A sweetheart deal for Hunter Biden?

The promise of equal justice under law, etched in granite over the entrance to the United States Supreme Court, reflects a fundamental principle that our government is one of laws, not of men, and that all are treated equally by a justice system whose symbol is a blindfolded Greek goddess. That promise is being put to the test in this country right now as a pattern of politicization at the U.S. Department of Justice undermines public confidence in police and prosecutors.

Up until now, members of Congress were asking if Justice and the FBI were disproportionately targeting conservatives, going after traditionalist Catholics, pro-life sidewalk counselors, and of course former President Trump. Recent revelations by two IRS whistleblowers in the Hunter Biden case now raise the opposite specter: Has the Justice Department gone easy on the president’s son?

The possibility of a sweetheart deal for the son of the First Family started when the United States Attorney unveiled his plea agreement, which only incorporated limited charges against Biden and recommended no jail time. The plea deal covered his ownership of a handgun and his failure to timely pay his taxes in 2017 and 2018, but didn’t address his alleged role as a facilitator or connection point for bribes from foreign companies to then-Vice President Biden.

Now two whistleblowers from within the IRS have stepped forward saying that even the tax crimes he’s been charged with only scratch the surface. Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, two long-time IRS agents responsible for that agency’s investigation of Hunter Biden, testified on July 19 before the oversight committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. Ziegler stated that he had previously recommended multiple charges against Biden for tax dodges, given “evidence that showed the president’s son had improperly claimed business deductions for a number of personal expenses, including his children's college tuition, hotel bills and payments to escorts.” Those recommendations were seconded by assistant U.S. attorneys and attorneys in the tax division of the Department of Justice, he said.

But the charges were never brought, or even fully pursued, and the whistleblowers have an answer as to why: “The Justice Department and Delaware U.S. Attorney’s office went out of their way to hamper an IRS investigation of Hunter Biden’s taxes by consistently slow walking the case, preventing enforcement actions by the IRS and tipping off actions related to the investigation to Biden’s attorneys in advance.” Ziegler also told the congressmen in his opening statement that “[t]he Justice Department allowed the president’s political appointees to weigh in on whether to charge the president’s son,” information shared in an Oct. 7, 2022, meeting with investigators.

Of course, any investigation involving the son of a sitting president of the United States, or a presidential candidate, is sensitive. In such instances, decision-makers usually have two choices: either follow the policies and procedures of prosecution to the T and allow career professionals to make the key decisions in the case free from the influence of political appointees, or deviate entirely from regular order by appointing an outside special counsel to handle the matter. There are times when a political appointee can and should make these kinds of calls—career prosecutors cannot be rogue agents unleashed from accountability—but that usually requires an attorney general with a reputation for rock-solid integrity and a clear factual and legal basis to support the decision.

The DOJ here apparently tried to take the first path, but Shapley says it utterly failed to follow regular order: “When I took control of this particular investigation, I immediately saw deviations from the normal process. It was way outside the norm of what I've experienced in the past.” And Ziegler obviously believes that political appointees were shaping the course of the investigation, again violating the basic principle. The American people’s confidence in the justice system will continue to corrode when two career law enforcement professionals step forward and testify under oath before Congress that it’s all been rigged in favor of the president’s son.

The irony in all of this is that the Biden Administration’s official policy is to encourage more IRS audits of everyday Americans for tax dodges. They are evidently more interested in cases like waitresses who fail to accurately report tips. The Biden Administration is planning to spend $47 billion more in coming years on tax enforcement, with tens of thousands of new IRS agents on the prowl for tax noncompliance. Of course, one wonders if we need 30,000 new agents for expanded tax enforcement if the Biden Administration won’t even let current agents do their jobs.