‘I stand by my testimony’ on Hunter Biden probe

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Merrick Garland said Tuesday his testimony to Congress about a long-running federal criminal investigation of first son Hunter Biden was truthful in response to an IRS whistleblower’s bombshell claims alleging a coverup.

A journalist asked Garland at an unrelated press conference about the whistleblower complaint and noted that the AG had “assured Congress some time ago that the Hunter Biden investigation would be conducted without any kind of political interference.”

“I wonder if you would believe that that is still the case — if that is still the case that the investigation is not being interfered with in any political way since an agent from [the IRS] has now come forward claiming whistleblower status and alleging that there has been some kind of interference,” the journalist asked.

“Yes, it’s still the case,” Garland said in his first public response to the allegations.

“I stand by my testimony and I refer you to the attorney for the district of Delaware, who is in charge of this case and capable of making any decisions that he feels are appropriate.”

The whistleblower supervised the IRS probe of Hunter for three years and on April 19 informed Congress that there had been “preferential treatment” in the case as well as false testimony to Congress by an official later revealed to be Garland.

The top law enforcement officer had repeatedly assured Congress that Delaware US Attorney David Weiss would be able to unilaterally charge Hunter even if potential crimes occurred outside of Delaware.

The initial whistleblower letter, signed by attorney Mark Lytle, informed key congressional committee leaders that he wanted to share significant information after already making disclosures to the Treasury and Justice Department’s inspectors general.

“The protected disclosures: (1) contradict sworn testimony to Congress by a senior political appointee, (2) involve failure to mitigate clear conflicts of interest in the ultimate disposition of the case, and (3) detail examples of preferential treatment and politics improperly infecting decisions and protocols that would normally be followed by career law enforcement professionals in similar circumstances if the subject were not politically connected,” the letter said.

The committees have not yet interviewed the whistleblower, who had to first acquire permission from Congress to consult with his lawyers about sensitive taxpayer issues.

The whistleblower’s legal team declined to comment.

Weiss is a Trump administration holdover who was recommended to his post in 2017 by Delaware’s two Democratic senators.

NBC reported last month that there is “growing frustration” within the FBI over the fact that Weiss had not yet brought charges after the bureau concluded most of its work last year.

The Hunter Biden probe reportedly began in 2018.

Weiss has been reviewing four possible charges against the first son, NBC reported: Two misdemeanor counts of failing to file taxes, a felony count of evading taxes relating to a business expense and a charge of lying about his drug use on a federal gun purchase form.

It’s unclear if authorities are still considering charges against Hunter for money laundering and failing to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort was sentenced in 2018 to 60 months in prison specifically for FARA violations related to his work in Ukraine, plus another 30 months for other charges including tax and bank fraud and witness tampering.

Hunter, who faces FARA allegations regarding his work for Ukrainian gas company Burisma, which paid him up to $1 million per year, confirmed he was under investigation for tax fraud shortly after his father won the 2020 election.

He reportedly borrowed about $2 million last year to pay off back taxes, though doing so doesn’t legally absolve him of the original non-payment.

House Republicans are investigating President Biden’s role in his family’s overseas dealings during and after his vice presidency, during which Hunter Biden and first brother James Biden earned millions from partnerships with wealthy people in countries where their powerful relative held sway — such as China, Ukraine and Russia.