The CIA blocked the IRS from calling Hunter Biden’s benefactor as a witness in its investigation into the troubled first son, according to documents released Wednesday by House Republicans.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf ordered IRS staff to drop Kevin Morris from its witness list after an August 2021 meeting at CIA headquarters, according to testimony from IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley. It is not clear what the CIA told Wolf about Morris, who has spent at least $6.5 million on Hunter Biden’s legal fees, child support, and luxurious living arrangements in California.
The revelation marks another strange turn in the saga of Hunter Biden’s legal troubles. It has long been unclear why Morris, an entertainment lawyer and Hollywood producer who says he met Hunter Biden at a fundraiser in December 2019, has been willing to spend such an exorbitant amount of money on a man he has only known for a few years.
At the time of the CIA briefing, Hunter Biden was under investigation for allegedly not paying at least $1.4 million in taxes from 2014 through 2019. Morris, an associate told Politico this month, has been financially supporting Hunter Biden for "four and a half years," which implies Morris began bankrolling Hunter Biden since they first met.
It is not clear what information Morris would know about Hunter Biden’s alleged tax delinquency, nor why the CIA objected to Morris serving as a witness. The CIA did not respond to a request for comment.
According to Shapley, Wolf met at the CIA’s headquarters with Justice Department tax attorney Jack Morgan after the intelligence agency summoned them. There, Wolf was "provided a classified briefing in relation to Mr. Morris and as a result we could no longer pursue him as a witness," according to Shapley.
"AUSA Wolf proudly referenced a CIA mug and stated that she purchased some CIA ‘swag’ at the gift shop while she was there," Shapley wrote in his testimony.
Emails released by House Republicans show Shapley attempting to reach Wolf and discuss the CIA’s briefing. Those emails show Wolf initially asked an attorney in the Justice Department’s National Security Division to set up a meeting between the two, although their correspondence ended after Wolf ceased responding to Shapley.
"Although AUSA Wolf initially appeared to be receptive to facilitating a briefing for me on the information, she ignored multiple attempts by me to arrange the briefing," Shapley testified. "Since obtaining this briefing was outside of my control, eventually I was forced to accept it would not happen. However, it served as yet another example of deviations from normal investigative processes in this matter."
Morris may soon cut all financial ties with Biden, according to Politico. An associate of his said "Kevin is completely tapped out. ... just when Hunter is facing two criminal trials starting in a few weeks, he has no resources. It’s pretty dire."
House Republicans first reached out to the CIA in March over allegations that the agency "intervened in the investigation of Hunter Biden" and asked for all relevant documents related to the incident. It is not clear whether the CIA provided any information after the request.
Most of Morris’s payments to Hunter Biden have been direct cash transfers. But Morris, who also controls Hunter Biden’s stake in a Chinese private equity firm, was revealed as one of the buyers of Hunter Biden’s six-figure art work last year. Morris previously said Hunter Biden’s paintings, which are displayed in his home, were a gift.
Hunter Biden is scheduled to be in two different courtrooms in June for crimes committed when he was addicted to crack cocaine. He has pleaded not guilty to his tax charges and to charges related to possession of a gun while using narcotics.
Shapley first spoke out against the Justice Department’s handling of the Hunter Biden tax fraud investigation last year. In his original testimony, Shapley said the IRS first opened its investigation into Hunter Biden in November 2018 "as an offshoot of an investigation the IRS was conducting into a foreign-based amateur online pornography platform."
Shapley said his superiors repeatedly stonewalled the investigation and gave the Biden family preferential treatment. Prosecutors eventually offered Hunter Biden a plea deal that would have resulted in no prison time.
Federal judge Maryellen Noreika rejected that deal as "not standard" and "different from what I normally see."