‘I was unaware of interference in Hunter Biden probe,’ claims former FBI agent

Transcripts reveal that a former FBI agent who assisted in the investigation into Hunter Biden told congressional investigators that he was not aware of any political involvement in the case, despite the fact that he claimed higher-ups prevented him from speaking with President Joe Biden’s son weeks after the 2020 election.

The unnamed FBI supervisory agent confirmed earlier testimony by an Internal Revenue Service whistleblower that investigators were denied access to Hunter Biden on December 8, 2020, after top Secret Service officials and the Biden transition team were informed of the plan, according to transcripts from an interview with the Republican-controlled House of Representatives Oversight Committee on July 17.

The former agent, who left the agency last year after more than 20 years, admitted to being angry over the decision of higher-ranking authorities to deny him an interview, but he did not find the result to be worrisome.

Personally, I wasn’t aware of any political meddling, the former agent claimed.

Republicans cited the testimony as proof that the Justice Department intervened to stall the Hunter Biden investigation despite the fact that the circumstances occurred when Republican President Donald Trump was in office.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said in a statement on Monday when the committee released the transcript, ‘Tipping off the transition team and not being able to interview Hunter Biden as planned are just a couple of examples that reveal the Justice Department’s misconduct in the Biden criminal investigation.’

Comer claimed that the alleged misbehaviour took place when David Weiss, a Trump appointee and special counsel in the Hunter Biden probe, was in office. This was despite the opposition of several House Republicans, including Comer, who objected to the appointment of Weiss.

In spite of owing more than $100,000, Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty in July to charges of failing to pay taxes on more than USD 1.5 million in income in 2017 and 2018. In a another case, he was accused of illegally possessing a firearm while under the influence of drugs, which is a crime. He did not enter a plea.

According to the former agent, investigators had intended to surprise Hunter Biden with their request for an interview, but they had to first give the Secret Service advance notice because they had just started protecting the then-president-elect’s son days earlier.

In the end, the interview plan was communicated to the FBI and Secret Service headquarters, the interviewers’ access to Hunter Biden was restricted, and the former FBI agent heard from Hunter Biden’s lawyer.