A newly released transcript of closed-door, congressional testimony confirms FBI headquarters let the Secret Service know investigators were going to knock on Hunter Biden’s front door in an attempt to interview him about an ongoing criminal investigation. Ultimately the investigators were told to stand by and the interview never happened.
The transcript was released by Republicans on the House Oversight Committee who are investigating the Biden family and their business dealings.
The testimony came from an unnamed, retired FBI agent who was working on the case.
Here’s what the agent said happened:
Investigators wanted to interview Hunter Biden on Dec. 8, 2020, about the ongoing criminal investigation into his taxes. On Dec. 7, investigators called FBI headquarters to tell them their plan.
“The initial plan was to have the local field office of the Secret Service be notified the morning of to diminish opportunities for anybody else to be notified,” the agent said. “But suffice it to say I was informed that FBI headquarters had contacted Secret Service headquarters and had made a notification at that time, or somewhere around that time on the evening of the 7th.”
According to the transcript, supervisors told investigators they were not allowed to approach the house and had to stand by. Instead, their contact information would be given to the Secret Service who would pass it along to Hunter Biden.
They said they waited for Hunter to call, but after hearing nothing, they had to leave to interview another witness. The FBI agent’s testimony corroborates what IRS agent Gary Shapley said in his witness interview with the committee.
The investigation into Hunter Biden began in 2018. It is being led by U.S. Attorney David Weiss who is now special counsel.
“The Oversight Committee has no confidence in U.S. Attorney Weiss as Special Counsel,” Oversight Chairman James Comer said in a statement. “Investigators were prevented from taking steps that could have led to Joe Biden, the statute of limitations was allowed to run with respect to certain felonies, and the U.S. Attorney’s office sought to give Hunter Biden an unprecedented sweetheart plea deal.”
Prosecutors and the defense had worked out a plea deal on tax and gun charges but that fell apart in July. Now, investigators believe this may only be resolved with a trial.
Read the full transcript here.
