GOP Releases Hunter Biden IRS Whistleblower Documents
Congressional Investigations attorney Christopher Armstrong was quoted in a Bloomberg Tax article about the House Ways and Means Committee's decision to disclose testimony from IRS employees alleging misconduct during the agency's investigation of Hunter Biden. The committee reviewed information protected under Internal Revenue Code Section 6103, which relates to the release of taxpayer information, and later voted to release the whistleblower documents. Mr. Armstrong commented that although the committee has previously used Section 6103 to conduct oversight, more recent uses have had a political bend.
"What's changed in the past decade is its use in investigations that are perceived as politically driven, from the Tea Party inquiry under Chairman (former Rep. Dave) Camp, to the review of President Trump’s tax returns under Chairman Neal, to the latest IRS inquiry under Chairman Smith," he explained. "In my view these have all been appropriate uses of the Committee's ability to obtain tax return information under the statute, but there’s no question that there is a tit-for-tat here that is going to be with us for the foreseeable future."