Notes taken by Hunter Biden's IRS accuser contradict testimony given to Jim Jordan committee: report
Notes written by an IRS agent who gave evidence against Hunter Biden state that the U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who is handling the case, admitted he was not free to make decisions on how the investigation was handled, according to a report.
Politico obtained the notes which were handwritten by agent Gary Shapley during an Oct. 7, 2022, meeting between the FBI and the IRS. The notes were later submitted to the House Judiciary Committee that has been investigating President Joe Biden's son – and to which Shapley gave evidence that claimed the probe into the president's son on a tax evasion case was downplayed.
His claim in the notes contradicts evidence that Attorney General Merrick Garland gave to Congress in which he said Weiss was in full control of the Biden case.
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Shapley, who is asking for legal whistleblower status, testified to Congress earlier this year that he took "contemporaneous notes" during the meetings with the FBI and others.
"Shapley, an IRS supervisory special agent who has worked for the agency for 14 years, told lawmakers this summer that Weiss said he did not have ultimate authority in making key decisions about his criminal investigation of the president’s son. It was a dramatic allegation, contradicting Attorney General Merrick Garland, who testified to Congress that Weiss could handle the case however he saw fit," Politico reported.
"Shapley’s notes are the first written materials from a participant of the Oct. 7 meeting to be made public — and the only contemporaneous documentation of the meeting available thus far," said Politico. "Two other law enforcement officials who attended the meeting have told lawmakers that they do not remember it the same way Shapley does."
The Washington Post this month revealed the account of one of those FBI agents, who testified to Judiciary Chairman, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH). He specifically disputed that Weiss was stopped from pursuing a prosecution.
Shaply's lawyer released a statement attacking the Post report, saying that the FBI agent never took his own notes – thus he was not credible.
The notes from Shaply, revealed by Politico, claim that Weiss "told law enforcement officials he was ‘not the deciding person’ regarding the investigation.”
Weiss said the opposite in a letter sent go the Senate Committee on the Judiciary in July. He told members that he was “never…denied the authority to bring charges in any jurisdiction.”
Not mentioned by Politico but revealed in the testimony and spotted by national security expert Marcy Wheeler, Shapley didn't take "contemporaneous notes." He testified that he collected his notes and information later that day, meaning that nothing recorded on his notes were written down during the meeting.
One example Wheeler posted screen captures of shows that Shapley wrote the notes six hours after the meeting, and she said the notes conflict with what he said via email. The hand-written notes show Weiss said he will request approval to proceed in California. But when Shapley emailed his notes out, he claimed Weiss said he "would have to do so." Wheeler said that this proves Shapley "didn't understand" what he was hearing.
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Among the other things exposed in the notes is that Shapley also mixed up the special counsel with the special attorney, appearing not to know the difference.
Jordan has relied on Shapley's testimony in an attempt to prove that Biden's administration was giving preferential treatment to Hunter Biden because he was the president's son.
On Tuesday, CNN reported that the White House sent a letter to news executives encouraging them to deploy "scrutiny" of Republicans' impeachment that they said was "based on lies."