The IRS removed the entire team of investigators in the Hunter Biden tax evasion probe, according to the Washington Examiner.
The Examiner attributed the information to a letter written by two attorneys for an IRS special agent they represent.
"Today the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Supervisory Special Agent we represent was informed that he and his entire investigative team are being removed from the ongoing and sensitive investigation of the high-profile, controversial subject about which our client sought to make whistleblower disclosures to Congress," attorneys Tristan Leavitt and Mark Lytle wrote in a letter to Congress.
The removal order originated from the Department of Justice, according to the letter, which called the move "clearly retaliatory," the Examiner reported.
"Any attempt by any government official to prevent a federal employee from furnishing information to Congress is also a direct violation of longstanding appropriations restriction. Furthermore, 18 U.S.C. § 1505 makes it a crime to obstruct an investigation of Congress," the lawyers said in the letter.
In April, attorney Lytle wrote to lawmakers saying that his client has information about a "failure to mitigate clear conflicts of interest in the ultimate disposition" of a criminal investigation related to Biden's taxes and whether he made a false statement related to a gun purchase, according to The Associated Press.
"Despite serious risks of retaliation, my client is offering to provide you with information necessary to exercise your constitutional oversight function and wishes to make the disclosures in a nonpartisan manner to the leadership of the relevant committees on both sides of the political aisle," Lytle said in a letter, obtained by the AP.
The special agent also wants to disclose "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 lawyer added.
The Examiner noted that in the latest letter, dated May 15, attorneys wrote: "Removing the experienced investigators who have worked this case for years and are now the subject-matter experts is exactly the sort of issue our client intended to blow the whistle on to begin with."
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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