House Republicans are demanding a briefing from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) over the CIA’s alleged interference with investigations related to President Joe Biden and Hunter Biden.
On Tuesday, the chairmen of the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees sent a letter to CIA Director William Burns requesting a staff-level briefing by agency personnel to explain previous denials that the CIA interfered to block an interview of Biden associate Patrick Kevin Morris. The letter was a follow-up to one sent in March seeking records related to allegations from federal whistleblowers who claim the CIA blocked the interview of Morris.
“Without confirming or denying the existence of any associations or communications, CIA did not prevent or seek to prevent IRS or DOJ from conducting any such interview,” wrote CIA Director of Congressional Affairs James Catella in an April 4 response. “The allegation is false.”
On Tuesday, however, lawmakers highlighted testimony from Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblower Gary Shapley, who said efforts to interview Morris as part of a federal tax investigation were blocked by the Justice Department. Shapley claimed investigators “could no longer pursue him as a witness” after DOJ staff were summoned to the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, to discuss Morris.
“Notably, Mr. Shapley stated that, ‘[i]t is unclear how the CIA became aware that Mr. Morris was a potential witness in the Hunter Biden investigation,’” wrote Chairmen James Comer, R-Ky., and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
Subsequent meetings between staff on the Judiciary Committee with the CIA Office of Congressional Affairs
