Delaware Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf refused to answer dozens of House Republicans’ questions last week about the role she played in blocking investigators from including now-President Joe Biden in multiple federal criminal investigations of Hunter Biden.
A 159-page transcript of the Dec. 14 testimony reviewed by The Federalist shows that Wolf, who quietly departed her position at the Department of Justice a few weeks ago, claimed nearly 80 times that she was “not authorized” by the DOJ to speak about her obstruction of the investigation into Hunter’s and potentially Joe’s criminal family business endeavors.
Shortly before her testimony, the DOJ sent a letter to Wolf, which The Federalist has reviewed, offering guidance for her testimony that Wolf appeared to have solicited. The Biden Justice Department specifically primed her to dodge questions and remain vague about her involvement in the department’s Biden family investigation meddling.
House Republicans determined earlier this month that the DOJ slow-walked a federal tax crime inquiry into Hunter and “deviated from standard procedures” to protect the Bidens. Wolf’s attempt to cover for Joe by keeping his name out of probe contributed significantly to the GOP’s findings.
Testimonies from IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler released by the House Ways and Means Committee in September confirmed Wolf sought to shield then-Democrat presidential candidate Joe, “Political Figure 1,” by demanding investigators omit his name from a Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) related search warrant in August 2020.
“I am not sure what this is cut and pasted from but other than the attribution, location and identity stuff at the end, none [of] it is appropriate and within the scope of this warrant,” Wolf wrote. “Please focus on FARA evidence only. There should be nothing about Political Figure 1 in here.”
In December 2020, Wolf also barred investigators from asking about the “big guy” or “dad.” Before that, in 2018, Wolf dissuaded IRS investigators including whistleblower Shapely from searching Joe’s Wilmington guest house where Hunter resided. Her justification was “there was more than enough probable cause for the physical search warrant there, but the question was whether the juice was worth the squeeze.”
Wolf’s repeated attempts to shield the Bidens from a full and fair investigation, her apparent involvement in Weiss’s decision to thwart congressional Republicans’ oversight of that obstruction, and the DOJ’s refusal to let her testify prompted GOP House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan to formally subpoena her in November. The prosecutor eventually agreed to a voluntary interview with members of the committee but warned that “I will not be permitted to answer most of the questions you have for me.”
Republicans asked Wolf to explain her email to an FBI agent that “there should be nothing about Political Figure 1.” They also demanded to know when the Hunter probe was deemed “politically sensitive” and whether “any special precautions taken with the Biden investigation.”
Instead of answering directly, Wolf parroted several DOJ talking points insisting that partisanship did not affect investigation and claimed she was “not able to answer questions about this particular search warrant or this particular draft.”
“I would just say, again, without commenting on the particulars of any investigation, all appropriate policies and procedures and professional responsibility obligations were followed in the case,” Wolf insisted.
At one point during the interview, Wolf even refused to admit that she was the “lead [Assistant U.S. Attorney] on the case.” She dismissed most further questioning on the grounds that the Hunter probe is an “ongoing investigation.”
When she wasn’t obfuscating, Wolf claimed she “acted in compliance” with DOJ policies.
She even echoed David Weiss’ under-oath insistence that he had “ultimate authority” to charge Hunter. Evidence and even congressional testimony from Attorney General Merrick Garland, however, suggests Weiss could not do so without first getting permission from other U.S. Attorneys and the Biden DOJ’s Tax Division.
Weiss, as special counsel, recently charged Hunter with nine federal tax crimes but refused to hold the first son accountable for any of his family’s foreign influence-peddling.
Wolf admitted during her testimony that line prosecutors such as herself are “aware of the statute of limitations” in each particular case and hinted that letting them expire is atypical.
