The attorney for the IRS whistleblower who alleges the Justice Department interfered and mishandled the Hunter Biden criminal investigation met with members of Congress last week on behalf of his client, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Friday’s meeting was described by CBS News as a proffer session with the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees to lay the groundwork for what the whistleblower can tell investigators and how she can do so without abusing taxpayer privacy laws. CNN first reported the meeting.
In a letter to Congress last month, the attorney, Mark Little, said his client, an unnamed IRS criminal oversight special agent, could shed light on how the yearlong, high-profile investigation was “obstructed by preferential behavior and politics.” However, Little said. that his client could not share “certain information” due to taxpayer privacy laws.
Little told CBS chief investigative correspondent Jim Axelrod, “My client wants to come forward to Congress. … He is ready to be questioned about what he knows and what he experienced under appropriate legal protections.”
Little did not respond to a request for comment for this report, but in his April letter he said his client’s information would “contradict a senior political appointee’s sworn testimony to Congress.”
At a Senate hearing in March, Attorney General Merrick Garland vowed not to interfere with the work of David Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware who is leading the investigation. In a recent, unrelated news conference, Garland addressed the IRS whistleblower allegations.
“Yes, I still stand by my testimony, and I am referring you to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware who is in charge of this case and is able to make any decision he sees fit,” Garland said.
A spokesman for the House Ways and Means Committee would not confirm that the meeting took place, but told CBS News in a statement, “Chairman (Jason) Smith is working to ensure that appropriate actions are taken to evaluate and assess the allegations and information received in this special investigation. The whistleblower has shared with Congress and publicly pledged that the committee will go where the facts lead. Every week and day offers a new opportunity to advance this special whistleblower claim and bring more light and transparency to the American people.”
When President Joe Biden took office, dozens of US attorneys appointed by Trump were asked to resign, as is customary in a new administration, but Weiss, who led the investigation into Hunter Biden, was asked to stay.
The IRS and Treasury inspector general for tax administration did not respond to earlier requests for comment.
Rebecca Kaplan and Jim Axelrod contributed to this report
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Kathryn Herridge
