House Republicans issue subpoena to deputy prosecutor in Hunter Biden case – Twin Cities

By FARNOUSH AMIRI (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Tuesday subpoenaed a lead federal prosecutor involved in the criminal investigation of Hunter Biden, demanding answers about what they allege was Justice Department interference in the case. son of the president which has been going on for years.

Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, called on Lesley Wolf, an assistant U.S. attorney for Delaware, to appear before the committee by Dec. 7, according to a copy of the congressional subpoena obtained by The Associated Press.

“Based on the Committee’s investigation to date, it is clear that you possess specialized and unique information that is not available to the Committee through other sources and without which the Committee’s investigation would be incomplete,” Jordan wrote in a cover letter to Wolf.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The subpoena against Wolf is the latest in a series of demands that Jordan and his fellow Republican presidents have made as part of their sweeping impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. His youngest son Hunter and his brother James received subpoenas last week as Republicans seek to gain ground in their nearly year-long investigation, which has failed to uncover evidence directly implicating the president in wrongdoing.

The investigation focuses on both the Biden family’s international business affairs and the Justice Department’s investigation into Hunter Biden, which Republicans say has been slow and stalled since the case was opened in 2018.

Wolf, who is a deputy to David Weiss, the Delaware U.S. attorney handling the case, has been accused by Internal Revenue Service whistleblowers of “deviating from standard investigative protocol” and for showing preferential treatment because Hunter Biden is the president. son.

Republicans said it was clear prosecutors didn’t want to touch anything that might include Hunter Biden’s father. In one case, Gary Shapley, an IRS employee assigned to the case, testified that in a meeting with Weiss and Wolf after the 2020 election, he and other agents wanted to discuss an e- email between Hunter Biden associates in which one person referred to “big boy.” Shapley said Wolf declined to do so, saying she didn’t want to ask about “daddy.”

Other allegations involve an August 2020 email in which Wolf ordered investigators to remove any mention of “political figure 1,” who was known to be Biden, from a search warrant. In another incident, FBI officials informed the Secret Service about Hunter Biden before attempting to question him and several of his associates in order to prevent a possible shootout between two law enforcement agencies. laws.

Justice Department officials refuted those claims by pointing to the extraordinary set of circumstances surrounding a criminal case involving a subject who, at the time, was the son of a leading presidential candidate. Department policy has long warned prosecutors to use caution when charging cases with potential political overtones around the time of an election, to avoid possible influence on the outcome.

Weiss himself appeared this month for a closed-door interview and denied accusations of political interference.

“Political considerations played no role in our decision-making,” he told the committee.

Nonetheless, Republicans are demanding that Wolf appear before lawmakers because she has “direct knowledge of the department’s criminal investigation into Hunter Biden” and declined a voluntary request to appear over the summer.

Jordan wrote in the letter to Wolf: “Given the critical role you played in the investigation of Hunter Biden, you are uniquely positioned to shed light on whether President Biden played a role in the department’s investigation and whether he has attempted, in any way, to directly or indirectly obstruct that investigation or our investigation.