: “[T]The department generally does not allow congressional testimony from line-level personnel, especially regarding ongoing investigations with charges pending in court. The department has refused to do so in this matter.”
Wolf’s dozens of refusals to answer questions — just one day after the full House voted to authorize an impeachment inquiry into President Biden — are a frustrated attempt to bolster a storyline involving what whistleblowers say was a blanket cover-up by Wolf and colleagues to protect the Biden family. .
A former federal prosecutor charged with protecting President Biden and his son Hunter during a criminal investigation testified that he was “not allowed” to answer questions about his actions, according to a transcript. AP
The near-blanket rejection of the question follows pressure from House Republicans on the administration to allow witness testimony and could bolster the GOP’s argument that the White House is obstructing the investigation, which itself could constitute an article of impeachment.
Two IRS agents working on the long-running tax fraud investigation into Hunter Biden, which focused on his foreign income from countries such as China and Ukraine, claimed in previous testimony to a House committee that Wolf notified the eldest son’s attorney of investigative steps and prohibited inquiries. about Joe Biden, even though the communication mentions it.
Wolf served on a squad of prosecutors who signed a trial-only plea deal in June for the eldest son on tax and gun charges, which collapsed the following month under the watch of a federal judge.
Lesley Wolf (above) repeatedly cited a five-page truth letter from Bradley Weinsheimer as he refused to answer questions during a House Judiciary Committee hearing. Fedbar.org
IRS Supervisor Gary Shapley, who oversaw the three-year investigation of Hunter Biden, and case agent Joseph Ziegler, who conducted the five-year investigation, made a series of specific claims against Wolf, which he did not deny in his testimony.
Tax investigators learned in December 2020 that Wolf “contacted defense attorney Hunter Biden and told them” about investigators’ plans to search a northern Virginia storage unit containing business records, “preventing our opportunity to obtain evidence from potentially being destroyed, manipulated or hidden,” Ziegler said. evidence in July.
Shapley testified that investigators months earlier were barred from searching a guest house at Joe Biden’s Wilmington, Del., home, where Hunter often stayed.
Wolf’s refusal to answer questions came a day after the full House voted to authorize an impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Reuters
Shapley said on September 3, 2020, “Wolf tells us there is more than enough probable cause for a physical search warrant there, but the question is whether the juice is worth the squeeze.”
Wolf also allegedly objected during a meeting on December 3, 2020, to question a key Biden family ally, Rob Walker, about the president.
“Wolf interrupted and said he didn’t want to ask about the big man and stated he didn’t want to ask questions about ‘father,'” he said.
“When many people in the room spoke up and objected that we should ask, he replied, there is no crime specific to that question. This also frustrated the FBI,” Shapley testified.
Wolf served as a point person for the investigation, serving under Delaware US Attorney David Weiss.
The whistleblower accused Weiss’ office of giving Hunter Biden’s legal team advance knowledge of a planned interview attempt in late 2020, obstructing the planned approach, and said prosecutors did not pass on a paid FBI informant’s tip that Joe and Hunter Biden received $10 million in bribes from Ukrainian energy company Burisma, which paid Hunter a salary of up to $1 million to serve on its board beginning in 2014 when his father’s vice president led US policy toward the country.
Wolf allegedly directed FBI agents in August 2020 to remove references to Joe Biden from search warrant affidavits, writing, “Someone has to redraft [the affidavit] … There should be nothing about Political Figure 1 here,” according to an email released by the Ways & Means Committee.
“The email, I think, is very important because it’s a one-time example in writing of continued concern following investigative leads that might lead to Joe Biden,” Ziegler said last week in a Fox News interview.
“The FBI agents who drafted the affidavit, they believed they had sufficient evidence — probable cause — to support including Political Figure 1 in the affidavit,” the self-identified Democrat said.
IRS Supervisor Gary Shapley (not pictured) oversaw the Hunter Biden investigation for three years. Reuters
“That’s related to [Ukrainian energy company] Burisma, access to Joe Biden and access to the administration and there is a lot of evidence included in the supporting affidavit including Political Figure 1. That has a waterfall effect on the investigation because the emails we are looking for may not be received. to the team.”
Shapley and Ziegler said they were not allowed to obtain cell phone geolocation data that could prove Joe Biden was with his son in July 2017 when Hunter sent a threatening text message to a businessman connected to the Chinese government saying, “I’m sitting here with my father. ,” and a warning of retaliation.
Within 10 days of the message, $5.1 million flowed into accounts linked to Hunter and first cousin James Biden from CEFC China Energy — after a $1 million tranche earlier in the year, less than two months after Biden left the vice president post.
Internal Revenue Service whistleblowers Joseph Ziegler and Gary Shapley testified in a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing on alleged interference in the Justice Department’s investigation into Hunter Biden. Reuters
A May 2017 email written in Joe Biden, referred to as “the big guy”, for a 10% cut from the CEFC deal.
IRS whistleblowers say that — in addition to preferential treatment for Joe and Hunter Biden — Attorney General Merrick Garland misled Congress under oath about Weiss’ ability to independently bring criminal charges against Hunter Biden.
Biden-appointed US attorneys in Los Angeles and Washington have confirmed in testimony that they refuse to cooperate with Weiss, who in August was elevated by Garland to special counsel, allowing him to independently bring charges outside of Delaware.
The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wolf’s testimony.
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