Hunter Biden Probe 'Undermined' If Half of Allegations True: Legal Analyst

The integrity and credibility of the Hunter Biden tax investigation could be "undermined" if part of the allegations made by the Internal Revenue Service whistleblowers are true, according to Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University.

Turley's remarks come after the House Ways and Means Committee released the testimony of two IRS whistleblowers who alleged that federal agencies tried to impede a probe looking into Hunter Biden's income taxes. Hunter Biden is the son of President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and has received significant scrutiny and criticism from Republican lawmakers for his alleged crimes.

Gary Shapley, one of the whistleblowers, told the committee in a May 26 deposition that he had proof that the Department of Justice (DOJ) "provided preferential treatment, slow-walked the investigation, did nothing to avoid obvious conflicts of interest in this investigation," according to the publicly released testimony.

Speaking to Fox News on Saturday, Turley said that the allegations "are not proof" and that the whistleblowers' claims are still "unverified but clearly worthy of investigation."

"If half of these allegations are proven to be true, the investigation's integrity and credibility would be greatly undermined," Turley said. "At a minimum, these are questions that need to be answered."

"Notably, some of this evidence comes from statements given to Congress under the threat of prosecution if false. The alleged push for felony charges are also matters that the whistleblowers may have direct involvement or knowledge as the basis for the allegations," the law professor added.

"If searches were blocked, or questions limited, the account could confirm the worst suspicions about this investigation," Turley added.

During his testimony, Shapley alleged that Hunter Biden's lawyers were tipped off about developments in the investigation and that multiple requests to charge the president's son were denied. However, the Justice Department denied those claims and argued that David Weiss, a Trump-appointee and the U.S. attorney overseeing the case, has the authority to handle the Hunter Biden investigation as he sees fit.

"I don't know how it would be possible for anybody to block him from bringing a prosecution given that he has this authority," Attorney General Merrick Garland, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, told reporters during a press conference on Friday. "I'm saying he was given complete authority to make all decisions on his own."

The Justice Department charged Hunter Biden last Tuesday with failure to pay income taxes and the unlawful possession of a firearm, but an arrangement between his lawyers and prosecutors allowed the president's son to plead guilty to a misdemeanor tax offense while avoiding another charge. Another potential arrangement might also be in the works for the gun-related charge.

Shapley further testified that the team he had led in the IRS probe into Hunter Biden's tax affairs was allegedly denied access to his laptop while in the FBI's possession. He said they were told by the agency how many people they could interview.

"But the criminal tax investigation of Hunter Biden, led by the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Delaware, has been handled differently than any investigation I've ever been a part of for the past 14 years of my IRS service. 12 Some of the decisions seem to be influenced by politics. But whatever the motivations, at every stage decisions were made that had the effect of benefiting the subject of the investigation," Shapley said in his testimony.

Newsweek reached out by email to Hunter Biden's attorney and several public interest law experts for comment.