A former FBI agent testified that the bureau tipped off President Joe Biden's transition team that it would interview first son Hunter Biden as part of a tax crime investigation.
The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability on Monday released the transcript of a July interview with a former supervisory special agent for the FBI. The agent testified that the FBI in December 2020 notified the Secret Service and then-president-elect Joe Biden's transition team of its intent to interview Hunter Biden over alleged tax crimes.
The interview never took place, the former agent testified. The testimony of the former agent, whose name is redacted in the transcript, corroborates that of IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley, who told the House Ways and Means Committee of the FBI's tipoff in testimony the committee released in June.
The Biden administration has faced allegations of misconduct regarding the investigation into Hunter Biden, who pleaded not guilty in July to federal tax charges.
On Friday, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed U.S. attorney David Weiss as special counsel for the investigation. Weiss was the architect of what Republicans called the "sweetheart plea deal" the Justice Department initially struck with Hunter Biden, which blew up in a July arraignment. The judge in the case refused to accept the deal, calling it "not standard" and "different from what I normally see."