Secret Service and the Biden transition team were given advance notice in December 2020 of an interview with Hunter Biden, according to testimony given by an FBI supervisory special agent to the House Oversight Committee last month.
Despite being the subject of a protracted federal investigation that kicked off in November 2018, the interview never happened because of the heads-up, as BizPac Review reported, as BizPac Review reported.
“The former FBI SSA, who worked for the FBI for 20 years and retired in June 2022, corroborated IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley’s testimony that FBI headquarters tipped off Secret Service headquarters and the Biden transition team about the planned Hunter Biden interview during U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss’ investigation,” the GOP-led committee said in a press release on Monday.
“The former FBI SSA and Shapley were then told not to approach Hunter Biden and instead wait for his call. Instead of receiving a call from Hunter Biden, they received a call from his attorney and were never able to interview Hunter Biden during the investigation.”
According to BizPac Review, Attorney General Merrick Garland's appointment of Weiss as the special counsel leading the investigation into Hunter Biden's misconduct triggered cries of a "cover-up" last week.
‘Something’s not right’: Calls of a ‘cover up’ explode when Garland appoints special counsel in Hunter probe https://t.co/dMxLTKK0pH via @BIZPACReview
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) August 11, 2023
“Tipping off the transition team and not being able to interview Hunter Biden as planned are just a couple of examples that reveal the Justice Department’s misconduct in the Biden criminal investigation that occurred under U.S. Attorney Weiss’ watch,” said committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) in a statement.
“The Oversight Committee has no confidence in U.S. Attorney Weiss as Special Counsel given his inability to prevent the Biden transition team from being contacted and federal agents were not permitted to interview Hunter Biden as planned,” Comer continued.
“Under the Weiss-led investigation, investigators were prevented from taking steps that could have led to Joe Biden, the statute of limitations was allowed to run with respect to certain felonies, and the U.S. Attorney’s office sought to give Hunter Biden an unprecedented sweetheart plea deal.”
“The House Oversight, Judiciary, and Ways and Means Committees will continue our investigation into the Justice Department’s two-tiered system of justice and hold bad actors accountable,” he added.
The transcript of the former FBI supervisory special agent's testimony was released by the Oversight Committee to emphasize his argument.
🚨 TRANSCRIPT RELEASE🚨
Today we’re releasing the former FBI supervisory special agent’s transcript. During the transcribed interview, the former FBI SSA corroborated key details in the IRS whistleblowers’ testimony.
During U.S. Attorney Weiss’ investigation, the Biden… pic.twitter.com/AfVZq5wek1
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) August 14, 2023
“So the initial plan was to make approaches of multiple witnesses, to include subject Hunter Biden, on December 8th. At the time, we had learned in the days preceding, probably even before December 3rd, that he had received Secret Service protection, as this is ‐‐ I guess the President was President‐elect at the time,” the agent testified.
“The initial plan was to have the local field office of the Secret Service be notified the morning of to diminish opportunities for anybody else to be notified,” he explained. “I was working with my management on that, as well as headquarters—our FBI headquarters.”
“I was informed that FBI headquarters had contacted Secret Service headquarters and had made a notification at that time, or somewhere around that time on the evening of the 7th,” he stated.
The notification, he said, was “Of our intent, that we sought to interview Hunter Biden.”
