DOJ official contacted IRS whistleblower before Hunter Biden's sweetheart plea deal: Report
Correspondent Mark Meredith reports the latest from the White House.?
EXCLUSIVE: House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer subpoenaed Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and several DHS and Secret Service officials for documents and testimony related to the Secret Service’s alleged tip-off of the Biden transition team regarding a planned Hunter Biden tax probe interview in 2020, while also accusing the agencies of obstructing a congressional investigation.
Fox News Digital exclusively obtained letters and the subpoenas sent to Mayorkas and Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle Tuesday.
Comer sent a total of six subpoenas Tuesday— one directed to Secretary Mayorkas for documents; and five for depositions—two to Secret Service officials and three to DHS officials.
Fox News Digital has obtained and reviewed the subpoenas.
A DHS official told Fox News Digital that it was working to respond to the committee's inquiry before the subpoenas were issued, and denied the claim that the agency "obstructed" the panel's probe.
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
"The Department of Justice initiated the Biden family coverup and now DHS under the leadership of Secretary Mayorkas is complicit in it," Comer told Fox News Digital. "Investigators were never able to interview Hunter Biden during the criminal investigation because Secret Service headquarters and the Biden transition team were tipped off about the planned interview. This is just one of many examples of the misconduct and politicization during the Department of Justice’s investigation."
Comer said the Oversight Committee – along with the Judiciary and Ways and Means Committees – is seeking interviews with key witnesses, including employees at the Secret Service."
"The Department of Homeland Security is obstructing our investigation by muzzling the Secret Service from providing a response to Congress," he explained. "The American people deserve transparency, not obstruction."
Comer subpoenaed the director of oversight for DHS’ Office of Legislative Affairs, K. Shiek Pal, to testify before the committee; along with assistant secretary to OLA Zephranie Buetow; and DHS senior advisor to the general counsel Stephen Jonas.
Comer also subpoenaed the assistant director of the Secret Services’ Intergovernmental and Legislative Affairs office, Vincent Tutoni, and the acting special agent in charge of the congressional affairs program for the Secret Service, David McKeown, to testify before the committee.
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
FORMER FBI AGENT CONFIRMS KEY DETAILS OF HUNTER BIDEN WHISTLEBLOWER’S TESTIMONY, GOP SAYS
Comer added that House Republicans "will hold the Biden Administration accountable for running interference for the Biden family’s corruption and criminal activity."
The subpoenas come after whistleblowers testified before Congress this year alleging that prosecutorial decisions made throughout the Hunter Biden investigation, led by now-Special Counsel David Weiss, were influenced by politics.
Multiple whistleblowers testified that Secret Service headquarters were tipped off in December 2020 about a planned interview by FBI and IRS agents of Hunter Biden in a probe of his taxes. The tip-off that resulted in the Biden transition team being notified by the Secret Service, and then the interview of then-President-elect Joe Biden’s son not taking place at all, even while he was labeled the target of the years-long federal investigation.
One whistleblower explained that the FBI and IRS sought to interview Hunter Biden on Dec. 8, 2020. The whistleblower told Congress that on Dec. 7, 2020—the night before the interview—the whistleblower was informed that the FBI had "notified Secret Service headquarters and the transition team about the planned actions the following day…essentially tipping off a group of people very close to President Biden and Hunter Biden and gave this group an opportunity to obstruct the approach on the witness."
That testimony was corroborated by a former FBI supervisory special agent who accompanied that IRS whistleblower during the attempt to interview Hunter Biden. The interview did not occur.
President Biden, left, and his son Hunter Biden, right.? (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)
In June, after hearing whistleblower testimony, the House Oversight Committee, along with the House Judiciary and Ways & Means Committees, wrote to the U.S. Secret Service requesting interviews of "relevant Secret Service employees."
"Throughout July and August, the Secret Service has provided uncharacteristic delay and opacity responding to this request," Comer wrote to Mayorkas.
Comer said the committee "has learned that the DHS Office of Legislative Affairs instructed the Secret Service to withhold a response the Secret Service had prepared for the committees."
"DHS OLA’s decision to instruct the Secret Service not to provide this response appears to constitute obstruction of a Congressional investigation, and the attached subpoenas require the immediate and full cooperation of DHS," Comer wrote.
Comer laid out the back-and-forth between the committee and the Secret Service, explaining that after much correspondence, more than a month after his initial request, in late July, the Secret Service said they had a response "prepared in accordance with the indicated timeframe," but had been "awaiting final approval."
By the end of August, responsive documents and testimony were still not provided. On August 25, a call took place with the Secret Service and the House Oversight Committee’s counsel, in which the Secret Service "explained that a responsive document to the Committees’ June 29 letter was prepared, but DHS OLA had instructed the Secret Service not to transmit the responses."
After the call, the Secret Service provided a letter to the panel that did not identify individuals responsive to the June 29 letter, saying it "was not able to identify any current employees with first-hand knowledge" of events described in the letter.
Comer said the committee "sought an explanation for how the August 25 letter should be read in conjunction with the call with Secret Service, during which Secret Service explained a more fulsome response had been prepared but DHS OLA had prevented it from being transmitted."
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During a call days later, the Secret Service again explained that the response "was not the original response" the agency had prepared and "reiterated" that DHS had told the Secret Service "not to provide the original response."
"The Oversight Committee requires additional information about the efforts of DHS OLA to block a response from the Secret Service to three Congressional Committees’ request for information," Comer wrote.
The DHS official told Fox News Digital that Comer's claim that the agency "obstructed or withheld a response is categorically false, and these subpoenas are entirely without basis."
The official said DHS was working across all of its components to respond to the inquiry in a "uniform and accurate way," as it does with all congressional inquiries.
"DHS was following standard procedures for the review and submission of materials to Congress, which have been utilized across multiple Congresses," the official said. "These reviews are a normal and necessary step in the process to ensure protection of law enforcement sensitivities, matters relating to ongoing investigations, privacy and privilege issues, consistency in our responses, and more."
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