Unlike many of his colleagues, MSNBC's Ali Velshi actually managed to acknowledge the existence of the recent House Oversight Committee hearing on two IRS whistleblowers alleging misconduct during the Hunter Biden investigation on his Saturday show, but only to dismiss them and other allegations related to the Biden family as “stunts and conspiracies.”
Velshi led off by detailing one of the major accusations, “On Wednesday, a pair of IRS whistleblowers testified, claiming that the Justice Department intentionally delayed bringing charges against Hunter Biden.”
Seems like a big deal, but Velshi rolled right along, recapping that “Last month, NBC News reported that Hunter Biden struck an agreement to plead guilty to two federal misdemeanor counts of failing to pay his taxes. He also faces a separate felony gun possession charge, which will likely be dismissed, if he meets certain conditions.”
Getting back to the hearing, Velshi recalled “one of the IRS whistleblowers said he witnessed the U.S. Attorney, David Weiss, who oversaw the Hunter Biden case, tell a room of senior FBI and IRS investigators in October that he was, quote, ‘not the deciding person on whether charges are filed.’”
Velshi tried to use Weiss’s very existence as a U.S. Attorney to dismiss the claims:
Weiss disputes these allegations and a little background here: Weiss was tapped by Donald Trump five years ago to investigate Hunter Biden's business dealings. When Joe Biden took office in 2021, he did what presidents typically do. He asked for resignations of all Trump-appointed United States attorneys except for David Weiss. So that David Weiss could continue to investigate his own son.
Simply pointing out that Weiss wasn’t sacked in 2021 doesn’t disprove anything. Using that logic, one could say the charges are accurate simply because one of the whistleblowers, Joseph Ziegler, is a self-described gay Democrat who is married to another man.
Of course, Velshi left that detail out as he turned his focus to Republicans:
Now, if you thought a hearing with two IRS whistleblowers was going to be tame, you would be wrong. That hearing quickly devolved when the congressman Marjorie Taylor Greene displayed explicit photographs of Hunter Biden to the committee. This is the reality of the Republican investigation into the so-called ‘Biden Crime Family.’ It's seemingly riddled with stunts and conspiracies.
Again, Greene holding up explicit photographs doesn’t disprove anything and if Velshi thinks that stunts during the hearing were unique to the certain Republicans, he is woefully underinformed.
This segment was sponsored by Chase.
Here is a transcript for the July 22 show:
MSNBC Velshi
7/22/2023
11:20 AM ET
ALI VELSHI: This week, Republicans on the House Oversight Committee entered a new phase in their investigation into what they call the Biden Crime Family. On Wednesday, a pair of IRS whistleblowers testified, claiming that the Justice Department intentionally delayed bringing charges against Hunter Biden.
Last month, NBC News reported that Hunter Biden struck an agreement to plead guilty to two federal misdemeanor counts of failing to pay his taxes. He also faces a separate felony gun possession charge, which will likely be dismissed, if he meets certain conditions.
Now, when this all came up, Republicans called it a sweetheart deal and claimed that the Biden Administration used its influence to sway the investigation. The White House said it had no role in decision-making, regarding the case, and that Joe Biden has no ties to his son's business operations.
During the week's hearing, one of the IRS whistleblowers said, he witnessed the U.S. Attorney, David Weiss, who oversaw the Hunter Biden case, tell a room of senior FBI and IRS investigators in October that he was, quote, “not the deciding person on whether charges are filed.”
Weiss disputes these allegations and a little background here: Weiss was tapped by Donald Trump five years ago to investigate Hunter Biden's business dealings. When Joe Biden took office in 2021, he did what presidents typically do. He asked for resignations of all Trump-appointed United States attorneys except for David Weiss. So that David Weiss could continue to investigate his own son.
Now, if you thought a hearing with two IRS whistleblowers was going to be tame, you would be wrong. That hearing quickly devolved when the congressman Marjorie Taylor Greene displayed explicit photographs of Hunter Biden to the committee. This is the reality of the Republican investigation into the so-called “Biden Crime Family.” It's seemingly riddled with stunts and conspiracies.
