The federalist

Huge Development Means IRS Whistleblower Can Soon Explode Biden Family Scandals

IRS Whistleblower Granted Access to Hunter Biden’s Tax Returns

The House Ways and Means Committee has granted two attorneys representing the Internal Revenue Service whistleblower authority to inspect Hunter Biden’s tax returns and related information. This development promises to accelerate the unraveling of the Justice Department’s Biden family protection racket.

Understanding why requires a fuller understanding of IRS privacy law, so here’s your “lawsplainer.”

A Look at the Law

Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code provides that federal tax returns and “return information” “shall be confidential” and makes it illegal for an IRS “officer or employee” to disclose such tax information. However, several exceptions to the confidentiality provisions of Section 6103 exist, including the statutory exception authorizing whistleblowers to disclose confidential information to the House Committee on Ways and Means or the Senate Committee on Finance.

  • Section 6103’s confidentiality mandate precludes a government employee from revealing the existence of an investigation into a taxpayer.
  • The whistleblower would be forced to face the committees without the benefit of legal counsel.
  • The whistleblower also could not legally discuss with his attorney many aspects of an investigation to prepare to testify before the congressional committees.

The IRS whistleblower, out of an abundance of caution, had refrained from sharing certain information with his attorney while seeking legal advice. This made it challenging for the attorney to make fully informed judgments about how to best proceed.

The Workaround

Section 6103(f)(4) provides an important workaround by allowing the chairmen of the Ways and Means Committee and Finance Committee to “designate or appoint” an “agent” to inspect the tax returns and return information. In other words, the committees could appoint the whistleblower’s attorneys as their “agents,” which would allow the whistleblower to discuss freely and fully the tax information with his lawyers. In turn, the whistleblower’s lawyers could brief the committees on those details, albeit in a closed session.

Last week, the Ways and Means Committee authorized two of the whistleblower’s attorneys to inspect the tax material, sidestepping a protracted battle over the circumstances under which the whistleblower would testify. This ensures the House committee can learn, on an expedited basis, the whistleblower’s accusations.

What’s Next?

A proffer by the whistleblower’s attorneys to the House Ways and Means Committee could occur as early as this week, with the whistleblower testifying soon after. The closed-door testimony could then become public, either because the House Committee concludes it is not confidential information under Section 6103 or because it votes to release it publicly, as allowed by statute.

The whistleblower’s accusations



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