On Friday’s broadcast of C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal,” Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) said that while he believes Hunter Biden ultimately got the same treatment as anyone else for violating tax laws, the claims by whistleblowers about the investigation’s handling do merit further inquiry and “it wouldn’t surprise me if this tax matter went more slowly” and had more resources spent on it than it would for a regular person due to the sensitivity of auditing the president’s son.
Sherman stated, “I think that Hunter Biden is paying a price for his noncompliance with our tax laws. His name is there in the newspaper, and, of course, he’s subject to a plea bargain. I would say, in general, the consequences for cheating on taxes…those consequences are softer than they should be. I don’t think you change that policy just because someone is the son of the president. But it’s hard to name anyone who’s actually done jail time for cheating on their taxes.”
Host Greta Brawner then asked, “If the investigation into him though was — if he was given preferential treatment or it was slow-walked, there was bias, should that be further investigated because of this whistleblower’s claims?”
Sherman responded, “We should investigate everything. But it wouldn’t surprise me if this tax matter went more slowly than it would for Tom, Dick, Harry, or Mary. … If you’re just auditing someone in my California district, you can just do your job. This is the son of the president, you might take a deep breath, you might dot some Is and cross some Ts, and it might take you a little longer. And I’m sure that the resources spent on this investigation were greater because they were dealing with something that was so sensitive.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.