The lawyer for an IRS whistleblower is raising questions about the Justice Department's claims that its investigation of Hunter Biden has been independent of political interference, pointing to a series of events in April that he says cast doubt on the department's assertion.
The events transpired just after Mark Lytle's client came forward to Congress with allegations of preferential treatment in the Hunter Biden probe. A Justice Department spokesperson described the communications and meetings as "routine."
On April 19, Lytle, who represents IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley, wrote to the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means Committees to say that his client wished to come forward.
Lytle said in the letter that the disclosures his client would make included allegations of "preferential treatment and politics improperly infecting decisions and protocols that would normally be followed by career law enforcement professionals in similar circumstances." The letter did not mention Hunter Biden, referring to the case only as a "sensitive investigation of a high-profile, controversial subject."
Emails reviewed by CBS news say that a senior Justice Department official in the deputy attorney general's office, Associate Deputy Attorney General Brad Weinsheimer, set up a phone call with Lytle six days later, on April 25. The internal emails were first reported by the Daily Mail.
"I was initially encouraged at the outreach from Brad Weinsheimer, in the office of the Deputy Attorney...
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