Hunter Biden’s attorneys are freaking out. The media is gradually learning that something is amiss. The IRS whistleblower testimony has been deemed credible. What has been debunked is the series of attempts by the FBI and the Department of Justice to spin the origins of the investigations into the cracked-out son of the president. Attorney General Merrick Garland swore that David Weiss, US Attorney for Delaware, had the discretion to bring charges, which turned out to be false. Weiss was blocked multiple times, wanting to charge Hunter in 2022.
The IRS’s task force into Hunter was scrapped abruptly following the release of the Durham Report, which found that the FBI’s investigation into Donald Trump’s purported Kremlin ties was grounded in zero evidence and should have never been green-lit. Now, we’re learning from whistleblowers that the DOJ interfered in their investigation into Hunter for political reasons, to say nothing, some of the probe’s roads could have led to Joe Biden. IRS Agent Gary Shapley went on the record with CBS News in May about the interference. It’s now being asked in the press room, which has drawn the ire of the press secretary’s office. Shapley’s recollection of events could land Garland in impeachment hearings.
Yet, Hunter Biden’s attorneys have gone further, alleging that Shapley broke the law by leaking sensitive information to The Washington Post. As Margot Cleveland of The Federalist wrote, it’s a move to damage his credibility as a witness because they’ve exhausted all the other options that aren’t in the sleazebag category. You know the town, the principals who can do damage, and Mr. Shapley is no exception. Biden’s attorney’s attempt to discredit him ended poorly, to say the least:
Hunter Biden’s high-priced attorneys again tried to turn the president’s son into a victim by portraying IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley as a partisan leaker and a criminal — but on Monday, Shapley responded. Shapley’s counter was a devasting blow to Hunter Biden’s legal strategy and also represented a shot across the bow of the Biden-friendly Washington Post.
On Friday, Winston and Strawn attorney Abbe David Lowell dispatched a 10-page missive to Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, regarding what Lowell called the Republican House’s “obsession with attacking the Biden family.” While the letter complained of the House’s supposed abandonment of congressional protocol and rules of conduct, Hunter Biden’s attorneys’ real focus was Shapley, whom they painted as a partisan hack, not a whistleblower — and a criminal to boot.
The June 30 letter from Hunter’s attorneys strongly implied Shapley was responsible for leaking information to The Washington Post that served as the basis for an Oct. 6, 2022 article authored by Devlin Barrett and Perry Stein. The article claimed that “federal agents investigating President Biden’s son Hunter have gathered what they believe is sufficient evidence to charge him with tax crimes and a false statement related to a gun purchase…” Biden’s lawyers then challenged the House to ask the whistleblowers if they had leaked information to the Post.
Shapley didn’t wait for the House to ask, instead submitting an affidavit to the House Ways and Means Committee on Monday in which he unequivocally swore he “was not the source for the October 6, 2022, Washington Post article.” Shapley further attested that he had never “had any contact with Barrett or Stein,” the authors of the article. He also stated under oath that he “never leaked confidential taxpayer information.”
The whistleblower then expressly authorized “the Washington Post and/or journalists Devlin Barrett, Perry Stein, or any other Washington Post reporter to release any communications directly or indirectly to or from me,” agreeing “to waive any purported journalistic privilege and/or confidentiality that would have arisen had I been a source for the Washington Post.”
At the same time, Shapley’s lawyers wrote to Washington Post authors Barrett and Stein, noting that “Biden family attorneys have falsely accused SSA Shapley of illegally leaking to you for your story, ‘Federal agents see chargeable tax, gun-purchase case against Hunter Biden.’”