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IRS Agent Hunter Biden Asks for Whistleblower Protection for Tax Investigation

The attorney for the IRS criminal oversight special agent, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said his client has asked Congress for protection to talk about allegations that a year-long, high-profile and politically sensitive investigation was hampered by “preferential behavior and politics.” Letter obtained by CBS News. CBS News has learned that the probe is looking into Hunter Biden’s possible tax delinquency.

“My client wants to come forward to Congress,” said Mark Little, an attorney representing the agent. He discussed his client’s allegations with CBS News Chief Investigative Correspondent Jim Axelrod in an exclusive television interview airing tonight on the CBS Evening News and on all CBS platforms. “He is prepared to be questioned about what he knows and what he experienced under appropriate legal protection.”

Someone from inside the long-running federal investigation has come forward to express concern about the way it’s being handled, adding to the already strange ride of the matter involving President Biden’s son. Mr. Biden David C. Weiss, the Trump-appointed Delaware US attorney overseeing the investigation, left her post to avoid any interference. And Justice Department officials have publicly pledged to shield the investigation from political influence.

Weiss was the acting chief of the Delaware office at the time and received the endorsement of state senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons, both Democrats.

In February 2021, shortly after Mr. Biden took office, dozens of US attorneys appointed by Trump were asked to resign, but then-Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson told Weiss to stay on the jobA Justice Department official told CBS News.

In the letter, Little claimed that his client’s information would “contradict a senior political appointee’s sworn testimony to Congress.”

At a March Senate hearing, Attorney General Merrick Garland vowed not to interfere with Weiss, who is leading the investigation, saying, “I promise he’s able to conduct his investigation and he’s going to be able to conduct it.”

The Justice Department and its inspector general’s office did not immediately respond to CBS News’ requests for comment. The U.S. attorney’s office in Delaware declined to comment. And the White House referred a request for comment to the Justice Department or the IRS.

Little told CBS News his client believes the investigation was handled differently than any other investigation in his long career with the IRS.

“Political considerations influenced the agents’ decision to take investigative action in the case. And those political considerations are not typically part of a career investigator’s toolkit,” Little explained, but declined to share or identify details of the investigation. subject

Chris Clark, an attorney for Hunter Biden, declined to comment. President Biden has previously said that he was not involved in his son’s business dealings and that there was no evidence to refute this.

Little sent the letter seeking protective whistleblower status that would allow his client to disclose more about what his lawyer said were “compromised by political considerations that would normally be taken by a law enforcement investigator.”

The letter said his client had already “already legally protected disclosures” to the IRS, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and the Justice Department’s inspector general.

Little spent 25 years as a white collar prosecutor handling a variety of cases including complex tax matters. While a career Justice Department employee, he was appointed to work briefly in the Trump White House, but has indicated that his limited role in the administration had no bearing on the matter and that neither he nor his clients are motivated by politics. Little would not tell CBS who is paying the agent’s legal bills, saying, “I really don’t want to get into the specifics of his situation.”

Little recently represented Ewell Roth, the former head of Twitter’s trust and safety unit, when he testified before the House Oversight Committee in February.

The agent, Little said, has worked for the IRS for more than a decade and has extensive documentation that he says supports his claims.

“Whether you believe him or not, it doesn’t really come down to his credibility,” Little said. “Because the things he went through are very well documented in emails and other communications with the Justice Department.”

Agents are restricted from speaking publicly due to strict rules governing discussions of a particular taxpayer. Little said he was seeking protection against retaliation. “He wants to make sure he does this right. And he’s going to need protection from Congress before he talks about it,” Little said.

In October, a source familiar with the investigation told CBS News that the FBI had collected what it believed to be. Enough evidence to impeach Hunter Biden with tax crimes, as part of an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware that dates back to at least 2019. It is up to U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecutors to pursue charges based on that evidence.

In a 2021 interview with CBS News, Hunter Biden said of the investigation, “I know that we are cooperating 100%.”

Last year CBS News reported that he Received financial support From a high-powered Hollywood attorney, Kevin Morris, who sources say Hunter paid off Biden’s outstanding tax debt.

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Jim Axelrod

Jim Axelrod

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