A spokesman for Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., falsely claimed the Hunter Biden IRS whistleblower had "Backed out" of an agreement to meet with the Senate Finance Committee next week, the whistleblower's attorneys told The Federalist.
On Wednesday, CNN reported the Senate Finance Committee's claims, quoting Wyden's spokesman, Ryan Carey, saying, "Committee staff on both sides agreed with counsel to meet directly with the whistleblower next week, however the whistleblower has since backed out of that agreement and declined an attempt to reschedule." Carey added that "Chairman Wyden's staff stand ready to arrange a meeting on terms that comply with laws protecting taxpayer data and ensure a fair and rigorous investigation."
On Friday, May 19, 2023, Mark Lytle, Shapley's Nixon Peabody lawyer, arranged for a conference call between the whistleblower's legal team and Wyden's office to discuss logistics for their client to sit for a transcribed deposition.
The next email in the thread came from a Wyden staffer the day after Lytle and his co-counsel Tristan Leavitt, the president of Empower Oversight, had dispatched their May 22 letter to the chairs and ranking members of the Senate Finance Committee, the House Ways and Means Committee, and the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, as well as Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley's office.
The email communications back up those claims, with the whistleblower's legal team writing that during their Friday call, Wyden's office "Would not commit to *either* Thursday or the following Tuesday after the holiday."
Finally, The Federalist queried Wyden's office on why they won't agree to a joint interview.
Rep. Jason Smith, the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, shouldn't leave the decision up to Wyden because the Senate Democrat has proven himself to be putting politics above the public interest.
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