A former FBI supervisory special agent has revealed to congressional investigators that the Biden transition team and Secret Service headquarters were tipped off about a planned interview with Hunter Biden in December 2020.
This tip-off resulted in the interview not taking place, despite Hunter Biden being labeled as the target of a federal investigation. The agent, who retired from the FBI last year after more than two decades of service, provided this information during a transcribed interview under oath at the House Oversight Committee in July. The transcript of this interview was exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital.
This revelation comes in the wake of whistleblower allegations that prosecutorial decisions throughout the Hunter Biden investigation were influenced by politics. Gary Shapley, an IRS whistleblower, testified that the Biden transition team and the Secret Service were "tipped off" about the planned interview of Hunter Biden. The FBI agent's testimony corroborates Shapley's claims.
Attorney General Merrick Garland recently appointed U.S. attorney David Weiss as special counsel in the investigation into Hunter Biden. This appointment has sparked outrage among Republicans and critics of Garland, who question how the same prosecutor accused of allowing politics to influence decisions can now lead the probe with a perceived sense of independence from the Biden Justice Department.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer expressed his lack of confidence in U.S. Attorney Weiss as Special Counsel, citing the mishandling of the Biden transition team's contact and the failure to interview Hunter Biden as planned. Comer also criticized the Weiss-led investigation for preventing investigators from taking necessary steps that could have implicated Joe Biden, allowing the statute of limitations to expire for certain felonies, and attempting to give Hunter Biden an unprecedented plea deal.
During the transcribed interview, the FBI supervisory special agent shed light on the decisions made throughout the investigation and how they differed from other cases he had worked on during his 20-year tenure at the FBI. According to the obtained transcript, the agent testified that it was time to interview Hunter Biden years into the investigation, with the initial plan being to approach multiple witnesses, including Hunter Biden, on December 8, 2020, weeks after the presidential election.
The agent revealed that the plan was to notify the local field office of the Secret Service on the morning of the interview to minimize the chances of anyone else being informed. However, the agent was informed on the evening of December 7, 2020, that FBI headquarters had already contacted Secret Service headquarters to notify them of the investigators' intent to interview Hunter Biden. The agent expressed frustration and confusion over this communication, believing that only the Secret Service needed to be notified for safety and coordination purposes.
The agent clarified that by the "transition team," he was referring to the advisors or appointees of the President-elect during the transition phase. He admitted that he did not have specific names or roles within the transition team.
On the morning of the proposed interview, the agent was informed by his assistant special agent in charge that they would not be allowed to approach Hunter Biden's house. Instead, their information would be given to the Secret Service, and they were instructed to wait nearby. This deviation from standard investigative procedures surprised the agent, who had never been told to wait outside a target's home until they were contacted.
Despite waiting for a certain period of time, the agent and his assistant were never able to interview Hunter Biden. When questioned about whether the change of plans was politically motivated, the agent stated that he did not have the knowledge or understanding of why the changes were made. He also testified that he had never known U.S. Attorney David Weiss to make prosecutorial decisions based on political influence.
However, the agent did express disagreement with certain investigative steps, particularly regarding the interview of Hunter Biden. Despite his reservations, he acknowledged that the decision had been made, and he had moved on.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer emphasized that the investigation into the Justice Department's handling of the Hunter Biden case would continue. Comer, along with the Judiciary and Ways & Means Committees, aims to hold accountable those responsible for what they perceive as a two-tiered system of justice within the department.
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