On Wednesday, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerry Nadler did his best to spin the transcript of FBI Thomas Sobocinski. He claimed that the impeachment case against Joe Biden was “falling apart” as the story of the two whistleblowers in the Hunter Biden case started to “unravel.”
Sobocinski “pushed back” against the claim by the whistleblowers that Special Counsel David Weiss said he didn’t have charging authority. Sobocinski said he didn’t remember that being said that but he also added fuel to the fire that the case was slow-walked by saying Weiss plodded on his decision to charge Hunter Biden.
Nadler and the Democrats didn’t want to play up that second part but they wanted to play up that point about the charging decision to suggest that impugned what the whistleblowers had said. It’s not unusual that witnesses to the same event might have different recollections of the same event.
The problem with the spin, as I pointed out at the time, was that IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley had contemporaneous notes of the meeting, and Sobocinski didn’t. Also according to Empower Oversight, a non-profit group assisting the whistleblower Shapley sent out a summary of those notes to other people in real-time, including his supervisor who “contemporaneously corroborated his account.”
As the Judiciary Committee noted, it’s been the whistleblowers who have been consistent, unlike Attorney General Merrick Garland or Special Counsel David Weiss.
C) From Russell Dye, spokesman for Judiciary Committee Chair Jordan: Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler have been wholly consistent throughout their disclosures to Congress, and the only people who haven’t are people like David Weiss, Merrick Garland, and their liberal cronies.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) September 13, 2023
Now the notes that Shapley provided to the House Oversight Committee are out. Those contemporaneous notes supported exactly what the whistleblowers have said — that Weiss said he was not the “deciding person.”
NEW: IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley’s contemporaneous notes October 2022 meeting where he alleged US attorney Weiss said he was not the decision maker on Hunter Biden charges. Weiss/DOJ dispute. READ: “Weiss stated – He is not deciding person,” “Weiss requested Special Counsel… pic.twitter.com/GscAcvbcQD
— Catherine Herridge (@C__Herridge) September 13, 2023
“Weiss stated – He is not deciding person,” “Weiss requested Special Counsel status in DC + Main DOJ said ‘no’”
Empower Oversight’s Jason Foster pointed out how this blew up Sobocinski’s lack of memory if he was being charitable. But if it was more than just lack of memory, it could be a problem — he suggested perjury.
This is the kind of overreach that always gets witnesses in trouble, when arrogance exceeds knowledge of the facts.
— Jason Foster (@JsnFostr) September 13, 2023
This quibbling—like other parts of his testimony—will definitely not age well. pic.twitter.com/BUFaThzVPk
So much for the latest effort to try to shoot down the whistleblowers. The notes only reinforce what they said and the problems with Weiss and the probe. That effort just went down in a huge flaming disaster.
