House Republicans move to consider private documents related to Hunter Biden tax probe
“The balance of justice must not be skewed in favor of the wealthy and the politically connected,” House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith said.
TroibNews 
House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) has planned a special executive session for the committee on Thursday morning to potentially review documents protected by tax privacy laws related to an IRS probe of Hunter Biden.
The move could foreshadow the public release of documents related to Hunter Biden’s taxes. Smith gave notice Tuesday that he will be exercising his unique authority as chair of the House’s tax writing committee to consider documents that are otherwise barred from disclosure because they bear information related to a private citizen’s tax information.
A statement issued by Smith’s office Thursday afternoon said the session would allow committee members to review IRS whistleblower claims regarding alleged political interference into an IRS case “involving a high-profile individual” and alleged retaliation by the agency that resulted in the removal of the entire investigative team on the case. The statement did not specify if lawmakers were in possession yet of the tax information.
The individual referenced at the center of the claims, President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden, reached an agreement detailed Tuesday in a filing in a Delaware court in which he pleaded guilty to a pair of misdemeanor tax charges.
But several Republicans, including Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.), immediately lambasted the agreement as a “sweetheart deal” and vowed to plow ahead on his months-long investigation of Hunter’s business dealings.
Under a unique section of the tax code vested to the chairs of Congress’ tax writing committees, which was used last year by Democrats to publish former President Donald Trump’s tax returns, Smith could publicly release any private tax information belonging to Hunter Biden by a majority vote.
Although it is unclear what documents are to be considered Thursday and what the committee’s plans are, Smith said in a statement that “we will follow where the facts lead and will release the appropriate details afterward.”
“The balance of justice must not be skewed in favor of the wealthy and the politically connected,” Smith said.
