House Republicans fired their opening salvo on Wednesday in a new phase of their investigation into Hunter Biden: vetting allegations of interference in the yearslong federal probe of the First Son.
The high-profile Oversight Committee hearing marked the first public testimony from Gary Shapley, the IRS whistleblower at the center of the interference allegations, and Joseph Ziegler — previously known as “whistleblower X.” The two addressed their claims of broad meddling by federal authorities in the case, including that the Justice Department consistently slow-walked their work and that prosecutors tipped off Hunter Biden’s attorneys about leads they were planning to pursue.
The hearing provided little new information about the allegations themselves — a dynamic that top Republicans predicted in advance. Instead, the GOP portrayed it more as an opportunity to get the duo’s narrative in the public sphere and elevate a pair of witnesses they view as the “A-team.”
Despite the lack of any concrete new material, the hearing is likely to fuel calls from conservatives to impeach Attorney General Merrick Garland. And partisan tensions still flared throughout the proceedings, with Democrats denouncing the GOP investigation as part of a smear campaign against President Joe Biden while the pair of whistleblowers defended their credibility.
Here are the top takeaways from both parties’ arguments during the hearing.
Republicans contended that — given that the...
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