Kimberley A. Strassel
WSJ, July 6, 2023
“It would be truly outrageous if the president’s son is urging his father’s Justice Department to harass government workers who blew the whistle on potential political favoritism in his plea deal.”
Hunter Biden has adopted a legal strategy of threats and character assassination. It was on display in his legal team’s recent letter to House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith. The 10-page screed was a broad condemnation of the committee’s decision to release the interviews of two Internal Revenue Service whistleblowers who worked the Hunter investigation and claim irregularities in the process that produced Hunter’s recent plea deal. Hunter lawyer Abbe Lowell complained the release violated the “spirit” of “tax laws” that protect “private” taxpayer information.That letter should have come from Donald Trump’s lawyers to House Democrats, who in December set a precedent by voting to release Mr. Trump’s returns.
The real targets of Mr. Lowell’s polemic were the whistleblowers themselves, and the letter is filled with inaccuracy and innuendo. Just one example: Mr. Lowell insinuates the whistleblowers might have lied, since he claims the committee “purposely” didn’t issue them the standard warning about falsehoods. This is flatly refuted by the transcripts, which show both men were told upfront that “false testimony” would subject them to “criminal prosecution.”
The letter deploys the standard impugning of motives—suggesting the IRS men are “biased” and “aggrieved” agents turned “self-styled” whistleblowers. It also slings suggestions of illegal behavior. It intimates whistleblower Gary Shapley might have broken a law prohibiting the disclosure of grand-jury material—even though the transcript shows Mr. Shapley explaining that he couldn’t talk about or provide to the committee covered material.
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