A Hunter Biden lawyer says purported screenshots of a text message from Hunter Biden to a potential Chinese business partner referring to Joe Biden, a message that has come under intense scrutiny following remarks made by a IRS whistleblower, «they’re not real.» and they contain a myriad of problems.”
Abbe Lowell, who is one of Hunter Biden’s attorneys, made the statement in a letter to Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, who interviewed the whistleblowers. The letter was obtained by NBC News.
IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley told the committee under oath that, as an IRS investigator, he obtained messages Hunter Biden sent on the WhatsApp platform, including one in 2017 that he read demanding payment from a Chinese businessman named Henry. Zhao.
In the message, Shapley said, Biden seemed to suggest that he was sitting with his father, then a former vice president, saying, “I’m going to make sure that the man sitting next to me and everyone he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you get in.” you will regret not following my instructions.
Lowell writes that the screenshots of the message tweeted by Smith, “both include a photo of Mr. Biden not from 2017 but from the White House Easter egg throw in April 2022 (long after the alleged message); both images represent the message in a blue bubble, when WhatsApp messages are green; a superimposed image of the Chinese flag for contact identification, when surely that was not how a text or a contact was saved; and one pretends to be a screenshot with the ‘. . .’ of someone writing a text (as in Apple’s iMessage) when that doesn’t happen in WhatsApp”.
He writes: «In short, the images you circulated online are completely false.»
Lowell’s letter takes issue with what he says are «self-described IRS ‘whistleblowers'» who say they are «claiming that title in an attempt to evade their own misconduct» and to «feed the campaign of disinformation to harm to our client, Hunter Biden.» as a vehicle to attack his father.»
Added Lowell: «These interviews were orchestrated recitations of poorly characterized and incomplete ‘facts’ by disgruntled officers who believed they knew more than the federal prosecutors who had all the evidence while conducting their five-year investigation of Mr. Biden.»
The letter from Hunter Biden’s attorney comes after the release of the transcripts last week by the House Ways and Means Committee. As NBC News reported, Shapley told the committee that U.S. Attorney David Weiss sought authority to indict Hunter Biden in two federal districts on charges broader than the tax-related misdemeanors to which the president’s son has agreed to plead guilty. last week, according to a 212-page transcript of Shapley’s interview.
Shapley said Attorney General Merrick Garland was not telling the truth to Congress when he claimed in earlier testimony that Weiss, who is based in Delaware, had the authority to bring charges in other jurisdictions, including California and Washington, DC Shapley said that Filing charges in those districts is not something US attorneys there, who were appointed by President Joe Biden, would do.
The Justice Department denied Shapley’s claims.
Lowell concludes his letter by saying, «Chairman Smith, it is easy when a committee does not operate fairly and thoroughly and adhere to rules and procedures to convey a false political narrative.»
Hunter Biden is expected to plead guilty in late July to two misdemeanor tax offenses as a result of a year-long federal criminal investigation. He denies any wrongdoing associated with any of his foreign business dealings.
The IRS has previously denied comment on the allegations raised by Shapley.