WASHINGTON — IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel promised Thursday that his agency won’t retaliate against whistleblowers when asked about an official alleging a coverup in the tax fraud investigation of first son Hunter Biden.
Werfel declined to comment specifically on the longtime IRS worker who anonymously came forward but gave broad assurances at a hearing of the House Ways and Means Committee.
Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), the committee’s chairman, asked about the whistleblower — who supervised the Hunter Biden case for three years before informing key lawmakers through an attorney last week that he wants to unveil “preferential treatment” and alleged false testimony to Congress by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
“Can you commit that there will be no retaliation against that whistleblower?” Smith asked Werfel.
“Mr. Chairman, while I can’t comment on a specific case, I can say without any hesitation there will be no retaliation for anyone making an allegation or a call to a whistleblower hotline,” the IRS commissioner replied.
Tristan Leavitt, president of Empower Oversight, a watchdog group working with the whistleblower, told The Post, “We welcome these positive comments, but it’s easy to say the right thing in front of the cameras.”
“The real test is what the Commissioner actually does to put a stop to whistleblower reprisals,” Leavitt said. “As we have said, Empower Oversight will fight any retaliation against our client tooth and nail, along with our co-counsel, Mark Lytle.”
Lytle informed a group of committee leaders last week that the whistleblower already made disclosures to inspectors general at the Justice and Treasury departments and would like guidance on submitting information to Congress.
“It really doesn’t come down to his credibility, whether you believe him or not, because the things he’s been through are very well documented in emails, and other communications with the Department of Justice,” Lytle told CBS News at the time.
A quirk of federal law requires the whistleblower to receive special permission from either Smith or Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), chairman of the chamber’s Finance Committee, to more fully describe his allegations to his own attorneys, which he wants to do before facing potentially hostile questioning on Capitol Hill.
Smith didn’t specifically say Thursday that he granted permission to the whistleblower to consult his legal team, but indicated he was working to get to the bottom of the allegations.
“Last week, a whistleblower came forward with troubling claims about abuses of power. And we are conducting a review of this matter and we’ll go wherever the facts lead us,” Smith said.
“And I expect full cooperation from the IRS, particularly with regard to ensuring this whistleblower is protected from any retaliation.”
Smith added, “We value the importance and the role of whistleblowers in ensuring the integrity of our governing institutions.”
“We at the IRS will fiercely defend the integrity of the whistleblower process,” Werfel said at a different point Thursday. “We welcome suggestions on how to strengthen and improve it.”
NBC reported last week that there was “growing frustration” within the FBI over the fact that US Attorney for Delaware David Weiss had not yet brought charges against Hunter Biden after the bureau concluded most of its work last year.
The probe reportedly began in 2018.
Hunter confirmed he was under investigation for tax fraud shortly after his father won the 2020 election and he reportedly borrowed about $2 million last year to pay off back taxes, though doing so doesn’t legally absolve him of the original non-payment.
House Republicans are investigating President Biden’s role in his family’s overseas dealings during and after his vice presidency, during which Hunter Biden and Joe Biden’s brother James earned millions from partnerships with wealthy people in countries where their powerful relative held sway.
The FBI in December 2019 retrieved the first son’s abandoned laptop, which contained extensive information about Joe Biden’s involvement with his relatives’ ventures with associates from China, Mexico, Russia and Ukraine.
