Cruz Demands Answers From DOJ About AUSA Relationship With Biden Loyalist
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on The Constitution, sent a letter to the Department of Justice demanding details about Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf, and about Wolf’s relationship with Biden loyalist Alexander Mackler. The letter, directed to U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware David Weiss, is based on testimony from two IRS whistleblowers who appeared before the House Ways and Means Committee in July.
As Sen. Cruz details in the letter, “whistleblowers have alleged that Wolf deliberately blocked off investigative avenues related to President Biden and that she prevented FBI agents from inquiring either about the President or other sensitive topics during agent interviews. Additionally, these whistleblowers have claimed that AUSA Wolf prevented IRS agents from pursuing a search warrant for President Biden’s Wilmington guest house despite acknowledging the presence of probable cause, citing concerns about ‘optics.’
…
“As a lead prosecutor in the Hunter Biden probe, AUSA Wolf worked alongside Mr. Mackler during his time as an AUSA, a period that coincided with the initiation of the Hunter Biden investigation. Furthermore, emails recovered from Hunter Biden’s laptop reveal affectionate correspondence between the Bidens and Mr. Mackler that raise serious questions about the objectivity of the Hunter Biden probe. Federal court records also indicate that AUSA Wolf and Mr. Mackler prosecuted a firearms case, suggesting a close working relationship. And, as was already revealed in the press, AUSA Wolf and her husband have a history of donating to partisan Democratic candidates.”
Sen. Cruz raised a series of questions to Mr. Weiss:
1. Can you confirm or deny whether Mr. Mackler was involved, to any degree whatsoever, in the probe of any member of the Biden family or their web of business associates? Similarly, was Mr. Mackler ever present during any discussion regarding such a probe, on any video or telephone discussion, or included on any correspondence or email regarding the same?
2. Did AUSA Wolf, or any other member of your office, discuss the Biden probe in any way whatsoever with Mr. Mackler?
3. Were you aware of AUSA Wolf and her husband’s history of partisan political donations prior to assigning her to the Hunter Biden probe? If so, did you take any steps to address these concerns or encourage her to recuse herself from certain aspects of the investigation? If you did not recommend any such steps, why not?
4. Were you aware that during his time as an AUSA in the District of Delaware, Mr. Mackler exchanged emails—characterized by the press as “warm, loving emails”8—with Hunter Biden during the time Hunter Biden was under investigation by your office?
5. Were you likewise aware that these same emails showed that Mr. Mackler asked Hunter Biden to speak over the phone several times while Hunter Biden was under investigation by your office? What, if anything, did Mr. Mackler and Hunter Biden discuss in these calls?
6. Is it accurate that AUSA Wolf refrained from pursuing a search warrant for President Joe Biden’s Wilmington guest house despite acknowledging probable cause? If so, could you elaborate on her reasoning behind this decision? Was this decision consistent with your office’s protocols?
7. Can you provide any insight into the claims that AUSA Wolf alerted Hunter Biden’s lawyers and the Biden presidential transition team about a planned “knock and talk” interview with Hunter Biden by federal agents near Los Angeles on or about December 7, 2022?
8. Were you aware before your phone call with IRS Agent Shapley that AUSA Wolf rejected Agents request to search Hunter Biden’s storage unit in northern Virginia?
9. Why did you instruct agents to wait thirty days before executing a search warrant on Hunter Biden’s storage unit in northern Virginia on December 14, 2020?
10. Is it standard practice for prosecutors in your office to alert a target’s counsel with information that could frustrate a pending search? If not, why did AUSA Wolf do so?
Sen. Cruz wrote that he expects answers by August 14.
Read the letter here.
###
