Prosecutor Accused of Taking It Easy on Biden Appears Before House Committee
A former assistant U.S. attorney who has been accused of blunting the edge of the inquiry into Hunter Biden’s taxes had little to say when she testified before Congress on Thursday.
Lesley Wolf, who was fingered by IRS whistleblowers as a major impediment to a full-throttle investigation of Hunter Biden, was the assistant U.S. attorney for Delaware during the time of the initial Hunter Biden probe.
She has since left the Justice Department.
Although no longer in the DOJ, Wolf said during closed-door testimony Thursday before the House Judiciary Committee that department rules prevent her from going into detail about the investigation, according to the committee’s chairman, Rep. Jim Jordan.
“Miss Wolf refused to answer most of our questions,” Jordan told reporters, according to Fox News.
“She refused to answer based on instructions she was given from the Justice Department,” the Ohio Republican said.
Jordan said although Wolf would not speak about the investigation, most of the allegations from Internal Revenue Service whistleblowers that the Justice Department sought to slow and soften the Biden investigation have been substantiated.
The allegations from IRS investigator Gary Shapley included one that Wolf would not allow investigators to search Hunter Biden’s living space at the time.
Shapley said Wolf determined there was “enough probable cause for the physical search warrant there, but the question was whether the juice was worth the squeeze,” Fox News reported.
The IRS whistleblower also said she sought to “limit” questioning related to President Joe Biden and references to “dad” or “the big guy” that emerged in the investigation of his son.
“I will say this, and this has proved true now for months, Mr. Shapley, Mr. [Joseph ] Ziegler’s testimony continues to be, you know, just as accurate as can be. No one has refuted that,” Jordan said.
According to NBC News, which said it obtained a copy of her opening remarks, Wolf said she was still bound by Justice Department policies and she had done nothing wrong.
“At all times while serving as an AUSA, I acted consistently with the Justice Manual, DOJ policy directives, and my statutory/legal and ethical obligations,” she said.
“I followed the facts where they led, and made decisions in the best interests of the investigation,” Wolf said. “This includes, but is by no means limited to, policies and rules governing politically sensitive investigations, election year sensitivities, attorney search warrants, search warrant filter requirements, and professional conduct rules barring contact with represented parties.”
The former U.S. attorney said she felt an “overwhelming feeling of frustration and disappointment” at not being allowed to fully discuss the investigation, according to NBC News.
Wolf also claimed she had suffered harassment in recent months.
“My desire to serve my community and my country, such a great source of pride, has recently come at significant cost. As a private person, the once routine and mundane details of my life have become the subject of public interest in an invasive and disturbing manner,” she said.
“Far worse, I have been threatened and harassed, causing me to fear for my own and my family’s safety,” Wolf said.
Hunter Biden was called to testify before the committee on Wednesday, but he defied the subpoena and instead held a news conference outside the Capitol.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
