Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

Dem Opens IRS Whistleblower Hearing By Praising A Convicted Felon For Defending The Bidens

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Democrat Maryland Rep. Jaime Raskin opened the House Oversight Committee’s hearing on the testimony of two IRS whistleblowers’ by praising a convicted criminal who attempted to discredit an ongoing criminal investigation into the Biden family.

In defense of the Bidens, Raskin cites an “extraordinary” letter he received from Lev Parnas, a former Rudy Giuliani business associate who claims the Trump campaign worked to fabricate charges against the Biden family, and who said there was no evidence of any crimes committed by Hunter or Joe Biden, according to Raskin. Parnas is a convicted felon who was charged with foreign campaign finance violations, wire fraud, making false statements and falsifying records, according to the Department of Justice.

“In this extraordinary ten-page letter, Parnas painstakingly describes the campaign orchestrated by Rudy Giuliani and Trump to quote, ‘dig up dirt on the Bidens and spread misinformation through various networks, including government officials, journalists and Fox News personnel,'” Raskin said in his opening statement.

“Parnas concludes his letter by saying … ‘There has never been any evidence that Hunter or Joe Biden committed any crimes related to Ukrainian politics,'” said Raskin. “As Mr. Parnas concludes, there has never been any factual evidence, only conspiracy theories, spread by people who knew exactly what they were doing, and then he calls on this committee to end this wild goose chase and offers to come and testify.”

“Let’s bring him in as a witness, and let’s hear about that crusade that they were on to smear President Biden by providing the same baseless conspiracy theories that this committee serves up as moldy leftovers every day,” Raskin concluded.

Parnas was sentenced to 20 months in prison in 2020 for conspiring to make political donations via a foreign national, solicitation, conspiring to make straw donations, participating in wire fraud, and making false statements and falsifying records, according to the DOJ.

Rep. Raskin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.