Morning Wire - IRS Agent Testimony & The Carlee Russell Case | 7.20.23

Episode Date: July 20, 2023

Two IRS agents who investigated Hunter Biden’s tax affairs testify before the House Oversight Committee, new details come to light in the bizarre case of a 25-year-old nursing student who disappeared for 48 hours in Alabama, and the Biden Administration plans to sidestep the Supreme Court ruling that stopped their student loan forgiveness effort. Get the facts first with Morning Wire.  Black Rifle Coffee: Get 10% off your first order or Coffee Club subscription with code WIRE: https://www.blackriflecoffee.com/ Balance of Nature: Get a FREE Fruit & Veggies Travel Set plus $25 off your first order as a preferred customer. Use promo code WIRE at checkout: https://www.balanceofnature.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Don't miss the Devil Wears Prada 2 in theaters. Merrill Street, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci are back. In light of the recent scandal, I'm here to restore your credibility. I did not hire you, and all I need to do is bide my time until you've failed. On May 1st, I'm going to make something of this job. Rain. Be the bridges I burn. Night my way. Forever.

I just love my job. Get tickets now, the Devil Wears Prada 2 in theaters, May 1st, directed by David Frankel. A second IRS whistleblower comes. forward with damning allegations regarding the DOJ and Hunter Biden. It appeared to me, based on what I experienced, that the U.S. attorney in Delaware, in our investigation was constantly hamstrung, limited, and marginalized by DOJ officials, as well as other U.S. attorneys. I'm Georgia Howe, and John is still enjoying his vacation.

It's Thursday, July 20th, and this is Morning Wire. New details have emerged in the bizarre case of a 25-year-old nursing student in Alabama who was missing for two days before returning on foot. I do think it's highly unusual the day that someone gets kidnapped, that seven hours or eight hours before that, they're searching the internet, Googling the movie taken about an abduction. What does the latest evidence show,

and why do some suspect a hoax? And the Biden administration plans to sidestep a Supreme Court ruling that stopped their student loan forgiveness efforts in its tracks. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. have the news you need to know. Two IRS agents who investigated Hunter Biden's tax affairs testified to the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday. The agents came forward as whistleblowers alleging that Department of Justice officials routinely broke from standard practice and interfered

in the investigation in ways that always benefited the Biden family. Here to discuss the hearing is Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce. So Tim, one of the whistleblowers stepped forward to the public for the first time yesterday, who is Whistleblower X? For those who haven't been following the case closely, whistleblower X was the name given to one of two IRS agents concerned about the Hunter Biden investigation. That man came forward publicly for the first time yesterday as Joseph Ziegler. Here's Ziegler introducing himself.

I was the lead IRS case agent on the Hunter Biden investigation. I've recently discovered that people are saying that I must be more credible because I'm a Democrat who happens to be married to a man. I'm no more credible than this man sitting next to me due to my sexual orientation or my political beliefs. The truth is, my credibility comes today from my job experience with the IRS and my intimate knowledge of the agency's standard and procedures. The other agent was supervisory agent Gary Shapley, who oversees a team that specializes in particularly complex tax cases and who has spoken publicly before. Now, these whistleblowers have made some pretty serious allegations about preferential treatment for the Biden family. So credibility is going to be really important.

How did they hold up under questioning? Yeah, they were professional, but they weren't afraid to push back when Democrats tried to poke holes in their testimony. Here's Shappley and the committee's ranking member, James Raskin. It seems to me this October 7th, 22 meeting, which you've described as a red line, is just a misunderstanding, that after the U.S. Attorney in D.C. declined a partner on the 14 and 15 charges, Mr. Weiss took a good, hard look at those charges himself and ultimately decided not to charge them and therefore not to seek the special attorney status. Isn't that right, Mr. Shavley? No, that's not supported by the facts.

Really? Which facts is it not supported by? His own admissions in the October 7th, 2022 meeting that I documented contemporaneously. In that clip, Raskin was referring to a controversy over an October 7th, meeting that Shapley attended with U.S. Attorney for Delaware, David Weiss. Shappley said that in that meeting, Weiss denied having full authority to bring charges in the Hunter Biden case. That admission ran counter to what Attorney General Merrick Garland had testified in Congress. Since the whistleblowers have come forward, Weiss has tried to deflect blame from the Department of Justice and Garland. Weiss told lawmakers in a series of letters that he had full authority to pursue any charges

against Hunter Biden he felt necessary in any district. Here's Congressman Jim Jordan and Shappley speaking about that. They've changed your story. You guys haven't. Mr. Weiss was consistent with the investigators up until this October 7th meeting, and then he changed. What do you think happened, Mr. Shappley? I don't know what happened internal at Department of Justice, but what I can say is that the story has been changing from Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney Weiss, and I think the only person that's really had any documents that have been corroborated or in my own.

Now, what do we know about the whistleblower's allegations? Shappley and Ziegler alleged that Department of Justice officials intervened in the investigation numerous times and in ways that to them violated longstanding Justice Department norms and best practices. For instance, IRS investigators were unable to interview any Biden family member that includes Hunter and President Joe Biden. And here's Shappley detailing more interference. Investigators were not allowed to follow up on WhatsApp messages from Hunter Biden's Apple ICloud backup where he suggested he was sitting next to his father. Prosecutors instructed investigators not to ask about the big guy or dad when conducting interviews. The Biden transition team was tipped off about interviews the night before the investigation went over. IRS investigators were also denied access to the Hunter Biden laptop.

Was there other evidence in this investigation that you were denied access to? Yes, there was. There's a memorandum that documented contemporaneously in my House Ways and Means Committee testimony that states what, Assistant United States Attorney Leslie Wolfe told us on that day, and that's that they had information from the laptop that they were not providing to the investigators. Definitely some concerning testimony. Tim, thanks for reporting. Thanks for having me.

New details have emerged in the sensational case of Carly Russell, the 25-year-old nursing student from Alabama who went missing for 48 hours before returning home this weekend, claiming that she'd been abducted and held captive. Here to discuss the mysterious disappearance is Daily Wire Reporter Amanda Prestige Akamo. So Amanda, this is a truly bizarre case. Can you give us a quick recap on what we know about Carly's case before we get into the new information? Hey, Georgia. Yeah, so we know Carly vanished Thursday night after getting out of her vehicle while traveling south on Interstate 459, only to return to her parents' home two days later on foot. But what happened in between

remains unknown. According to the Hoover Police Department, Carly called 9.5. to report seeing a toddler walking on the side of the road at around 9.30 p.m. After she called 911, she called a family member to relay that same message. The family member says she heard Carly ask someone if they were okay, presumably speaking to the child. She didn't hear a response from the child, but heard Carly scream and then lost contact. Within minutes, police arrived unseen. Neither Carly nor the child were found. They did find Carly's vehicle, with the door open and still running,

and some of her belongings, including her wig, cell phone, and Apple Watch. Eerie surveillance footage of the highway appears to show Carly driving slowly on the shoulder for 600 yards, with her hazard lights on and others driving by. She eventually pulls over and can be seen getting out of the driver's side and walking around to the passenger side. There doesn't appear to be a toddler or anyone else on the side of the road. Even more strange, there were many other drivers on the road, none of whom reported seeing a toddler or anything else unusual. Now, this set off a manhunt for Carly and her disappearance became a national story.

But now there's fierce debate online about whether this was truly the case of a harrowing kidnapping or a mental health event or even a national hoax. Why do people think that this was a hoax? Well, a press conference on Wednesday from the Hoover Police Department offered some new details that seemed to misaligned with what the public initially believed. authorities, for example, really emphasized that Carly moved 600 yards in her vehicle while allegedly following this toddler, whom they have no evidence of. To think that a toddler, barefoot that could be three or four years old,

is going to travel six football fields without getting in the roadway, without crying. It's just very hard for me to understand. Carly also took a dark bathrobe, a roll of toilet paper, and other items from her place of work on the day she vanished. She also stopped at a Target store to purchase some granola bars and other snacks after picking up some takeout food. The department revealed that when they arrived on scene following Carly's 911 call, those items from work and Target were missing, though her takeout food was still in the vehicle. And lastly, the department revealed some of Carly's internet searches leading up to her disappearance. On July 11th, the term, you have to pay for an amber alert or searched.

On July 13th, the day of her disappearance, the term, How to Take Money from a Register without being caught, was searched. On July 13th, a search for a one-way bus ticket from Birmingham to Nashville was conducted with a departure date of July 13th. On July 13th, a search for the movie taken, a film about a production, was conducted. Now, we've also heard, for the first time, some statements that Carly gave to the police, Tell us what she said. Carly told authorities that she had been taken by a man with orange hair in a bald spot

after she got out of her vehicle to check on the child. She was then forced into a car and eventually taken inside a home with the man and a woman he was with. She says she was told to undress and believes they took photos of her. Carly says she was then put back in a vehicle and was somehow able to escape. She ran through lots of woods and eventually made it to her residence. Detective St. Carly had $107 cash in her right sock, a ripped shirt, and a cut lip when they arrived at her parents' home. Carly's parents have spoken out on this, too, and they're standing by their daughter's story that Carly was abducted. As of now, Hoover PD will not confirm that a crime occurred.

Well, the surveillance footage is strange for people who want to look it up. We're going to continue reporting as more comes out. Amanda, thanks for reporting. Thanks for having me. In June, the Supreme Court blocked the Biden and Minutes. administration's effort to forgive student loan debt. Now the White House is looking for workarounds to deliver on the campaign promise despite that court ruling. Daily Wire investigative reporter, Mairead Alorty is here with the details. So, Marade, a few weeks ago, this seemed like a settled matter,

but now the White House is coming back to this promise. Hi, Georgia. That's right. The Biden administration is moving forward aggressively with anything they can do to forgive student loans in spite of the court's decision. Originally, Biden had a $430 billion student debt relief plan, which would have forgiven the student debt of about 37 million people. But last month, the Supreme Court struck that down, ruling six to three, that the Heroes Act of 2003 does not give Biden the authority to cancel billions in student loan debt. After the court's decision, Biden said he will, quote, stop at nothing to find other ways to deliver relief to hardworking middle class families. So now the administration is moving forward with a few different workarounds. And what do those workarounds look like?

The administration outlined three debt relief actions it's taking immediately in a letter the education department sent to all student loan holders recently. First, the administration is working on a long-term plan to forgive student loans using negotiated rulemaking, a very long process involving the education department and a negotiating committee that could take years and could be interrupted by a new president getting elected. Second, the administration announced. has the plan called the save plan, which will cut monthly payments to $0 for millions of low-income borrowers starting later this summer. The cutoff is a $32,800 income for a single person and a $67,500 income for a borrower in a family of four. All other borrowers will save at least $1,000 a year under the

save plan. Third, the education department will make sure borrowers are protected from the, quote, worst consequences of late or partial payments, such as taking a hit to their credit score, when the student loan payment pause ends this fall. In that letter to borrowers, the Education Department said, quote, we believe the Supreme Court got it wrong, and we will use every tool at our disposal to fight for debt relief. Well, the administration has already forgiven some student debt, though, correct? Correct. Actually, in total, the Biden administration has now forgiven more than 116.6 billion in student loans for more than 3.4 million borrowers, the Education Department says. Just last week, the Biden administration announced it will forgive $39 billion in student debt for about $804,000 borrowers.

This debt relief is the result of changes to the student loan system's income-driven repayment programs. The programs were built to forgive student debt after borrowers have been making payments for at least 20 or 25 years. However, few borrowers have actually gotten their loans forgiven under that system. This is a critical issue for Democrats. Left-wing lawmakers and activists have long called for broad student debt relief and have urged the Biden administration for years to grant it. Critics argue that granting student debt relief is unfair to those who sacrifice to pay off their loans,

especially since taxpayers will ultimately be picking up the tab for these unpaid loans. Well, I think we can almost guarantee this is going to go back to the courts. Marade, thanks for reporting. Thanks, Georgia. That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us.

We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.