The timeline is based on public documents, including media reports and the special agents’ congressional interview transcripts, which were lawfully released by the House Committee on Ways and Means on June 22, 2023 pursuant to its authorities under statute and the rules of the House of Representatives.

The timeline is a living document and will be edited as additional information is learned or can be shared.

Updated Sept. 29, 2023

2018

• Nov. 2018: SA Joe Ziegler, an investigator in the IRS Criminal Investigation’s International Financial Tax Crimes (IFTC) group, opens investigation into Hunter Biden as a spin-off from an investigation into a social media company which revealed Biden was paying prostitutes and living lavishly through a corporate account.¹

• Dec. 10, 2018: SA Ziegler officially opens investigation into Hunter Biden.²

2019

• Jan. 2019: Delaware FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office open an investigation into Hunter Biden bank reports and potential money laundering charges.³

• Feb. 2019: SA Ziegler first learns from SSA Matthew Kutz that Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) is investigating Hunter Biden.²

• Mar. 28, 2019: Gal Luft interviewed at U.S. embassy in Brussels, Belgium.⁴

• Apr. 12, 2019: IRS submits Hunter Biden case referral to DOJ Tax for investigation.⁵

• Apr. 15, 2019: SA Ziegler circulates timeline of investigation to date.²

• Apr. 2019: DOJ leadership makes decision to join IRS investigation with FBI investigation and run both out of Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO).⁶

• Apr. 25, 2019: Former Vice President Joe Biden announces his candidacy for president.

• Apr. 26, 2019: FBI records FD-302 of Gal Luft interview in Brussels, Belgium.⁷

• Apr. 29, 2019: SSA Kutz informs SA Ziegler and others that he’d been informed by DOJ Tax attorney Jason Poole the Hunter Biden case would very likely go to Delaware for investigation.⁸

• May 2019: 
  • DOJ Tax approves IRS investigation of tax violations.⁹
  • IRS and FBI cases are officially joined under direction of Delaware USAO.¹⁰
  • Prosecutors deny IRS’s requests to follow IRS policy of interviewing subject (Hunter Biden) within 30 days of elevating investigation to DOJ Tax, claiming case needs to remain covert in order to preserve potential evidence for the FBI.¹¹

• At signing of first electronic search warrant, magistrate judge makes inappropriate comment that causes her to recuse herself, forcing the IRS to spend four additional months drafting new warrants and re-completing investigative steps.¹²

• Summer 2019: FBI’s Baltimore Field Office leadership begins becoming more involved in investigation.¹³

• Aug. 15, 2019: Senator Chuck Grassley initiates investigation into Biden family conflicts of interest.¹⁴

• Oct. 16, 2019: FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office receives first report that Hunter Biden laptop is in Delaware computer repair shop.¹⁵

• Nov. 6, 2019: FBI SA Josh Wilson obtains device numbers confirming Hunter Biden’s ownership of laptop and external hard drive.¹⁶

• Dec. 3, 2019: SA Ziegler begins drafting search warrant affidavit for Hunter Biden laptop.¹⁷

• Dec. 8, 2019: In interview with Axios, presidential candidate Joe Biden says he doesn’t know what work Hunter Biden did on the Board of Burisma.¹⁸

• Dec. 9, 2019: FBI’s Baltimore Field Office takes custody of Hunter Biden laptop and accompanying external hard drive.¹⁹

• Dec. 13, 2019: SA Ziegler obtains from magistrate judge a Title 26 search warrant for Hunter Biden laptop and external hard drive.²⁰

• Between Dec. 13 and 19, 2019: FBI’s Computer Analysis and Response Team images Hunter Biden external hard drive in Delaware.¹⁷

• Dec. 19, 2019: FBI’s Computer Analysis and Response Team provides image of Hunter Biden external hard drive to FBI’s Philadelphia Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory.¹⁷

2020

• Jan. 2020: SSA Gary Shapley assigned as supervisor of the Hunter Biden investigation.²¹

• Jan. 6, 2020: FBI’s Philadelphia Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory began analysis of Hunter Biden laptop and external hard drive.¹⁷

• Early 2020: AUSA Jamie McCall accepts offer to leave Delaware USAO for private law firm, leaving AUSA Lesley Wolf in charge of investigation.²²

• Feb. 3, 2020: Because of Iowa presidential caucuses this day, prosecutors tell investigators asking to interview Hunter Biden that they need to wait and see what happens in the caucuses.²³

• Feb. 10, 2020:
  • Filter review of materials on Hunter Biden laptop and external hard drive completed.
  • IRS and FBI begins relevancy review of Hunter Biden drives for evidence.¹⁷
  • Attorney General Bill Barr publicly confirms the Pittsburgh USAO had been assigned to vet information Rudy Giuliani had provided related to the Bidens and Ukraine.²⁴

• Feb. 29, 2020: Former Vice President Joe Biden wins South Carolina presidential primary.²⁵

• Mar. 6, 2020:
  • FBI receives the image of the Hunter Biden laptop and external hard drive.¹⁷
  • SSA Shapley sends Significant Case Report up chain of command reporting that by mid-March the IRS would be ready to seek physical search warrants in California, Arkansas, New York, and Washington, D.C.²⁶

• Mar. 10, 2020: 
  • FBI’s Philadelphia Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory conducts forensic exam of Hunter Biden laptop.¹⁷
  • Former Vice President Joe Biden wins Michigan and additional primaries.²⁷

• Mar. 31, 2020: Investigators email AUSA Wolf regarding the quality and completeness of recovered information from the Hunter Biden laptop and external hard drive.¹⁷

• Apr. 1, 2020: SA Ziegler drafts affidavit for physical search warrants of Hunter Biden residences.²⁸ IRS also plans to conduct approximately 15 interviews.²⁸

• Apr. 7, 2020: FBI SA Josh Wilson personally accepts evidence from Hunter Biden laptop.¹⁷

• Apr. 8, 2020: Senator Bernie Sanders withdraws from the Democratic presidential race, making former Vice President Joe Biden the presumptive nominee of the Democrat Party. DOJ begins delaying investigative steps.²⁶

• Apr. 20, 2020: FBI’s Computer Analysis and Response Team sends Cellebrite report of Hunter Biden laptop and external hard drive to Delaware USAO.¹⁷

• May/Jun. 2020: Pittsburgh FBI reviewing records at the request of Pittsburgh USAO discover a 2017 FD-1023 that mentions Hunter Biden’s dealings with Burisma, resulting in a month-long fight to get the relevant agent to re-interview the confidential human source.²⁹

• Jun. 5, 2020: Former Vice President Joe Biden receives sufficient delegates to win Democrat Party’s presidential nomination.³⁰

• Jun. 16, 2020: SSA Shapley and SA Ziegler meet with supervisory chain up through IRS Director of Field Operations (DFO) James Robnett and tells him DOJ Tax has made a concerted effort to drag their feet concerning conducting search warrants and interviewing key witnesses.³¹

• Jun. 26, 2020: FBI re-interviews confidential human source who alleges Burisma bribed both Hunter and Joe Biden in 2015.³²

• Jun. 29, 2020: Confidential human source provides FBI with supplemental information.³²

• Jun. 30, 2020: FBI interview of confidential human source is recorded in new FD-1023.³²

• Jul.-Aug. 2020: Pittsburgh FBI corroborates some of the claims in the Biden bribery FD-1023.³³

• Aug. 5, 2020: As part of its Foreign Agents Registration Act investigation, FBI SA Josh Wilson sends Delaware prosecutors a draft search warrant for Blue Star Strategies.³⁴

• Aug. 7, 2020: AUSA Wolf directs the redrafting of the search warrant for Blue Star Strategies, writing in email: “There should be nothing about Political Figure 1 in here.”³⁵ Political Figure 1 is Joe Biden, who the draft warrant notes “is currently Democratic Party Presidential candidate for the United States.”³⁶

• Late Aug.-early Sep. 2020: IRS receives results from electronic search warrant of Hunter Biden’s iCloud backup, including WhatsApp messages.³⁷ IRS requests to further investigate Hunter Biden writing “I am sitting here with my father,” but is denied.³⁸

• Sep. 3, 2020: Prosecution team has phone call.³⁹
  • IRS then proposes getting location data on WhatsApp message to establish probable cause for interview, but is still denied.³⁸
  • AUSA Wolf says investigators cannot do search of Biden Delaware residence because of optics, even though she acknowledges there is probable cause and a lot of evidence in the investigation would be found there.⁴⁰
  • Prosecutors decide to remove Hunter Biden’s name from electronic search warrants, 2703(d) orders, and document requests. SA Ziegler says removing Biden’s name seemed unethical, but is ignored.⁴¹
  • AUSA Wolf says search warrants for Blue Star Strategies are being sat on by DOJ’s Office of Enforcement Operations, and likely would not get approved.⁴²

• Sep. 4, 2020: 
  • Deputy Attorney General Donoghue issues instruction that all politically-sensitive cases must refrain from overt activity until after general election.⁴³
  • In prosecution team call, AUSA Wolf communicates the stand-down instructions.⁴⁴ She also says DOJ is under fire, it is self-inflicted, and DOJ needs to repair its reputation.⁴⁵

• Sep. 21, 2020: 
  • In prosecution team call, FBI states only five interviews should be done in the case so FBI management can assess if it wants to continue assisting.⁴⁶
  • IRS learns the FBI case agent, SA Josh Wilson, had only recently moved back to his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware and was concerned about consequences for him and his family if they conducted sensitive interviews and executed a search warrant on the Biden guest house.⁴⁷

• Sep. 23, 2020: Senator Chuck Grassley and Senator Ron Johnson release report on its Biden conflicts of interest investigation.⁴⁸

• Oct 2, 2020:
  • AUSA Wolf emails SA Ziegler that U.S. Attorney Weiss approved an overt action day of November 17, 2020.⁴⁹
  • Sharing this info with his leadership, SSA Shapley emails ASAC George Murphy: “There has been some discussion that the USAO is uncomfortable with conducting the subject interview of Sportsman while he is in Delaware (this is a possibility if conducted closer to Thanksgiving on 11/26).”⁴⁹

• Oct. 14, 2020: 
  • New York Post first reports on existence of Hunter Biden laptop.⁵⁰
  • In call with Twitter executives, FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force is questioned about authenticity of Hunter Biden laptop; one FBI analyst begins to confirm its authenticity before being interrupted to say the FBI had no comment.⁵¹ Twitter subsequently censors the New York Post’s story.⁵¹

• Oct. 19, 2020: SSA Shapley emails AUSA Wolf requesting information on the Hunter Biden laptop.⁵²

• Oct. 20, 2020: DOJ Tax denies IRS permission to do a walk-by of the Hunter Biden residence.⁵³

• Oct. 21, 2020: DOJ Tax attorney Jack Morgan emails AUSA Wolf a list of documents related to Hunter Biden solicitation and possible Mann Act violations.⁵⁴

• Oct. 22, 2020:
  • Special meeting regarding Hunter Biden laptop takes place between prosecution team and FBI’s computer analysis team.⁵⁵ AUSA Wolf tells investigators data on the laptop had been corroborated and that there was no reason to believe it had been manipulated by any third party.⁴⁷ However, she says prosecutors have, “for a variety of reasons,” decided to keep the full laptop from investigators.⁵⁶
  • In prosecution team call, AUSA Wolf says U.S. Attorney Weiss agreed there is probable cause for a search warrant for Hunter Biden’s residence, and that evidence would be there; however, prosecutors had decided not to allow such a warrant.⁵⁷
  • AUSA Wolf also says Principal Deputy Attorney General is ordering the Delaware prosecution team to receive a briefing the next day on materials from the Pittsburgh USAO review.⁵⁸

• Oct. 23, 2020:
  • Pittsburgh USAO and FBI agents brief AUSA Wolf and two Baltimore Field Office FBI agents on confidential human source allegations, documented in an FD-1023, that Burisma had bribed both Hunter and Joe Biden in 2015.⁵⁹ IRS investigators’ request to participate in the briefing is denied,⁶⁰ and the information from the briefing is not shared with IRS investigators.⁶¹
  • Anthony “Tony” Bobulinski walks into the FBI’s Washington, D.C. field office with his attorney and requests to be interviewed.⁶²

• Nov. 3, 2020: Election Day

• Nov. 10, 2020:
  • U.S. Attorney Weiss joins prosecution team conference call. He informs prosecution team the “day of action” for overt activity must be delayed because of the contested election.⁶³

• Nov. 17, 2020:
  • Initial target to go overt, conducting interviews and issuing document requests.⁶⁴
  • New York Post opinion editorial recommends appointing Weiss as a special counsel.⁶⁵

• Dec. 3, 2020: Prosecution team meeting discussing planned interview outlines. AUSA Wolf rejects investigators’ plans to ask questions about Joe Biden, stating there is no specific criminality to that line of questioning.⁶⁶

• Dec. 7, 2020: FBI headquarters notifies U.S. Secret Service headquarters and Biden transition team of plan to interview Hunter Biden the next day.⁶⁷

• Dec. 8, 2020: “Day of action,” where IRS and FBI investigators issue 15 document requests and had hoped to interview Hunter Biden and 11 of his associates.⁶⁸
  • SSA Shapley and FBI SSA Joe Gordon wait outside Hunter Biden residence awaiting a phone call from Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden defense attorneys later call investigators to say Hunter Biden declines to be interviewed and all communication should go through them.⁶⁹
  • FBI and IRS special agents in Arkansas successfully interview Rob Walker⁷⁰, while nine other potential witnesses such as Kathleen Buhle, Hallie Biden, and James and Sara Biden decline interviews.⁷¹
  • SA Ziegler prepares a search warrant affidavit for a Northern Virginia storage unit where investigators learned Hunter Biden stored papers when his Washington, D.C. Owasco office closed.⁷²

• Dec. 9, 2020: 
  • Hunter Biden issues statement confirming he is under federal investigation.⁷³
  • AUSA Wolf emails SA Ziegler that the storage unit search warrant has to go through multiple layers of approval, including offices at DOJ headquarters and other U.S. Attorney’s Offices.⁷⁴

• Dec. 10, 2020: Prosecution team meets to discuss next steps. AUSA Wolf objects to executing a search warrant on the Northern Virginia storage unit.⁷⁵

• Dec. 11, 2020:
  • AUSA Wolf forwards U.S. Attorney Weiss New York Times article, “Material from Giuliani Spurred a Separate Justice Depart. Pursuit of Hunter Biden.”⁷⁶
  • AUSA Wolf and SA Ziegler disagree in phone call over whether to execute Northern Virginia storage unit search warrant. Wolf says she is worried about what this might to do to the relationship with the opposing counsel moving forward. Ziegler says he doesn’t believe prosecutors are supporting him, and Wolf says she has concern with the relationship moving forward and that if Ziegler has these concerns maybe they need to address that with upper management.⁷⁷

• Dec. 14, 2020:
  • IRS SAC Kelly Jackson emails ASAC George Murphy he has a call with the DFO and IRS-CI Deputy Chief to express frustration at the Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office not allowing the IRS to go forward with the storage unit search warrant.⁷⁸
  • IRS SAC Kelly Jackson and SSA Shapley have call with U.S. Attorney Weiss regarding the storage unit search warrant, which Weiss approves if the storage unit isn’t accessed for 30 days. Soon thereafter investigators learn AUSA Wolf and DOJ Tax attorney Mark Daly had called Hunter Biden’s defense attorneys and told them about the storage unit.⁷⁹

2021

• Jan. 20, 2021: Joe Biden inaugurated as President.

• Jan. 26, 2021: SA Ziegler seeks out filter search terms used on material gathered from Hunter Biden.⁸⁰

• Feb. 5, 2021: Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office and DOJ Tax brief Assistant Attorneys General from DOJ headquarters.⁸¹

• Feb. 8, 2021: DOJ announces U.S. Attorney Weiss will remain in the District of Delaware to continue the Hunter Biden investigation.⁸²

• Feb. 17, 2021: Representative Ken Buck sends letter to attorney general nominee Merrick Garland requesting that he either keep on U.S. Attorney Weiss or appoint a special counsel in his place.⁸³

• Feb. 22-23, 2021: Senate Judiciary Committee holds hearing to consider the nomination of Merrick Garland as attorney general.

• Mar. 2, 2021: In briefing for IRS SAC Darrell Waldon and Director of Field Operations (DFO) Mike Batdorf, investigators mention possibility of blowing whistle on DOJ’s handling of the Hunter Biden case.⁸⁴

• Mar. 10, 2021: Senate votes to confirm Merrick Garland as attorney general.

• Mar. 11, 2021: Merrick Garland sworn in as attorney general.

• Apr. 26, 2021: FBI Baltimore SAC Jennifer Boone retires.⁸⁵

• Apr. 27, 2021: Hunter Biden accountant Jeffrey Gelfound interviewed.⁸⁶

• May 3, 2021: SSA Shapley’s Sensitive Case Report up his chain of command reads: “This investigation has been hampered and slowed by claims of potential election meddling. Through interviews and review of evidence obtained, it appears there may be campaign finance criminal violations. AUSA Wolf stated on the last prosecution team meeting that she did not want any of the agents to look into the allegation. She cited a need to focus on the 2014 tax year, that we could not yet prove an allegation beyond a reasonable doubt, and that she does not want to include their Public Integrity Unit because they would take authority away from her. We do not agree with her obstruction on this matter.”⁸⁷

• Jun. 14, 2021: Escort interviewed.⁸⁸

• Jul. 2021: Baltimore FBI Field Office receives new SAC Thomas Sobocinski and ASAC Ryeshia Holley.

• Aug. 18, 2021: IRS investigators share with AUSA Wolf various planned interviews in mid-September.⁸⁹

• Sep. 9, 2021: AUSA Wolf tells IRS investigators they would not be able to conduct interviews as planned.⁹⁰

• Sep. 10, 2021:
  • SA Ziegler points out to AUSA Wolf the IRS planned witness interviews weeks in advance, writing: “I don’t understand why DOJ-Tax Senior Management is needing to approve…witness interviews and maybe this is a conversation that needs to be had at a higher level.”⁹¹
  • SSA Shapley reaches out to DOJ Tax attorney Jason Poole to discuss the requirement for DOJ Tax interview approvals.⁹²

• Sep. 20, 2021: IRS requests approval from DOJ Tax to serve ten document requests related to prostitutes Hunter Biden had paid.⁹³ When DOJ Tax attorney Mark Daly submits the request, SA Ziegler responds to him: “You are the man!! Thank you. I’ll fill you in tomorrow on my issues. I’m almost at the end of my rope and I’m sick of fighting to do what’s right.”⁹⁴ That night, after emailing between investigators,⁹⁵ Ziegler also emails IRS DFO Batdorf: “I’m almost at the end of my rope and I think I’m at the point again where I need your help. I have a ton of interviews and travel planned and scheduled for the next 3 months, keeping on a timeline is extremely important and I don’t want this to continue to be a problem. I don’t mind the questions from management, but it feels like they are not listening to me.”⁹⁶

• Sep. 21, 2021: A CNN producer calls the Director of the IRS Criminal Investigation’s Office of Communication and tells him CNN has an email from Hunter Biden saying Hunter expected all this “stuff” to go away when his dad becomes President.⁹⁷

• Sep. 22, 2021: SA Ziegler engages with AUSA Wolf about the info from CNN, and Wolf confirms Hunter Biden hasn’t been offered a plea.⁹⁷

• Sep. 24, 2021: AUSA Wolf tells IRS investigators document requests cannot be served until DOJ Tax approves them.⁹⁸

• Oct. 2021: Delaware USAO, DOJ Tax, and IRS meet to determine to charge Hunter Biden with felonies for 2014 and 2018 and misdemeanors for 2015-2019.⁹⁹

• Oct. 21, 2021: AUSA Wolf denies IRS investigators’ request to interview President Biden’s adult grandchildren as part of their investigation, saying it will get them into “hot water.”¹⁰⁰

• Nov. 2021: SSA Shapley expresses to DFO Batdorf how poorly prosecutors are handling the Hunter Biden case.⁸⁹

• Nov. 16, 2021: Hunter Biden accountant Jeffrey Gelfound re-interviewed.¹⁰¹

• Nov. 23, 2021: Prosecutors and investigators re-interview Hunter Biden business associate Rob Walker in Washington, D.C.¹⁰²

• Late Nov. 2021: SA Ziegler drafts Special Agent Report with all evidence for the recommended 2014 and 2018 felony charges and 2015-2019 misdemeanor charges.¹⁰³

• Dec. 20, 2021: AUSA Wolf emails prosecution team to thank them for their work on the Hunter Biden investigation.¹⁰⁴

2022

• Jan. 12, 2022: In prosecution team call, FBI SSA Gordon reviews campaign finance case and evidence to date. AUSA Wolf says she is not “personally” interested in pursuing it. SSA Gordon says they could work with DOJ’s Public Integrity Unit, but AUSA Wolf responds that she doesn’t want them involved as would be “more levels of approval.”¹⁰⁵

• Jan. 27, 2022: Acting ASAC Shapley signs Special Agent Report and submits it for CT Counsel review.¹⁰⁶

• Feb. 2022: U.S. Attorney Weiss requests special attorney authority from DOJ headquarters.¹⁰⁷

• Feb. 9, 2022: After exceeding 60-day deadline,¹⁰⁸ IRS CT Counsel attorney contacts the co-case agent to tell her the five-member review team agreed with the CT Counsel line attorney and concurred on all charges proposed in the Special Agent Report.¹⁰⁹

• Feb. 11, 2022: IRS CT Counsel issues advisory memorandum non-concurring on all counts with the Special Agent Report, falsely claiming that even the CT Counsel line attorney had non-concurred.¹¹⁰ Nevertheless, IRS management subsequently approves referring the case to DOJ Tax Division (DOJ Tax).¹¹¹

• Feb. 15, 2022: Acting ASAC Shapley transmits Special Agent Report to SAC Darrell Waldon.¹¹²

• Feb. 25, 2022: 
  • Delaware USAO and DOJ Tax push the IRS for its Special Agent Report so they can go to Hunter Biden’s defense counsel before the statute of limitations for 2014-2015 expires in March 2022 and represent that the IRS had recommended charges.¹¹³
  • IRS transmits Special Agent Report to DOJ Tax recommending six felony charges (“False Return” and “Evasion of Assessment” for 2014, 2018 and 2019) and 5 misdemeanor charges (“Failure to Timely File and Pay”) for 2015-2019, with the support of AUSA Wolf on proposed charges.¹¹⁴
  • Investigators subsequently receive additional information from Hunter Biden’s accountants.¹¹⁵

• Mar. 2022: 
  • DOJ Tax designates previously-uninvolved attorney, John Kane, to review Special Agent Report and make charging recommendation to Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General (DAAG) Stuart Goldberg.¹¹⁶
  • As preparation for trial discovery, the Delaware USAO requests investigators’ communications on the case.¹¹⁷

• Mar. 14, 2022: Prosecutors hold taxpayer conference with attorneys for Hunter Biden.¹¹⁸ IRS investigators are not permitted to participate in this meeting or any other discussions with Biden’s defense counsel.¹¹⁹
  • Statute of limitations for 2014 and 2015 tax years is set to expire, but Hunter Biden’s attorneys agree to a tolling agreement extending the statute of limitations.¹²⁰

• Mar. 16, 2022: New York Times runs article with sympathetic headline, “Hunter Biden Paid Tax Bill, but Broad Federal Investigation Continues.”¹²¹

• Late Mar. 2022
  • Delaware USAO presents 2014 felony charge and 2015 misdemeanor charges to U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.¹²² Delaware USAO denies IRS investigators’ request to attend the presentation.¹²³
  • DOJ Tax attorney Mark Daly calls SA Ziegler to say the D.C. USAO First Assistant is optimistic about the case and will assign an AUSA to assist. ((Shapley Transcript at 24; Ziegler Transcript at 36-37, 153.))

• Mar. 31, 2022: White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield is asked at a White House press briefing: “During the last presidential debate, then-Vice President Biden was asked if there was anything inappropriate or unethical about his son’s relationships, business dealings in China and/or Ukraine. The President said, ‘Nothing was unethical.’ He went on to say, ‘My son has not made money in terms of this thing about, what you’re talking about, China.’ Does the White House stand by that comment that the then-Vice President made?” Bedingfield replied: “We absolutely stand by the President’s comment. And I would point you to the reporting on this, which reference statements that we made at the time that we gave to the Washington Post, who worked on this story.”¹²⁴

• End of Mar. 2022: U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves declines to bring the charges in the District of Columbia.¹²⁵

• Apr. 3, 2022: White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain says on ABC’s “This Week” the President is confident Hunter Biden didn’t break the law.¹²⁶

• Apr. 26, 2022: 
  • In second taxpayer conference, focused on 2014 and 2015 tax charges, Hunter Biden attorney Chris Clark presents 100-slide PowerPoint to Delaware USAO and DOJ Tax prosecutors to dissuade them from charging.¹²⁷ IRS investigators are not permitted to participate in this meeting or any other discussions with Biden’s defense counsel.¹²⁸
  • Attorney General Merrick Garland testifies before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, the Judiciary and Related Agencies.
  • Senator Bill Hagerty asked: “The matter of the Hunter Biden investigation [has] received a great deal of press, but I want to ask you how the communications have worked within your Department and with the White House on this. First, have you been briefed on the Hunter Biden investigation matter yourself?” Attorney General Garland replied: “The Hunter Biden investigation, as I said even in my own confirmation hearing, is being supervised by and run by the United States Attorney for the District of Delaware.” Hagerty said: “I’m aware of that, but he reports to you.” Garland responded: “He is supervising the investigation, and I’m not at liberty to talk about internal Justice Department deliberations, but he is in charge of that investigation. There will not be interference of any political or improper kind.” Hagerty asked: “Are any senior officials in your Department being briefed?” Garland reiterated: “He is the supervisor of this investigation, and the normal processes of the Department occur, but he is the supervisor of this investigation.”
  • Hagerty continued: “Earlier this month, White House Chief of Staff, Ron Klain, stated on national television that quote, ‘the President is confident that his son didn’t break the law,’ and the White House Communications Director said that President Biden maintains his position that his son did nothing that was unethical. This is on national television. The President’s already told his subordinates, clearly—these are people that he can fire at will—that he and his family did nothing wrong. How can the American people be confident that his Administration is conducting a serious investigation?” Garland answered: “Because we put the investigation in the hands of a Trump appointee.” Hagerty closed: “Well, I think the observation here is terribly critical, because there’s an obvious conflict of interest here because, if those who are investigating the Biden family and their enterprise can be fired by the head of the family who’s being investigated—that is, Joe Biden can fire the Attorney General in Delaware [U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware]—he can have an impact on all of your staffing.”¹²⁹

• May 9, 2022: Senator Chuck Grassley and Senator Ron Johnson write to U.S. Attorney Weiss asking whether any employees in his office have been recused from the Hunter Biden case and whether he has discussed the need for special counsel authority.¹³⁰

• Early May 2022: FBI SSA Joe Gordon calls Acting IRS ASAC Shapley to say Baltimore FBI leadership believed they should push for a special counsel in the Hunter Biden case, but wondered why IRS leadership wasn’t asking for the same thing.¹³¹

• May 13, 2022: Acting ASAC Shapley emails SAC Waldon and DFO Batdorf that the third taxpayer conference scheduled for that week has been delayed, with a tentative new date of May 31, and suggests the IRS request to present to U.S. Attorney Weiss and DOJ Tax Northern Chief Jason Poole in advance of that taxpayer conference. He writes: “This tactic…to move things down the road backing us up against a statute…appears to be purposeful at this point.”¹³²

• May/Jun. 2022: Because of objections from Hunter Biden’s defense counsel, prosecutors grow skittish about 2014 and 2015 tax years, and investigators re-investigate the evidence surrounding those years.¹³³ IRS investigators discover emails from Hunter Biden showing how he planned to evade paying taxes on Burisma money in 2014.¹³⁴ DOJ Tax still disagrees, leading to conflicts.¹³³

• Jun. 14, 2022: IRS agents brief DFO Batdorf.¹³⁵

• Jun. 15, 2022: In “tax summit” meeting at DOJ headquarters between DOJ Tax (including Acting DAAG Goldberg), Delaware USAO (including U.S. Attorney Weiss), IRS (up through DFO Batdorf), and FBI (at least up through SAC Sobocinski), DOJ Tax attorneys Mark Daly and Jack Morgan present their concerns about the 2014 and 2015 charges, and IRS investigators in response reiterate their evidence.¹³⁶
  • SAC Sobociski tells Acting ASAC Shapley during breaks in the meeting that DOJ Tax’s objections are nonsense, if the charges were FBI charges the evidence would be ample to charge immediately, the delays are unacceptable, and the violations should be charges as soon as possible.¹³⁷

• Jun. 21, 2022: U.S. Attorney Weiss emails IRS investigators to request that a revenue agent calculate the precise tax loss associated with the case (each potential year and overall).¹³⁸

• Jun. 23, 2022: SA Ziegler emails U.S. Attorney Weiss that the 2014 and almost all of the 2015 calculations are complete.¹³⁸

• Jul. 7, 2022: Senator Grassley and Senator Johnson send letter to Attorney General Garland, FBI Director Chris Wray, and U.S. Attorney Weiss to reiterate questions regarding whether Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office employees have been recused and whether DOJ has discussed the need for special counsel authority.¹³⁰

• Jul. 29, 2022: In prosecution team call, AUSA Wolf says venue will depend on what gets authorized by DOJ Tax.¹³⁹ She also says U.S. Attorney Weiss had indicated his goal was to charge the 2014 and 2015 tax years no later than the end of September because they did not want to get any closer to the mid-term election, but says, “The X factor on timing will include any delay defense counsel has requested.”¹⁴⁰ SA Ziegler requests a meeting to discuss this issue with U.S. Attorney Weiss, which is subsequently scheduled for August 16.¹⁴¹

• Early Aug. 2022: 
  • DOJ Tax provides discretion for Delaware USAO to move forward with charges for 2017-2019, where proper venue is Central District of California.¹⁴² However, prosecutors convey to IRS they are leaning towards not charging the 2014 and 2015 tax years.¹⁴³
  • IRS DFO Batdorf asks IRS CI Deputy Chief to call Acting DAAG Goldberg to tell him IRS CI supports charging 2014 and 2015.¹⁴⁴

• Aug. 11, 2022: DOJ Tax attorney Mark Daly contacts prosecution team to schedule status update call the next day.¹⁴⁵

• Aug. 12, 2022: In prosecution team call, prosecutors share that Hunter Biden attorney Chris Clark had told them that if they charged his client, they would be committing “career suicide.”¹⁴⁶

• Aug. 16, 2022:
  • Investigators meet with U.S. Attorney Weiss.¹⁴⁷ IRS investigators learn for the first time that Delaware USAO believes venue for 2016-2019 years is the Central District of California.¹⁴⁸ Weiss says he agrees with charging the 2014 and 2015 tax years and would like to do it before the end of September, but is aware DOJ Tax has concerns that the death of Beau Biden and Hunter Biden’s subsequent drug use will undermine the case before a jury, and he is still weighing that.¹⁴⁹
  • Acting ASAC Shapley explains if 2014 is not charged it would severely diminish the picture of the overall conduct and would essentially sanitize some major issues, including the unreported Burisma income, which would remain untaxed.¹⁴⁸
  • After the meeting with U.S. Attorney Weiss, IRS investigators meet with the FBI, which had recently identified similar communication issues with Delaware prosecutors.¹⁴⁸

• Aug. 17, 2022: Acting ASAC Shapley emails his supervisors: “Venue…would be the [C]entral [D]istrict of California. This is new to us and shows their lack of transparency. My theory is that they never discussed that venue because it would have revealed what they were leaning towards, in terms of charging, months ago.”¹⁴⁸

• Aug. 18, 2022:
  • IRS DFO Batdorf emails SAC Waldon and SSA Shapley that he would talk with IRS-CI Chief Lee and Deputy Chief to hopefully discuss with DOJ Tax head Stewart Goldberg and show support for charging the 2014 and 2015 tax years.¹⁴⁸
  • DOJ Tax attorney Mark Daly emails prosecution team regarding a tentative schedule moving forward, including approval for three interviews in mid-September and that the case will be previewed in the Central District of California the week of September 19.¹⁵⁰

• Aug. 24, 2022: Acting FBI SSA Garrett Kerley calls Acting ASAC Shapley to say AUSA Wolf had provided Kerley with inaccurate information concerning a case update.¹⁵¹

• Aug. 25, 2022: Acting SSA Kerley emails AUSA Wolf about lack of information-sharing between monthly prosecution meetings; Wolf responds asking Curley to stand down.¹⁵²

• Sep. 13, 2022: President Biden nominee Martin Estrada is confirmed as U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California.

• Sep. 18, 2022: CBS’s 60 Minutes airs an interview with President Biden in which he is asked “whether any of [Hunter Biden’s] troubles have caused conflicts for you or for the United States?” President Biden responds, “No, there’s not a single thing that I’ve observed at all from th—that would affect me or the United States relative to my son Hunter.”¹⁵³

• Sep. 19, 2022:
  • President Biden nominee Martin Estrada is sworn in as U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California.¹⁵⁴
  • Thirty-three Republican U.S. Senators write Attorney General Merrick Garland, writing: “Given that the investigation involves the President’s son, we believe it is important to provide U.S. Attorney Weiss with special counsel authorities and protections to allow him to investigate an appropriate scope of potentially criminal conduct, avoid the appearance of impropriety, and provide additional assurances to the American people that the Hunter Biden investigation is free from political influence.”¹⁵⁵

• Week of Sep. 19, 2022: Delaware USAO presents charges against Hunter Biden for 2015-2019 are presented to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California (felonies for 2018 and 2019, misdemeanors for 2015-2019).¹⁵⁶ Once again, prosecutors deny IRS investigators’ request to attend the presentation.¹⁵⁷

• Sep. 20, 2022: Acting ASAC Shapley emails U.S. Attorney Weiss to request update on current charging strategies and timelines.¹⁵⁸

• Sep. 21, 2022:
  • U.S. Attorney Weiss emails Acting ASAC Shapley to say he will set up a call in the near term to provide updates to the IRS and FBI.¹⁵⁸
  • Delaware USAO Criminal Division Chief Shawn Weede emails IRS and FBI to schedule a call regarding charging timeline and status.¹⁵⁹

• Sep. 22, 2022:
  • In a prosecution team call, AUSA Wolf says it will take U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada time to review the memo and learn to become a U.S. attorney. DOJ Tax still has not finished its review of charges. AUSA Wolf announces the case won’t be charged until after the mid-term elections, saying: “Why would we shoot ourselves in the foot by charging before the election?” ¹⁶⁰
  • Acting ASAC Shapley messages DFO Batdorf: “Big news on Sportsman…Bad news. Continued inappropriate decisions affecting timing.  I.e. Election.  We can talk later if you are busy…I believe their actions are simply wrong and this is a huge risk to us right now.”¹⁶¹
  • Acting ASAC Shapley emails DFO Batdorf, SAC Waldon, and ASAC Watson: “During today’s SM team call there was some information provided to the team concerning decisions made by the USAO and DOJ that need to be discussed.  For example, the AUSA stated that they made a decision not to charge until after the election.  In itself, the statement is inappropriate let alone the actual action of delaying as a result of the election.  There are other items that should also be discussed that are equally inappropriate.”¹⁶²

• Sep. 23, 2022:
  • Acting ASAC Shapley and ASAC Ryeshia Holley meet to discuss concerns with investigation.¹⁵¹
  • ASAC Holley emails AUSA Shawn Weede: “Let’s wait to have this meeting when Gary is back. Also, can we meet in person and include USA Weiss. SAC Sobocinski will also be present.”¹⁶³

• Sep. 28, 2022: IRS SAC Darrell Waldon informs SSA Shapley and SA Ziegler he had requested meetings with both U.S. Attorney Weiss and DOJ Tax attorney Jason Poole.¹⁶⁴

• Sep. 29, 2022:
  • SAC Waldon asks SA Ziegler to call him and relays in the call that DOJ Tax had indicated it didn’t expect the Hunter Biden case to be indicted until 2023 due to various levels of approval within DOJ Tax.¹⁶⁵
  • Prosecutors and IRS investigators interview James Biden.¹⁶⁶
  • AUSA Weede proposes the senior leadership meeting with U.S. Attorney Weiss take place on October 7.¹⁶⁷

• Oct. 4, 2022: Acting IRS ASAC Shapley emails FBI ASAC Holley to ask for the FBI’s top three agenda items and share his: 1) Special counsel; 2) election deferral comment and continued delays; and 3) venue issue.¹⁶⁷

• Oct. 6, 2022:
  • FBI ASAC Holley emails Acting IRS ASAC Shapley the FBI’s top items to address in the in-person meeting with U.S. Attorney Weiss are: 1) Delays; 2) venue; and 3) communications.¹⁶⁷
  • AUSA Carly Hudson emails SA Ziegler because U.S. Attorney Weiss had asked her to remind him “regarding the call you received from management after the James Biden meeting.”¹⁶⁸ Ziegler reiterated to Hudson that he’d been told DOJ Tax didn’t expect the Hunter Biden case to be indicted until 2023.¹⁶⁸
  • Washington Post story includes leaks regarding investigation.¹⁶⁹

• Oct. 7, 2022: U.S. Attorney Weiss, First Assistant Shannon Hanson, and Criminal Chief Shawn Weede meet in person at their office with Baltimore FBI SAC Tom Sobocinski and ASAC Ryeshia Holley and IRS Washington, D.C. SAC Darrell Waldon and Acting ASAC Gary Shapley.¹⁷⁰ SSA Shapley takes notes during the meeting.¹⁷¹
  • Weiss tells investigators he is not the deciding official on whether charges are filed.¹⁷² He tells attendees he had requested special charging authority after the D.C. U.S. Attorney did not support charging.¹⁷³
  • Weiss announces the Delaware USAO will not charge the 2014 and 2015 tax years, but will instead allow the statute of limitations tolling agreement to lapse.¹⁷⁴
  • SSA Shapley expresses that he has several concerns with how the case had been handled from the beginning, and the meeting turns very contentious and ends awkwardly.¹⁷⁵
  • When DFO Batdorf receives the email summary of the meeting, he is surprised and frustrated about Delaware decided not to charge the 2014/2015 years.¹⁷⁶

• Oct. 11, 2022:
  • IRS SAC Waldon emails SSA Shapley: “You covered it all.”¹⁷⁷
  • IRS DFO Batdorf responds: “Thank you both for the update and continued communications.”¹⁷⁷

• Oct. 12, 2022: IRS investigators conduct final investigative interview.¹⁷⁸

• Oct. 17, 2022: In prosecution team meeting, prosecutors tell investigators there is no longer a grand jury to issue subpoenas out of.¹⁷⁹ When asked when the Central District of California USAO might make a decision on the case, DOJ Tax attorney Mark Daly responds, “I’m not the boss of them.”¹⁷⁹

• Late Oct.: U.S. Attorney Weiss tells IRS SAC Waldon he will not be talking to SSA Shapley any longer.¹⁸⁰

• Oct. 24, 2022: AUSA Wolf and DOJ Tax attorney Mark Daly call SA Ziegler to ask for all of SSA Shapley’s emails and reports dating back to May.¹⁸¹

• Oct. 31, 2022: Hunter Biden attorney Chris Clark writes lengthy letter to U.S. Attorney Weiss.¹⁸²

• Nov. 7, 2022: FBI SA Mike Dzielak speaks with IRS SA Ziegler and SSA Shapley, expressing that he was shocked at the request for management and senior management-level documents.  SSA Shapley says the discovery process seems to be a ruse for reviewing documents critical of their unethical handling of the investigation, and SA Dzielak agrees.¹⁸³

• Nov. 8, 2022:
  • Delaware USAO allows the statute of limitations for the 2014 and 2015 charges to expire despite Hunter Biden’s attorneys being willing to sign another statute of limitations extension.¹⁸⁴
  • Prosecution team meeting for November 9 is cancelled.¹⁸⁵
  • SSA Shapley emails U.S. Attorney Weiss to indicate the next prosecution team meeting is very important for ensuring an open line of communication and offers dates in December.¹⁸⁶

• Nov. 9, 2022: SSA Shapley emails ASAC Holley: “Since our discussion on October 7 where we, again, discussed the lack of communication/transparency from their office it appears they have double downed and we have received almost nothing since then. With the canceling of today’s pros team meeting and recent unusual requests for discovery it is important to ensure we have an open line of communication with them.”¹⁸⁷

• Nov. 10, 2022:
  • Acting ASAC Shapley emails U.S. Attorney Weiss with dates both IRS and FBI are available to meet again.¹⁸⁶
  • U.S. Attorney Weiss contacts IRS SAC Darrell Waldon to express concerns about the delay in producing materials.

• Nov. 2022: U.S. Attorney Weiss has discussion with CI Deputy Chief Jim Ficco about Acting ASAC Shapley’s discovery.¹⁸⁸

• Dec. 7, 2022: IRS SAC Darrell Waldon emails SA Ziegler to inform him a December 8 prosecution team calls need cancelled and SAC Waldon will field updates from now on.¹⁸⁹ SA Ziegler emails DOJ Tax attorney Mark Daly seeking confirmation.¹⁹⁰

• Dec. 8, 2020:
  • DOJ Tax attorney Mark Daly confirms that he, U.S. Attorney Weiss, and SAC Waldon have decided SAC Waldon would be the point of contact for the IRS moving forward.¹⁹⁰

• Dec. 13, 2022: Delaware USAO and DOJ Tax have all-day meeting in Delaware.¹⁹¹

• Dec. 22, 2022: U.S. Attorney Weiss, IRS DFO Batdorf and SAC Waldon have phone call in which a frustrated Weiss tells Batdorf and Waldon California declined the case.¹⁹²

2023

• Jan. 2023: 
  • U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Martin Estrada reportedly declines to partner with U.S. Attorney Weiss on the 2016-2019 charges (including both 2018 and 2019 felonies as well as misdemeanors for the other years).¹⁹³
  • Hunter Biden attorney Chris Clark meets with U.S. Attorney Weiss, telling Weiss his legacy would be defined by how he handled the decision on whether to charge Hunter Biden.¹⁹⁴

• Jan. 19, 2023: Prosecutors meet with FBI, and discuss some of the spin-off investigations.¹⁹⁵

• Feb. 8, 2023: Hunter Biden Attorney Chris Clark writes DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz regarding its investigation into the leak of grand jury materials in the October 6, 2022 Washington Post story.¹⁹⁶

• Feb. 21, 2023: Chris Clark reaches out to multiple officials at DOJ headquarters asking who he could appeal to if U.S. Attorney Weiss decided to charge Hunter Biden.¹⁹⁷ He ultimately emails Associate Deputy Attorney General (ADAG) Brad Weinsheimer.¹⁸²

• Mar. 1, 2023: Attorney General Merrick Garland testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee and tells Senator Chuck Grassley: “The United States Attorney has been advised he has full authority to make those referrals you’re talking about or to bring cases in other districts if he needs to do that. He has been advised that he should get anything he needs…I have not heard anything from that office that suggests they are not able to do anything that the U.S. Attorney wants them to do.”¹⁹⁸

• Mar. 16, 2023: DOJ Tax attorney Mark Daly is overheard saying to fellow attorney Jack Morgan that DOJ Tax would give U.S. Attorney Weiss the tax approvals if he wanted them, but he had no idea where they planned to charge Hunter Biden.¹⁹⁹

• Apr. 13, 2023: SA Ziegler hears Hunter Biden’s defense counsel are meeting with DOJ Tax at the end of the month, and emails IRS ASAC Lola Watson: “I have heard that Sportsman’s counsel is meeting with Main DOJ at the end of this month…I had heard that Sportsman’s counsel met with David Weiss in February – I have not heard any update from the result of that meeting. I have heard that David Weiss is currently asking for the Pros Memo from DOJ-Tax approving the tax charges – I would consider this a significant update indicating that David is seeking authority to charge. This was right after Merrick Garland’s testimony.”²⁰⁰

• Apr. 19, 2023: Mark Lytle sends a letter to various congressional committees indicating he represents a confidential IRS employee (SSA Shapley) who seeks to make protected whistleblower disclosures to Congress.

• Apr. 21, 2023: Hunter Biden attorney Chris Clark writes DOJ Tax and Delaware USAO alleging that the client referenced in Mark Lytle’s letter broke grand jury and tax privacy laws.²⁰¹ The letter also notes the whistleblower came forward only weeks after Senator Grassley questioned Attorney General Garland about “attempts to seek authority to bring suit against our client in jurisdictions outside of the District of Delaware.”²⁰²

• Apr. 24, 2023: ADAG Weinsheimer contacts Mark Lytle to schedule a call for the next day.

• Apr. 25, 2023: ADAG Weinsheimer tells Mark Lytle in phone call that DOJ headquarters would love to talk to SSA Shapley.

• Apr. 26, 2023: ADAG Weinsheimer hosts a meeting for Hunter Biden attorney Chris Clark and U.S. Attorney Weiss.²⁰³

• Apr. 27, 2023: IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel testifies before the House Ways and Means Committee: “I can say without hesitation there will be no retaliation for anyone making an allegation or a call to a whistleblower hotline.”

• May 3, 2023: 
  • Senate Committee on the Budget Ranking Member Chuck Grassley and House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer send letter to Attorney General Garland and FBI Director Chris Wray inquiring what was done to investigate allegations contained in an unclassified FBI FD-1023 form documenting confidential human source allegations of a bribery scheme between a foreign national and then-Vice President Biden.²⁰⁴
  • Chairman Comer issues subpoena to the FBI for the FBI FD-1023 form.²⁰⁵

• May 5, 2023: SSA Shapley attorneys Tristan Leavitt and Mark Lytle have proffer session with House Ways and Means Committee staff followed by Senate Finance Committee staff.

• May 11, 2023: ADAG Weinsheimer emails Hunter Biden attorney Chris Clark to thank him for the April 26 meeting and tells him U.S. Attorney Weiss will handle next steps.¹⁸²

• May 15, 2023:
  • AUSA Wolf contacts Biden team to offer deferred prosecution agreement on tax charges.¹⁹⁴ Clark accepts and offers to draft the language.¹⁹⁴
  • SAC Kareem Carter, with ASAC Lola Watson on the phone, informs SSA Shapley he and his team are being removed from the Hunter Biden case at the request of DOJ.²⁰⁶
  • SSA Shapley legal team sends letter to Commissioner Werfel and to Congress.

• May 16, 2023: SSA Shapley legal team (Mark Lytle, Tristan Leavitt, and Jason Foster) have call with ADAG Weinsheimer in which Weinsheimer refers back to U.S. Attorney Weiss all questions about the removal of the IRS whistleblowers on the Hunter Biden case.

• May 18, 2023: 
  • SA Ziegler emails his management chain up to Commissioner Werfel regarding his concerns with the handling of the case and his removal.²⁰⁷
  • Another lawyer for Biden sends Delaware USAO the first draft of a proposed deal, structured so it wouldn’t need a judge’s sign-off and wouldn’t require a guilty plea from Hunter Biden. 
  • U.S. Attorney Weiss responds with a list of must-haves: DOJ doesn’t mention guilty plea, but would insist on filing a court document charging Biden with two tax misdemeanors and one felony offense for possessing a gun as a drug user.¹⁸²

• May 19, 2023: AUSA Wolf points Clark to the 2011 Delaware USAO agreement with Aegis Electronic Group.²⁰⁸

• May 23, 2023: 
  • AUSA Wolf informs Chris Clark that U.S. Attorney Weiss intervened and requires a guilty plea for two misdemeanor counts of failing to pay taxes.²⁰⁹ Clark angrily accuses Wolf of misleading him and rejects the proposal.²⁰⁹
  • Clark subsequently consults with Hunter Biden, who wants to take the deal anyway.²⁰⁹

• May 24, 2023: SSA Shapley’s identity is publicly revealed in an interview with CBS Evening News.²¹⁰

• May 26, 2023: House Ways and Means Committee conducts transcribed interview with SSA Shapley.²¹¹

• Jun. 1, 2023: House Ways and Means Committee conducts transcribed interview with SA Ziegler.²¹²

• Jun. 2, 2023: Hunter Biden attorney Chris Clark emails AUSA Wolf to tell her protection from prosecution was vital to the deal.¹⁸²

• Jun. 7, 2023: 
  • Former Attorney General Bill Barr discloses that Burisma bribery allegations had been sent by the Pittsburgh USAO to the Delaware USAO in the fall of 2020 for further investigation.²¹³
  • U.S. Attorney Weiss writes House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan reiterating Attorney General Garland’s statements, writing: “I have been granted ultimate authority over this matter, including responsibility for deciding where, when, and whether to file charges.”

• Jun. 12, 2023: SSA Shapley submits supplemental affidavit to House Ways and Means Committee disclosing that prosecutors never shared with the IRS allegations from a confidential FBI human source that Ukrainian energy company Burisma had bribed Hunter and Joe Biden.²¹⁴

• Jun. 20, 2023: DOJ announces Hunter Biden plea deal and files two information documents in District of Delaware.²¹⁵

• Jun. 22, 2023: House Ways and Means Committee votes to publicly release SSA Shapley and SA Ziegler transcripts.²¹⁶

• Jun. 30, 2023: U.S. Attorney Weiss writes House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan clarifying: “As the U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware, my charging authority is geographically limited to my home district. If venue for a case lies elsewhere, common Departmental practice is to contact the United States Attorney’s Office for the district in question and determine whether it wants to partner on the case. If not, I may request Special Attorney status from the Attorney General pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 515. Here, I have been assured that, if necessary after the above process, I would be granted § 515 Authority in the District of Columbia, the Central District of California, or any other district where charges could be brought in this matter.”

• Jul. 9, 2023: Senator Chuck Grassley writes U.S. Attorney Weiss, revealing whistleblower disclosures that Pittsburgh USAO and FBI agents briefed AUSA Wolf and two Baltimore Field Office FBI agents on October 23, 2020 regarding confidential human source allegations that Ukrainian energy company Burisma bribed Hunter and Joe Biden in 2015.²¹⁷

• Jul. 10, 2023: U.S. Attorney Weiss writes Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lindsey Graham further clarifying: “I had discussions with Departmental officials regarding potential appointment under 28 U.S.C. § 515, which would have allowed me to file charges in a district outside my own without the partnership of the local U.S. Attorney. I was assured that I would be granted this authority if it proved necessary. And this assurance came months before the October 7, 2022, meeting referenced throughout the whistleblowers’ allegations. In this case, I’ve followed the process outlined in my June 30 letter and have never been denied the authority to bring charges in any jurisdiction.”

• Jul. 17, 2023: House Oversight Committee staff conducts transcribed interview with the FBI SSA assigned to the Hunter Biden case.²¹⁸

• Jul. 19, 2023: SSA Shapley and SA Ziegler testify in open hearing before House Oversight and Accountability Committee.²¹⁹

• Jul. 20, 2023: Senator Grassley releases the FBI interview document (FD-1023) detailing confidential human source allegations that Ukrainian energy company Burisma bribed Hunter and Joe Biden in 2015.²²⁰

• Jul. 26, 2023: Judge Maryellen Noreika presides over plea deal hearing in Wilmington, Delaware and rejects proposed plea deal.

• Aug. 8, 2023: U.S. Attorney Weiss formally requests Special Counsel authority from Attorney General Garland.²²¹

• Aug. 11, 2023: Attorney General Garland grants U.S. Attorney Weiss Special Counsel authority.²²¹

• Aug. 14, 2023: The House Oversight Committee releases transcript of its July 17, 2023 interview with the FBI SSA assigned to the Hunter Biden case.²²²

• Aug. 17, 2023: Judge Noreika denies request from Hunter Biden attorneys to seal Chairman Smith amicus brief, with whistleblower transcripts attached.

• Sep. 6, 2023: Delaware prosecutors file motion indicating they plan to seek a gun indictment against Hunter Biden from a grand jury by the end of September.

• Sep. 7, 2023: House Judiciary Committee interviews FBI Baltimore SAC Tom Sobocinski.

• Sep. 8, 2023: House Ways and Means Committee interviews former IRS SAC Darrell Waldon.

• Sep. 11, 2023: House Judiciary Committee interviews FBI Baltimore ASAC Ryeshia Holley.

• Sep. 12, 2023:
  • House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy announces impeachment inquiry against President Biden.²²³
  • House Ways and Means Committee interviews IRS DFO Mike Batdorf.²²⁴

• Sep. 18, 2023: Hunter Biden attorneys file lawsuit against the IRS claiming the IRS whistleblowers improperly released Hunter Biden’s information.

• Sep. 20, 2023: Attorney General Merrick Garland testifies before the House Judiciary Committee.²²⁵

• Sep. 27, 2023: House Ways and Means Committee votes to release additional documents from IRS SSA Gary Shapley and SA Joe Ziegler.²²⁶

• Sep. 28, 2023: House Oversight and Accountability Committee holds first impeachment hearing.²²⁷

Footnotes

1. Shapley Transcript at 40, 82; Ziegler Transcript at 12, 17-19, 74.
2. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T98-Shapley-3_Attachment-17.pdf
3. Ziegler Transcript at 19, 131; https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/11/us/politics/hunter-biden-justice-department-pittsburgh.html.
4. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T18-Exhibit-400-HWM-Gal-Luft-Interview-Requested-Redactions_Redacted.pdf
5. Ziegler Transcript at 19.
6. Ziegler Transcript at 19-20, 76, 131-32.
7. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T18-Exhibit-400-HWM-Gal-Luft-Interview-Requested-Redactions_Redacted.pdf
8. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T28-Exhibit-207-HWM-Email-SSA-Referral-04.29.2019_Redacted.pdf
9. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T98-Shapley-3_Attachment-17.pdf
10. Ziegler Transcript at 76, 131-32.
11. Ziegler Transcript at 21-22.
12. Ziegler Transcript at 20.
13. Ziegler Transcript at 138.
14. https://www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-news/grassley-raises-concerns-over-obama-admin-approval-of-us-tech-company-joint-sale-to-chinese-government-and-investment-firm-linked-to-biden-kerry-families
15. Shapley Transcript, Exhibit 6.
16. Shapley Transcript at Exhibit 6, 105.
17. Shapley Transcript at Exhibit 6.
18. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXvmLeIXoBA
19. Shapley Transcript at Exhibit 6, 104; see also https://www.foxnews.com/politics/laptop-hunter-biden-linked-fbi-money-laundering-probe.
20. Shapley Transcript at Exhibit 6; Ziegler Transcript at 123.
21. Shapley Transcript at 12.
22. Ziegler Transcript at 25.
23. Ziegler Transcript at 23.
24. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/barr-acknowledges-justice-dept-has-created-intake-process-to-vet-giulianis-information-on-bidens/2020/02/10/0fba553a-4c1e-11ea-bf44-f5043eb3918a_story.html.
25. https://www.npr.org/2020/02/29/810477647/biden-wins-south-carolina-primary-ap-projects.
26. Shapley Transcript at 13
27. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/10/democratic-primaries-joe-biden-bernie-sanders
28. Shapley Transcript at 13.
29. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12322067/Trusted-informants-claim-Joe-Hunter-Biden-bribed-10million-corrupt-Ukrainian-oligarch-CORROBORATED-FBI.html.
30. https://www.npr.org/2020/06/05/869553801/biden-formally-secures-democratic-nomination-while-gaining-steam-against-trump.
31. Shapley Transcript at 17, 86-87, 143.
32. https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fd_1023_obtained_by_senator_grassley_-_biden.pdf
33. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12322067/Trusted-informants-claim-Joe-Hunter-Biden-bribed-10million-corrupt-Ukrainian-oligarch-CORROBORATED-FBI.html
34. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T23-Exhibit-202-HWM-Email-BS-Warrant-08.07.2020_Redacted.pdf
35. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T23-Exhibit-202-HWM-Email-BS-Warrant-08.07.2020_Redacted.pdf
36. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T24-Exhibit-203-HWM-Draft-of-BS-Warrant_Redacted.pdf
37. Shapley Transcript at Exhibit 11, 159, 163.
38. Shapley Transcript at 163.
39. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T83-Shapley-3_Attachment-2_WMRedacted.pdf; Shapley Transcript at Exhibit 7, 111.
40. Shapley Transcript at 15, Exhibit 7, 111-113.
41. Shapley Transcript at 15, Exhibit 7, 112-114; Ziegler Transcript at 25-26.
42. Shapley Transcript at 15, Exhibit 7.
43. Shapley Transcript at 15, Exhibit 7; Ziegler Transcript at 24.
44. Shapley Transcript at Exhibit 7; Ziegler Transcript at 24.
45. Shapley Transcript at Exhibit 7.
46. Shapley Transcript at 15-16.
47. Shapley Transcript at 16.
48. https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/media/reps/johnson-grassley-release-report-on-conflicts-of-interest-investigation/
49. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T85-Shapley-3_Attachment-4_WMRedacted.pdf
50. https://nypost.com/2020/10/14/email-reveals-how-hunter-biden-introduced-ukrainian-biz-man-to-dad
51. https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2023-07-20-jdj-to-wray-re-dehmlow-testimony.pdf
52. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T86-Shapley-3_Attachment-5_WMRedacted.pdf; Shapley Transcript at 16.
53. Ziegler Transcript at 24-25, 127-129.
54. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T31-Exhibit-210-HWM-Email-Mann-Act-10.21.2020_Redacted.pdf
55. Shapley Transcript at 16, Exhibit 6, 104.
56. Shapley Transcript at 16, Exhibit 6, 105-06.
57. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T87-Shapley-3_Attachment-6_WMRedacted.pdf; Shapley Transcript at 16.
58. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T87-Shapley-3_Attachment-6_WMRedacted.pdf
59. https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_to_weiss_1023.pdf.
60. Shapley Supplemental Affidavit 1 at 2.
61. Shapley Supplemental Affidavit 1 at 2; Zerbe Jun. 19, 2023 letter to House Ways and Means at 2.
62. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T58-Exhibit-400A-Anthony-Bobulinski-302-Interview-Memo_Redacted.pdf
63. Shapley Transcript at 17.
64. Shapley Transcript at 17; Ziegler Transcript at 118.
65. https://nypost.com/2020/11/17/appoint-a-special-counsel-to-look-into-hunter-biden-deals-goodwin
66. Shapley Transcript at 18, 117, 119-20.
67. Shapley Transcript at 19, 117-18; Ziegler Transcript at 119; FBI SSA Transcript at 31-33.
68. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T91-Shapley-3_Attachment-10_WMRedacted.pdf
69. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T93-Shapley-3_Attachment-12_WMRedacted.pdf; Shapley Transcript at 19; Ziegler Transcript at 82, 119-19; FBI SSA Transcript at 34-35.
70. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T60-Exhibit-401-John-Robinson-Walker-Interview-Transcript-12.08.2021_Redacted.pdf; Shapley Transcript at 19-20, Exhibit 8, 121-23 ,137-141.
71. Ziegler Transcript at 117-18, 143-45.
72. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T25-Exhibit-204-HWM-Email-Storage-Unit-12.09.2020_Redacted.pdf; Shapley Transcript at 21, 116; Ziegler Transcript at 26-27.
73. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/hunter-biden-under-federal-investigation/2020/12/09/3b7361be-3a64-11eb-9276-ae0ca72729be_story.html.
74. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T25-Exhibit-204-HWM-Email-Storage-Unit-12.09.2020_Redacted.pdf; Shapley Transcript at 27.
75. Shapley Transcript at 21, 116; Ziegler Transcript at 27-28, 135.
76. https://thefederalist.com/2023/09/05/exclusive-fbi-lies-about-highly-credible-source-claims-were-leaked-to-nyt-and-spoonfed-to-weiss; see also https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/11/us/politics/hunter-biden-justice-department-pittsburgh.html.
77. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T26-Exhibit-205-HWM-JAZ-Storage-Unit-Notes-Dated-12.20.2020_Redacted.pdf
78. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T92-Shapley-3_Attachment-11_WMRedacted.pdf; see also https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T82-Shapley-3_Attachment-1.pdf
79. Shapley Transcript at 21, 114-16; Ziegler Transcript at 28, 120.
80. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T54-Exhibit-315A-Filter-Review-Keywords-Email-01.26.2021_Redacted.pdf
81. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T94-Shapley-3_Attachment-13_WMRedacted.pdf
82. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/biden-us-attorneys-trump-hunter-biden/2021/02/08/7f6dccd2-6a80-11eb-9f80-3d7646ce1bc0_story.html.
83. https://buck.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-buck-urges-ag-nominee-keep-federal-prosecutor-hunter-biden-probe
84. Shapley Transcript at 21.
85. https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/bs-md-ci-cr-boone-fbi-retirement-20210426-aj4jvw5zmzdbfgfybpagnuglpm-story.html
86. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T5-Exhibit-1E-Representation-Letter-Jeff-Gelfound-Interview.pdf; https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T6-Exhibit-1F-Gulnora-Deduction-Jeff-Gelfound-Interview.pdf
87. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T95-Shapley-3_Attachment-14_WMRedacted.pdf; Shapley Transcript at 22.
88. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T7-Exhibit-1G-HWM-Pages-from-HSI-Proffer-of-Gulnora_Redacted.pdf
89. Shapley Transcript at 22.
90. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T29-Exhibit-208-HWM-Email-w-Lesley-Wolf-09.10.2021_Redacted.pdf; Shapley Transcript at 22, 107; Ziegler Transcript at 29-30, 78.
91. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T29-Exhibit-208-HWM-Email-w-Lesley-Wolf-09.10.2021_Redacted.pdf.
92. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T96-Shapley-3_Attachment-15_WMRedacted.pdf.
93. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T30-Exhibit-209-HWM-Case-agent-frustration-09.20.2021_Redacted.pdf; Ziegler Transcript at 30-31.
94. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T30-Exhibit-209-HWM-Case-agent-frustration-09.20.2021_Redacted.pdf
95. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T72-Shapley-1_Attachment-2_WMRedacted.pdf
96. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T68-Exhibit-507-Batdorf-Email-Regarding-Coming-to-him_Redacted.pdf
97. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T67-Exhibit-506-Plea-offer-Email-with-IRS-09.22.2021_WMRedacted.pdf
98. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T96-Shapley-3_Attachment-15_WMRedacted.pdf
99. Ziegler Transcript at 32-33.
100. Shapley Transcript at 22; Ziegler Transcript at 32, 52-53, 129-30, 138-39.
101. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T8-Exhibit-1H-Loan-Claim-Jeff-Gelfound-Interview_Redacted.pdf
102. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T61-Exhibit-402-John-Robinson-Walker-302-11.23.2021_WMRedacted.pdf
103. Shapley Transcript at 22; Ziegler Transcript at 33.
104. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T21-Exhibit-200-HWM-Email-LW-Praise-12.20.2021_Redacted.pdf
105. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T97-Shapley-3_Attachment-16.pdf
106. Shapley Transcript at 43.
107. Shapley Transcript at 101-02; Ziegler Transcript at 114-115; Weiss July 10, 2023 letter to Senator Graham at 1.
108. Ziegler Transcript at 33.
109. Shapley Transcript at 23; Ziegler Transcript at 87-88.
110. Shapley Transcript at 23; Ziegler Transcript at 32-33, 87-90.
111. Ziegler Transcript at 34, 91-92.
112. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T98-Shapley-3_Attachment-17.pdf
113. Shapley Transcript at 54; Ziegler Transcript at 161-62.
114. Shapley Transcript at 23, 44, 64, 81, 128, 141; Ziegler Transcript at 34; Waldon Transcript at 49-50; Batdorf Transcript at 24.
115. Shapley Transcript at 131.
116. Ziegler Transcript at 92.
117. Shapley Transcript at 26, 81.
118. Ziegler Transcript at 34-35.
119. Shapley Transcript at 64; Ziegler Transcript at 82-83.
120. Shapley Transcript at 54-55.
121. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/16/us/politics/hunter-biden-tax-bill-investigation.html
122. Shapley Transcript at 24, 65, 153; Ziegler Transcript at 36.
123. Shapley Transcript at 24, 66; Ziegler Transcript at 36, 153.
124. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/03/31/press-briefing-by-director-of-communications-kate-bedingfield-and-nec-director-brian-deese
125. Shapley Transcript at 24, 55, 66, 100-02, 153; Ziegler Transcript at 36-37, 111, 153, 158.
126. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/week-transcript-22-white-house-chief-staff-ron/story?id=83832024.
127. Ziegler Transcript at 35; Batdorf Transcript at 22; https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/19/hunter-biden-plea-deal-collapse-00111974.
128. Shapley Transcript at 64; Ziegler Transcript at 82-83, 123.
129. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd1HE1h1Paw
130. https://www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/services/files/FAB82BFC-B90B-4AB3-B952-F372EE0663D2; see also https://nypost.com/2022/05/09/sens-press-prosecutor-on-recusal-in-hunter-biden-tax-case
131. Shapley Transcript at 26; Ziegler Transcript at 115, 162.
132. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T99-Shapley-3_Attachment-18_WMRedacted.pdf
133. Ziegler Transcript at 37-38.
134. Ziegler Transcript at 37; Shapley Transcript at 58-59.
135. Batdorf Transcript at 47-48.
136. Shapley Transcript at 87, 141-42; Ziegler Transcript at 38, 160-61, 163-64; Waldon Transcript at 19-25; Batdorf Transcript at 19-21, 24-29; https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T53-Exhibit-314-RHB-Investigation-Presentation-Pages-USA-06.15.2022_Redacted.pdf
137. Ziegler Transcript at 162-63; https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T82-Shapley-3_Attachment-1.pdf
138. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T22-Exhibit-201-HWM-Email-from-Weiss-regarding-Investigation-06.28.2022_Redacted.pdf
139. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T100-Shapley-3_Attachment-19.pdf
140. Shapley Transcript at 27.
141. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T64-Exhibit-503-Meeting-with-David-Weiss-08.16.2022_Redacted.pdf
142. Ziegler Transcript at 38.
143. Shapley Transcript at 89-90; Ziegler Transcript at 38.
144. Shapley Transcript at 89-90, 155.
145. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T62-Exhibit-501-Charging-Decisions-Email-08.11.2022_Redacted.pdf; https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T63-Exhibit-502-Charging-Decisions-Calandar-Invite-08.12.2022_Redacted.pdf
146. Shapley Transcript at 27; Ziegler Transcript at 122, 149-50, 160.
147. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T64-Exhibit-503-Meeting-with-David-Weiss-08.16.2022_Redacted.pdf; Shapley Transcript at 77-78.
148. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T74-Shapley-1_Attachment-4_WMRedacted.pdf
149. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T74-Shapley-1_Attachment-4_WMRedacted.pdf; Ziegler Transcript at 39, 90-91.
150. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T32-Exhibit-211-HWM-Email-fom-MFD-Moving-case-forward-08.18.2022_Redacted.pdf; Ziegler Transcript at 38.
151. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T82-Shapley-3_Attachment-1.pdf
152. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T102-Shapley-3_Attachment-21_WMRedacted.pdf; https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T82-Shapley-3_Attachment-1.pdf; Ziegler Transcript at 93-94.
153. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/president-joe-biden-60-minutes-interview-transcript-2022-09-18; https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T82-Shapley-3_Attachment-1.pdf
154. https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/martin-estrada-sworn-united-states-attorney-becoming-chief-federal-law-enforcement
155. https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Hunter-Biden-Special-Counsel-Letter-FINAL-2.pdf; see also https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T82-Shapley-3_Attachment-1.pdf
156. Shapley Transcript at 27, 101, 153; Ziegler Transcript at 152.
157. Shapley Transcript at 27; Ziegler Transcript at 61, 153.
158. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T110-Shapley-3_Attachment-29_WMRedacted.pdf
159. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T106-Shapley-3_Attachment-25_WMRedacted.pdf; Batdorf Transcript at 32-33.
160. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T103-Shapley-3_Attachment-22.pdf; Shapley Transcript at 27; https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T82-Shapley-3_Attachment-1.pdf
161. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T104-Shapley-3_Attachment-23.pdf; see also https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T82-Shapley-3_Attachment-1.pdf
162. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T105-Shapley-3_Attachment-24.pdf; see also https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T82-Shapley-3_Attachment-1.pdf
163. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T106-Shapley-3_Attachment-25_WMRedacted.pdf
164. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T65-Exhibit-504-SAC-Requesting-Weiss-Meeting-09.28.2022_Redacted.pdf
165. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T65-Exhibit-504-SAC-Requesting-Weiss-Meeting-09.28.2022_Redacted.pdf; https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/A5-Affidavit-5-for-HWM-Committee-v09.20.2023.pdf
166. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T19-Exhibit-401-Memo-FINAL-Memo-of-Interview-w-James-B-SPORTSMAN-09.29.2022_KPM-Unredacted_Redacted.pdf
167. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T106-Shapley-3_Attachment-25_WMRedacted.pdf
168. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T66-Exhibit-505-Weiss-Request-10.06.2022_Redacted.pdf
169. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/10/06/hunter-biden-tax-gun-charges; see also Shapley Transcript at 150; Ziegler Transcript at 39-40, 58, 120-21; https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T107-Shapley-3_Attachment-26_WMRedacted.pdf
170. Shapley Transcript at 28; Waldon Transcript at 36-38.
171. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T80-Shapley-2_2023-09-13-Letter-to-WM-Finance-10-7-22-notes.pdf
172. Shapley Transcript at 28, Exhibit 10, 150-51.
173. Shapley Transcript at 28, Exhibit 10, 152.
174. Shapley Transcript at 28, Exhibit 10.
175. Shapley Transcript at 29, Exhibit 10.
176. Batdorf Transcript at 45.
177. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T76-Shapley-1_Attachment-6_Redacted.pdf
178. Ziegler Transcript at 40, 78.
179. Shapley Transcript at 29.
180. Waldon Transcript at 94-95.
181. Shapley Transcript at 145.
182. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/19/hunter-biden-plea-deal-collapse-00111974
183. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T108-Shapley-3_Attachment-27.pdf
184. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T100-Shapley-3_Attachment-19.pdf; Shapley Transcript at 25-26, 55, 76-77, 91-92, 100; Ziegler Transcript at 65-66, 68.
185. Shapley Transcript at 146; https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T109-Shapley-3_Attachment-28_WMRedacted.pdf
186. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T110-Shapley-3_Attachment-29_WMRedacted.pdf
187. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T109-Shapley-3_Attachment-28_WMRedacted.pdf
188. Waldon Transcript at 100.
189. Shapley Transcript at 146; Ziegler Transcript at 41.
190. Ziegler Transcript at 41.
191. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T111-Shapley-3_Attachment-30_WMRedacted.pdf
192. Batdorf Transcript at 38-41.
193. Shapley Transcript at 31, 69-70, 153; Ziegler Transcript at 61, 112, 158-59.
194. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/19/us/politics/inside-hunter-biden-plea-deal.html
195. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T78-Shapley-1_Attachment-8_Redacted.pdf; Ziegler Transcript at 59.
196. [Politico?]
197. Ziegler Transcript at 160; https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/19/hunter-biden-plea-deal-collapse-00111974
198. https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-questions-attorney-general-at-doj-oversight-hearing
199. Shapley Transcript at 31.
200. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T33-Exhibit-212-HWM-Email-to-ASAC-Re-SM-Investigation-04.13.2023_Redacted.pdf; Ziegler Transcript at 56-57.
201. [Politico]
202. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/19/hunter-biden-plea-deal-collapse-00111974
203. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/19/hunter-biden-plea-deal-collapse-00111974; see also https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/26/politics/hunter-biden-lawyers-meet-with-justice-department/index.html
204. https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Grassley-Comer-letter.pdf
205. https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Comer-Subpoena-cover-letter-and-Wray-Subpoena-050322.pdf
206. Shapley Transcript at 32, 169-70; Ziegler Transcript at 96-97.
207. https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/T34-Exhibit-213-HWM-Ziegler-Email-to-IRS-Leadership-05.18.2023_Redacted.pdf
208. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/19/hunter-biden-plea-deal-collapse-00111974
209. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/19/us/politics/inside-hunter-biden-plea-deal.html
210. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/irs-whistleblower-tax-probe-hunter-biden
211. https://waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Whistleblower-1-Transcript_Redacted.pdf
212. https://waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Whistleblower-2-Transcript_Redacted.pdf
213. https://thefederalist.com/2023/06/07/exclusive-bill-barr-confirms-rep-jamie-raskin-lied-about-biden-family-corruption-investigation
214. https://waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/WB-1-Affadavit_Redacted.pdf
215. https://www.justice.gov/usao-de/pr/tax-and-firearm-charges-filed-against-robert-hunter-biden
216. https://waysandmeans.house.gov/event/meeting-on-documents-protected-under-internal-revenue-code-section-6103
217. https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_to_weiss_1023.pdf
218. https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/FBI-SSA-Transcribed-Interview-Transcript.pdf
219. https://oversight.house.gov/hearing/hearing-with-irs-whistleblowers-about-the-biden-criminal-investigation
220. https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-obtains-and-releases-fbi-record-alleging-vp-biden-foreign-bribery-scheme
221. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/appointment-special-counsel-2
222. https://oversight.house.gov/release/comer-releases-former-fbi-supervisory-special-agents-transcribed-interview-transcript
223. https://www.speaker.gov/speaker-mccarthy-opens-an-impeachment-inquiry
224. https://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000018a-b379-d816-a5ba-bb7f7d940000
225. https://judiciary.house.gov/committee-activity/hearings/oversight-us-department-justice-0
226. https://waysandmeans.house.gov/event/meeting-on-documents-protected-under-internal-revenue-code-section-6103-2
227. https://oversight.house.gov/hearing/the-basis-for-an-impeachment-inquiry-of-president-joseph-r-biden-jr/

The post Timeline of Hunter Biden Investigation appeared first on Empower Oversight.

The post Abbe Lowell: Claims Versus Reality  appeared first on Empower Oversight.

The latest batch of documents follows a May FOIA lawsuit brought by Empower Oversight in the District of Columbia from a December 2022 FOIA request to the SEC.  Pursuant to the FOIA request and the lawsuit, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has produced 324 pages of additional documents.

The new documents establish:

• Joseph Lubin and his company, Consensys, played a much more central role than previously known in driving then-SEC Director of Corporation Finance William Hinman’s thinking and goals with his controversial June 14, 2018, cryptocurrency speech. Lubin also appears to have been responsible for bringing Hinman and Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin together as the speech drafting advanced. Lubin and Consensys are a prominent third party promoter of Ether, which was the focus of Hinman’s speech.  See documents here.
• Investors and attorneys closely associated with Ethereum were prominent on the list of a March 28, 2018, meeting on a crypto safe harbor proposal. See documents here.
• An August 22, 2019, email proves that Hinman met with Simpson Thacher partner Chris Lin while Lin was representing Canaan, a crypto mining client, before Hinman’s division on its IPO. This was contrary to advice on conflicts of interest rules, about which the SEC Ethics Office had repeatedly warned Hinman since he was receiving millions of dollars in payments from Simpson Thacher while at the SEC. See documents here. 

The SEC had initially agreed to search for records of communications between SEC officials and promoters of certain cryptocurrencies using a specific list of names that the SEC asked Empower Oversight to provide. However, the SEC then promptly reversed course and had refused to search for those records for nearly two years since the August 2021 request, which is still the subject of ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the SEC. 

The December 2022 FOIA requests to the SEC sought communications between senior SEC officials and their former and future employers and related entities regarding cryptocurrencies.  Former senior SEC official William Hinman received millions of dollars in compensation from his former employer, Simpson Thacher, while helping guide the SEC’s enforcement decisions on cryptocurrencies. Simpson Thacher was part of a group that promoted the native cryptocurrency on the Ethereum network, Ether. Of particular interest is a June 14, 2018 speech where Hinman publicly declared that Ether was not a security while the SEC has claimed in enforcement actions that other similar cryptocurrencies were unregistered securities.

Since August 2021, Empower Oversight has sought numerous records through FOIA requests regarding the decision making on cryptocurrency issues at the SEC.

In August 2021, Empower Oversight submitted a detailed FOIA request to the SEC seeking all communications between senior SEC officials and their former and future employers and related entities regarding cryptocurrencies. Since then, Empower Oversight has been at the forefront of the battle for SEC transparency. In December 2021, Empower Oversight filed a lawsuit against the SEC in the Eastern District of Virginia seeking to compel the agency to provide responsive documents to the FOIA requests. On February 23rd of this year, Empower Oversight supported a motion with Judge Analisa Torres in the Southern District of New York to gain access to pertinent SEC documents.

In May 2022, Empower Oversight sent a referral to the SEC Inspector General based on documents that raised questions about the failure of the SEC and its Ethics Office to properly manage Hinman’s conflicts of interest regarding cryptocurrency issues, contacts with his former law firm Simpson Thacher, and that firm’s interest in promoting one cryptocurrency over others.

In October 2022, Empower Oversight filed its opposition to the SEC’s motion for summary judgment in the ongoing FOIA lawsuit over documents related to conflicts of interest and selective enforcement in cryptocurrency cases.

In Dec. 2022, Empower Oversight filed a new FOIA request regarding conflicts of interest and selective enforcement by former high-level officials regarding cryptocurrencies. The December 2022 request was an effort to counter the SEC’s bad faith gamesmanship in refusing to conduct searches using the search terms it solicited from Empower Oversight more than a year earlier. 

In May 2023, Empower Oversight filed a new complaint against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to compel the SEC to comply with the December 2022 FOIA request.

If you have first-hand information you’d like to disclose to assist Empower Oversight with these inquiries, please contact the organization confidentially here.

###

The post Empower Oversight Litigation Forces SEC to Release Additional Documents on Cryptocurrency Conflicts appeared first on Empower Oversight.

This version includes references to numerous documents uncovered in freedom of information act (FOIA) requests and reporting by The Intercept, U.S. Right to Know and The DisInformation Chronicle. Tweets highlighting pertinent information by members of DRASTIC also pointed to new information.

This timeline is intended to be comprehensive, yet short enough to be useful and not overwhelming to researchers, policy makers, and reporters. Additional edits, corrections, and additions are still welcome.

Empower Oversight sent a FOIA request to NIH regarding requests by Chinese researchers to remove COVID-19 sequences from a U.S. database. If you have any inside information to assist with this effort, please contact Empower Oversight at https://empoweroversig.wpengine.com/contact/.

Select a specific timeframe ▼

1977-2019

1977: The first SARS viruses leaked from labs several times — including at least twice from the National Institute of Virology in Beijing.

1979: The Soviet Union lied about a lab accident with anthrax bacteria that killed dozens. (The New York Times, June 25, 2021; The New York Times, June 20, 2021)

2003: Coronaviruses, first described in 1965, were the cause of the SARS outbreak in 2003. (Medpage Today, June 2021).

In April 2003, a Chinese doctor accused the government of hiding the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) that shutdown a Beijing hospital when medical staff became infected. (The Guardian, April 2003). Months later, scientists found the coronavirus reservoir in animals sold in Chinese markets. (MMWR, Oct 17, 2003). The outbreak was contained by the summer, but not before infecting over 8,000 people and killing 774. (CDC SARS Response).

October 2004: World Health Organization SARS Risk Assessment and Preparedness Framework (World Health Organization, October 2004) 

Since July 2003, SARS has reappeared four times. Three of these incidents (Singapore, Taipei and Beijing) were “attributed to breaches in laboratory biosafety and resulted in one or more cases of SARS.”

February 2005: Two professors publish an essay that warns against expansion of bioweapons labs. (Boston Globe, February 23, 2005)

“The Pentagon has stated that its goal is to develop genetically engineered biological weapons in order to discover defenses against them. These inevitably will have offensive capabilities.” In 1969, President Nixon renounced biological weapons and scrapped the US research program on the grounds that “mankind already carries in its hands too many of the seeds of its own destruction.” Six years later the Biological Weapons Convention was passed.

September 2009: House Hearing: FEDERAL OVERSIGHT OF HIGH-CONTAINMENT BIOLABORATORIES (House Hearing Transcript, September 22, 2009)

House Hearing Transcript, September 22, 2009

“Unfortunately, what is clear is that the Federal policy on biosafety and security remains basically unchanged from what it was when we had our hearing 2 years ago.” Government Accountability Office: “High-Containment Laboratories: National Strategy for Oversight Is Needed” (GAO, September 21, 2009)

June 2010: PLOS One publishes “The Re-Emergence of H1N1 Influenza Virus in 1977: A Cautionary Tale for Estimating Divergence Times Using Biologically Unrealistic Sampling Dates.” (PLOS ONE, June 2010)

The report says, “genetic analysis indicated that this strain was missing decades of nucleotide sequence evolution, suggesting an accidental release of a frozen laboratory strain into the general population.” (PLOS ONE, June 2010)

2011: Virologists under fire for experimenting

Virologists Ron Fouchier and Yoshihiro Kawaoka are criticized for studies involving a potentially airborne version of H5N1, an avian influenza. News of the experiments leaked before they published their results. (The Intercept, June 19, 2021) (The New York Times, December 26, 2011) “It is a nightmare scenario: a human pandemic caused by the accidental release of a man-made form of the lethal avian influenza virus H5N1. Yet the risk is all too real.” The research was performed at labs rated “biosafety level 3” (BSL-3). (Nature, December 20, 2011)

January 2012: “Caution urged for mutant flu work.” Scientists question whether the public -health benefits outweigh the risks of a potential pandemic if the virus escaped from the lab. In a statement jointly published in Nature and Science, 39 flu researchers declared a 60-day pause in the creation of lab mutant strains of the H5N1 avian flu virus. (Nature, January 25, 2012)

Anthony Fauci: “The degree of polarization in the scientific community is unprecedented, and that has motivated me to push very, very hard for transparent, open discussion of these issues. We need to get people in the same room discussing the pros and cons rather than having duelling soundbites.” (Nature, January 25, 2012)

February 2012: The potential for mutant-flu research to improve public health any time soon has been exaggerated. Timely production of sufficient vaccine remains the biggest challenge. (Nature, February 9, 2012)

World Health Organization convenes meeting that says flu research should be published. (Nature, February 17, 2012) Experts attending the meeting were overwhelmingly academic flu researchers, almost all of whom are strongly in favor of such research, and many of whom would like to see it proceed unfettered, and almost no public-health officials nor experts in risk assessment, biosafety, or biosecurity.

April 2012: Royal Society holds two-day meeting on flu research with scientists, research funders and experts in security, bioethics and foreign policy. Arthur Caplan says that to expect that all research will be done carefully every­where is “utter malarkey.” (Nature, April 10, 2012)

June 2012: Coronaviruses cause the MERS outbreak in 2012 (Medpage Today, June 13, 2021)

October 2012: Research on Highly Pathogenic H5N1 Influenza Virus: The Way Forward, by Anthony Fauci (mBio, October 9, 2012)

“We cannot expect those who have these concerns to simply take us, the scientific community, at our word that the benefits of this work outweigh the risks, nor can we ignore their calls for greater transparency, their concerns about conflicts of interest, and their efforts to engage in a dialog about whether these experiments should have been performed in the first place. Those of us in the scientific community who believe in the merits of this work have the responsibility to address these concerns thoughtfully and respectfully.”

January 2013: After one year, moratorium on flu research ends, although research community remains divided. (Nature, January 23, 2013)

February 2013: Avian flu virus emerges.

An 87-year-old man and his two sons went to the hospital with a fever and other symptoms. (The Intercept, June 19, 2021) After the man dies, an anonymous Chinese social media user speculates about the strange circumstances surrounding his death. Censors swiftly deleted the post. (South China Morning Post, April 10, 2013) Chinese officials later notify the World Health Organization of a new avian flu virus called H7N9.

May 2013: Chinese researchers at the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute publish a paper in Science on a gain-of-function experiment with guinea pigs. (Science, May 2, 2013)

Gain-of-function research involves genetically altering an organism, in this case, creating new viruses. “It had involved swapping gene segments from H5N1 with those from the H1N1 swine virus, then infecting guinea pigs with the hybrid viruses. Her team found that they could get the virus to leap from one animal to another by switching out a single gene. The guinea pigs stood in for humans. Ron Fouchier, of Erasmus MC in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, said that he had dreamed of doing exactly the same experiment as Chen but couldn’t because of various constraints." (The Intercept, June 19, 2021)

February 2014: Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation publishes “Laboratory Escapes and ‘Self-fulfilling prophecy Epidemics’” (Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, February 17, 2014)

This paper presents an historical review of outbreaks of transmissible pathogens that occurred from presumably well-funded and supervised nationally supported laboratories.

June 2014: Scientists condemn “crazy, dangerous” creation of deadly airborne flu virus. (The Guardian, June 11, 2014)

"The work they are doing is absolutely crazy. The whole thing is exceedingly dangerous," said Lord May, the former president of the Royal Society and one time chief science adviser to the UK government. "Yes, there is a danger, but it's not arising from the viruses out there in the animals, it's arising from the labs of grossly ambitious people." Simon Wain-Hobson, a virologist at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, said he feared that governments and funding bodies would only take the risks seriously once an accident had happened. "It's madness, folly. It shows profound lack of respect for the collective decision-making process we've always shown in fighting infections. If society, the intelligent layperson, understood what was going on, they would say 'What the F are you doing?'"

July 2014: An accident with anthrax demonstrates that pathogen research always carries a risk of release — and highlights the need for rigorous scrutiny of gain-of-function flu studies. (Nature, July 4, 2014) NIH catches U of Wisconsin researcher not accurately assessing risk of flu virus research. (Nature, July 1, 2014)

The Cambridge Working Group releases their Consensus Statement on the Creation of Potential Pandemic Pathogens. (Cambridge Working Group, July 14, 2014) “Experiments involving the creation of potential pandemic pathogens should be curtailed until there has been a quantitative, objective and credible assessment of the risks, potential benefits, and opportunities for risk mitigation, as well as comparison against safer experimental approaches.”

October 2014: U.S. Moratorium on gain-of-function research (The Scientist, October 2014)

U.S. officials announce an unprecedented pause on funding for 18 gain-of-function studies involving influenza, or the Middle East respiratory syndrome, or severe acute respiratory syndrome viruses. (Science, October 2014). Around half were later allowed to continue, because they did not fit the definition of gain-of-function or were deemed essential to public health. (Science, February 2019). Statement from the National Institutes of Health on funding pause of certain types of gain-of-function research (NIH, October 16, 2014) Health and Human Services Statement on Pause. (HHS, October 17, 2014)

April 2015: China’s Biological Warfare Programme: An Integrative Study with Special Reference to Biological Weapons Capabilities (Journal of Defence Studies, Vol. 9, No. 2, April–June 2015, pp. 131–156)

May 2015: “10 incidents discovered at the nation's biolabs” (USA Today, April 29, 2015) “Records obtained by the USA TODAY Network show hundreds of incidents have occurred in labs across the country in recent years. Here are a few examples of how things can go wrong.”

November 2015: SARS-like cluster of circulating bat coronaviruses shows potential for human emergence. (Nature, November 9, 2015)

Researchers from two of the major coronavirus laboratories in the world, including Dr. Shi Zhengli of Wuhan and Ralph Baric of  the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, wrote that they had bioengineered a coronavirus. (Nature Medicine, November 9, 2015).

The work was carried out in Dr. Baric’s laboratory at U.N.C. They took a spike protein, the “key” that coronaviruses use to unlock and infect cells, from a horseshoe bat virus. They combined that spike protein with a human SARS virus adapted for mice. (The New York Times, June 25, 2021).

This “chimeric” virus could infect human cells, suggesting some bat viruses may be “capable of infecting humans without mutation or adaptation.” This was Dr. Shi’s second experiment since 2013 with a SARS-like bat coronavirus being able to directly infect human airway cells. (The New York Times, June 25, 2021).

July 2016: Chinese lab engineers different SARS viruses (Journal of Virology, July 15, 2016)

After receiving an NIH grant, Peter Daszak, President of EcoHealth Alliance, and Dr. Shi Zhengli of Wuhan published a paper reporting how, at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), they had engineered different versions of coronaviruses and tested their infectiousness in human cells.

“The paper announced that the WIV had developed its own reverse-genetics system, following the Americans’ lead. It also included a troubling detail: the work, which was funded in part by the NIH grant, had been done in a BSL-2 lab. That meant the same viruses that Daszak was holding up as a clear and present danger to the world were being studied under conditions that, according to Richard Ebright, matched ‘the biosafety level of a US dentist’s office’.”(MIT Technology Review, June 29, 2021)

February 2017: Concerns raised about biosafety and the opening of the Wuhan Institute of Virology. (Nature, February 23, 2017). 

2017: Debate over lab safety levels. 

Daszak and Dr. Shi published another study, also researched at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).“

The WIV had continued to unearth dozens of new SARS-like coronaviruses in bat caves, and it reported making chimeras with eight of them by fusing the spikes of the new viruses to the chassis of WIV1. Two of them replicated well in human cells. They were, for all intents and purposes, brand-new pathogens. In an email to MIT Technology Review, Shi said she followed Chinese rules that are similar to US. Safety requirements and are based on what virus you are studying. Since bat viruses like WIV1 haven’t been confirmed to cause disease in human beings, her biosafety committee recommended BSL-2 for engineering and testing them but BSL-3 for any animal experiments. Regarding the decision to do the research in BSL-2 conditions, Peter Daszak forwarded a statement from EcoHealth Alliance stating that the organization “must follow the local laws of the countries in which we work’ and that the NIH had determined the research was ‘not gain-of-function.’” (MIT Technology Review, June 29, 2021)

December 2017: Ban on gain-of-function research reversed.

Based on a report by the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity that government-funded gain-of-function research was seldom a risk to public safety, the ban was repealed (Nature, December 19, 2017). Two National Academy of Sciences workshops, recommendations from a federal advisory board, and a new U.S. policy for evaluating proposed studies involving “enhanced potential pandemic pathogens” (known as ePPPs). NIH invited new gain-of-function proposals that would be reviewed by a committee with wide-ranging expertise drawn from the Department of Health and Human Services and other federal agencies.

Ron Fouchier’s proposed projects are part of a contract led by virologists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City (Science, February 8, 2019).

February 2018: Peter Daszak announces The Global Virome Project (Science, February 23, 2018) “We describe a Global Virome Project (GVP) aimed to launch in 2018 that will help identify the bulk of this viral threat and provide timely data for public health interventions against future pandemics.”

Unknown Date 2018: Health and Human Services says they reviewed two gain-of-function projects referred for review in 2018 under the Health and Human Services (HHS) Framework for Guiding Funding Decisions about Proposed Research Involving Enhanced Potential Pandemic Pathogens (HHS P3CO Framework) (Health and Human Services, unknown date in 2018) Both projects were approved as acceptable.

June 2018: The Harbin Veterinary Research Institute moved to a new campus with a BSL-4 laboratory, the highest biosafety level.

The other BSL-4 lab in China is the Wuhan Institute of Virology (The Intercept, June 19, 2021).

January 2019: WORLDWIDE THREAT ASSESSMENT OF THE U.S. INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY, report to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. 

“We assess that China’s intelligence services will exploit the openness of American society, especially academia and the scientific community, using a variety of means.” (Director of National Intelligence, January 29, 2019)

February 2019: U.S. Government approves controversial experiments.

From Science Magazine: “Last year, a U.S. government review panel quietly approved experiments proposed by two labs that were previously considered so dangerous that federal officials had imposed an unusual top-down moratorium on such research. One of the projects has already received funding from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and will start in a few weeks; the other is awaiting funding. “After a deliberative process that cost $1 million for [a consultant’s] external study and consumed countless weeks and months of time for many scientists, we are now being asked to trust a completely opaque process where the outcome is to permit the continuation of dangerous experiments,” says Harvard University epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch.” (Science, February 8, 2019)

Lipsitch also wrote in the Washington Post: “In the past year, the U.S. government quietly greenlighted funding for two groups of researchers, one in the United States and the other in the Netherlands, to conduct transmission-enhancing experiments on the bird flu virus as they were originally proposed before the moratorium. Despite the potential public-health consequences of such work, neither the approval nor the deliberations or judgments that supported it were announced publicly. The government confirmed them only when a reporter learned about them through non-official channels. A spokesperson from the Department of Health and Human Services told Science magazine that the agency cannot make the reviews public because doing so might reveal proprietary information about the applicants’ plans that could help their competitors. This bureaucratic logic implies that it is more important to maintain the trade secrets of a few prominent scientists than to let citizens — who bear the risk if an accident happens and who fund their work — scrutinize the decisions of public officials about whether these studies are worth the risk." (The Washington Post, February 27, 2019)

Human error is the main cause of potential exposures of lab workers to pathogens. Statistical data from two sources show that human error was the cause of, according to my research, 67 percent and 79.3 percent of incidents leading to potential exposures in BSL3 labs. There were 128 BSL3 and BSL4 incident reports to the NIH Office of Science Policy from 2004 - 2017.There were no reported incidents from BSL4 as they must only report pathogens with recombinant DNA. Of the 128 incidents, 86 or 67.2 percent were due to human error. (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, February 25, 2019)

March 2019: NIH Director Francis Collins releases statement from the National Institutes of Health “NIH commitment to transparency on research involving potential pandemic pathogens” (National Institutes of Health, March 5, 2019)

July 2019: Defense officials say China is a leading threat on bio weapons (National Defense, July 23, 2019)

August 2019: Defense officials warn that China is the is the world leader in toxin-based biothreats. (National Defense, August 2, 2019) 

Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigate Chinese scientists who shipped level 4 pathogens (Ebola and Henipah viruses) from National Microbiology Lab to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. (CBC, August 2, 2019)  "We have a researcher who was removed by the RCMP from the highest security laboratory that Canada has for reasons that government is unwilling to disclose,” said Amir Attaran, a law professor and epidemiologist at the University of Ottawa. “The intelligence remains secret. But what we know is that before she was removed, she sent one of the deadliest viruses on Earth, and multiple varieties of it to maximize the genetic diversity and maximize what experimenters in China could do with it, to a laboratory in China that does dangerous gain of function experiments. And that has links to the Chinese military." (CBC, June 14, 2020)

September 2019: Weeks before the pandemic began, the head of Wellcome Trust, Jeremy Farrar, and Anthony Fauci help oversee a World Health Organization report that highlighted an “increasing risk of global pandemic from a pathogen escaping after being engineered in a lab.” (World Health Organization, September 2019) (Daily Mail, June 15, 2012)

Wuhan Institute of Virology genomic database goes offline.

A genomic database maintained by the Wuhan Institute of Virology, with information about thousands of bat samples and at least 500 recently discovered bat coronaviruses, goes offline. This is uncovered by the Internet sleuths that linked RaTG13 to the Chinese mine report in February 2021. (DRASTIC Preprint)

October 2019: The Military World Games held in Wuhan, China, appears to have been a vector for spreading disease in the U.S. and around the world. (The American Prospect, June 30, 2020)

November 2019: Three researchers from Wuhan Institute of Virology were hospitalized, according to a previously undisclosed U.S. intelligence document (The Wall Street Journal, May 23, 2021)

The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases announced that it would restart its operations on a limited scale, after the Centers for Disease and Control halting its high-level research, when two high-level breaches occurred. (The Frederick News Post, November 23, 2019)

British man living in Wuhan, China catches COVID-19. (Daily Mail, March 4, 2020)

December 30, 2019: Li Wenliang, an ophthalmologist at a hospital in Wuhan, sent colleagues a text about a virus, and is summoned to a police station and forced to sign a document for spreading rumors. Wuhan later institutes a lockdown and Li later dies from the virus. (iNews, February 6, 2020; iNews, February 6, 2020)

December 31, 2019: China notifies WHO of “cases of pneumonia of unknown etiology” in Wuhan City. (World Health Organization, January 5, 2020)

2020

January 3: Agence France Press reported that police from Wuhan, “had punished eight people for ‘publishing or forwarding false information on the internet without verification.’” Coronavirus had killed at least 17 people and arrived in the United States this week. (Poynter, January 23, 2020)

January 22: The New York Times reports, “China Silences Critics Over Deadly Virus Outbreak Beijing has responded faster to the new threat than it did with SARS, but it still silences and punishes those who veer from the official line, with potentially damaging consequences.” (The New York Times, January 22, 2020)

January 26: Wuhan seafood market may not be source of novel virus spreading globally. (Science, January 26, 2020)

January 27: Facebook, Google, and Twitter begin dealing with COVID-19 misinformation. Seven organizations that partner with Facebook issued nine fact checks, and Facebook labeled the inaccuracies and lowered their rank in users’ daily feeds. (The Washington Post, January 27, 2020)

February 6: Wuhan researchers speak out.

Commentary from Chinese researchers based in Wuhan that argued “the killer coronavirus probably originated from a laboratory in Wuhan” posted and later removed from ResearchGate (User account “Botao Xiao” also deleted.). (ZeroHedge, uploaded to Scribd, February 2020)

February 19: Scientists condemn lab leak theory.

Open letter in The Lancet by 27 scientists, including Peter Daszak and Jeremy Farrar who “strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin.” (The Lancet, February 19, 2020)

Daszak states, “We’re in the midst of the social media misinformation age, and these rumors and conspiracy theories have real consequences, including threats of violence that have occurred to our colleagues in China.” (Science, February 19, 2020)

February 22: Social media censoring of lab leak theory posts begins.

New York Post publishes an article by a Chinese scholar arguing “coronavirus may have leaked from a lab” is subsequently censored by Facebook. (New York Post, February 22, 2020) February 26: Prominent virologists publish a commentary that claims “no credible evidence” COVID-19 started due lab engineering. (Emerging Microbes & Infections, February 26, 2020) Emails released by U.S. Right to Know later reveal that the editorial was submitted on February 12 and then peer reviewed and accepted the next day. (Email February 12, 2020; US Right to Know, August 11, 2021) One reviewer wrote, “This is a timely commentary. It is perfectly written. All four authors are well established virologists. I suggest to publish it right away.” (Email, February 13, 2020) However, the virologists later admitted that they could not “rule out the possibility” of a lab leak. (Email, February 16, 2020; US Right to Know, August 11, 2021) The researcher also discuss that “rumor says that furin site may be engineered.” (Email, February 21, 2020) Although this is not disclosed in the commentary, the journal had it reviewed by Shi Zhengli of the Wuhan Institute of Virology. (Email, February 16, 2020)

Early 2020 (exact date unknown): State Department sends a memo that a lab accident is the most likely cause of the pandemic. (U.S. Right to Know, March 28, 2022)

The memo is written as a BLUF – “bottom line up front” – a style of communication used in the military. “The most logical place to investigate the virus origin has been completely sealed off from the outside inquiry by the [Chinese Community Party]. A gag order to both places was issued on 1/01/2020, and a Major General from the [People’s Liberation Army] took over the [Wuhan Institute of Virology] since early Jan. Of the five possible theories [for how the pandemic began] the WCDC and the WIV are most likely yet least investigated. All other proposed theories are likely to be a decoy to prevent inquiry WCDC and WIV.” (U.S. Right to Know, March 24, 2022)

March 6: Paper published that states “Our analyses clearly show that SARS-CoV-2 is not a laboratory construct or a purposefully manipulated virus.” (Nature Medicine, March 17, 2020)

In emails obtained by a Buzzfeed FOIA, one of the paper’s author’s, Kristian Andersen, thanks Jeremy Farrar (Wellcome Trust), Anthony Fauci (US NIH), and Francis Collins (US NIH) “for your advice and leadership as we have been working through the SARS-CoV-2 ‘origins’ paper.” (Buzzfeed FOIA, March 8, 2020)

March 11: Scientific American publishes a profile of Wuhan Institute of Virology’s Shi Zhengli. In the article, Zhengli says that miners in a Mojang mine died from a fungus. (Scientific American, March 11, 2020) Based on Chinese documents, researchers in India later conclude that Zhengli lied, and the miners actually died of coronavirus- like respiratory illness. (Frontiers in Public Health, October 20, 2020) 

March 18: Axios publishes, “Timeline: The early days of China's coronavirus outbreak and cover-up” (Axios, March 18, 2020)

April (exact date unknown): James Le Duc with the Galveston National Laboratory asks researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology to edit a briefing he was preparing for congressional staff. (U.S. Right to Know, April 5, 2022)

“I certainly do not want to compromise you or your research activities,” Le Duc wrote to Shi Zhengli. The House Foreign Affairs Committee had asked Le Duc for input on the pandemic. “Given the long history of collaborations between the GNL and the WIV, I have been approached repeatedly for details on our work,” Le Duc wrote to colleagues at the WIV. “Attached is a draft summary that I will be providing to leadership of our University of Texas system and likely to Congressional committees that are being formed now.” (U.S. Right to Know, April 5, 2022) (U.S. Right to Know, April 5, 2022)

That same month, Le Duc told Science Magazine that Shi Zhengli was being unfairly scrutinized. (Science Magazine, April 30, 2020)” (Science Magazine, April 30, 2020)

April 15: China knew the coronavirus could become a pandemic in mid-January but for 6 days claimed that there was no evidence it could spread among humans. The Associated Press obtained a damning memo of a January 14 call that warned top officials about human-to-human transmission and said to prepare for a pandemic. Memo substantiates President Donald Trump's accusations that WHO failed to vet China's data. (Insider, April 15, 2020)

April 17: NY Post Editorial Board: “Facebook’s ‘fact checkers’ are the real fake news after censoring Post story.” (New York Post, April 17, 2020)

April 23: Texas scientist raises concerns about Wuhan Institute of Virology safety.

A University of Texas Medical Branch scientist, who visited the Wuhan Institute of Virology, acknowledges safety risks at Chinese lab doing coronavirus research. Le Duc is never quoted by any science writers in the coming months. (Houston Chronicle, April 23, 2020)

April 24: NIH cuts funding to EcoHealth Alliance. (Ars Technica, May 12, 2020)

Donald Trump ordered the NIH to cancel a five-year, $3.7 million grant for EcoHealth Alliance’s bat virus research. (NPR, April 29, 2020). According to Daszak, about 70% of the group’s annual $12 million budget continues to come from the U.S. government. (Kaiser Health News, May 19, 2021)

April 28: Three former U.S. intelligence agents say that the virus emerged from nature or escaped from a Chinese lab. (Foreign Policy, April 28, 2020)

Newsweek: “Dr. Fauci Backed Controversial Wuhan Lab with U.S. Dollars for Risky Coronavirus Research.” (Newsweek, April 28, 2020)

“In 2019, with the backing of NIAID, the National Institutes of Health committed $3.7 million over six years for research that included some gain-of-function work. The program followed another $3.7 million, 5-year project for collecting and studying bat coronaviruses, which ended in 2019, bringing the total to $7.4 million. A second phase of the project, beginning that year, included additional surveillance work but also gain-of-function research for the purpose of understanding how bat coronaviruses could mutate to attack humans.” (Newsweek, April 28, 2020) (Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence, NIH Project Number 2R01AI110964-06)

“The project was run by EcoHealth Alliance, a non-profit research group, under the direction of President Peter Daszak, an expert on disease ecology. Three years later, though—in December 2017—the NIH ended the moratorium and the second phase of the NIAID project, which included the gain-of-function research, began. The NIH established a framework for determining how the research would go forward: scientists have to get approval from a panel of experts, who would decide whether the risks were justified.” (Newsweek, April 28, 2020)

April 30: The Wall Street Journal: “In Rare Move, U.S. Intelligence Agencies Confirm Investigating if Coronavirus Emerge From Lab Accident” (The Wall Street Journal, April 30, 2020)

Science Magazine reports outrage that National Institutes of Health cancelled grant to EcoHealth Alliance. (Science, April 30, 2020)

May 19: Paper about combatting coronaviruses published.

“Nevertheless, speculation about accidental laboratory escape will likely persist, given the large collections of bat virome samples stored in labs in the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the facility’s proximity to the early outbreak, and the operating procedures at the facility.” (Immunity, May 19, 2020)

May 21: The New York Times depicts Wuhan Institute of Virology as the victim of “conspiracy theories.” (The New York Times, May 21, 2020)

May 23: Australian researchers publish a preprint that says the COVID19 virus is “uniquely adapted to infect humans” and that origins of the virus could be natural or could have occurred in a laboratory. (Daily Mail, May 23, 2020)

May 24: Understanding the Origin of ‘BatCoVRaTG13’, a Virus Closest to SARS-CoV-2 (Preprints, May 24, 2020) SARS-CoV-2 is most related to RaTG13, a beta corona virus derived from bats by 96%. But RaTG13 is 100% similar to BtCoV/4991. Shi Zhengli reported that BtCoV/4991 came from bat faeces sampled in an abandoned mine from Mojiang.

May 27: Nature reports lab leak hypothesis as “coronavirus misinformation” and “false information.” (Nature, May 27, 2021)

June 8: The science magazine Undark reports that the lab leak is a conspiracy theory “that’s been broadly discredited.” (Undark, June 8, 2020)

July 8: NIH offers to reinstate an EcoHealth Alliance grant.

EcoHealth has to address NIH concerns, noting reports that the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) “has been conducting research at its facilities in China that pose serious bio-safety concerns” for other countries. The letter added, “We have concerns that WIV has not satisfied safety requirements under the award, and that EcoHealth Alliance has not satisfied its obligations to monitor the activities of its subrecipient…Moreover, as we have informed you through prior Notices of Award, this award is subject to the Transparency Act subaward and executive compensation reporting requirement of 2 C.F.R. Part 170. To date you have not reported any subawards in the Federal Subaward Reporting System” (NIH letter to Daszak re Grant R01AI110964, July 8, 2020)

June 9: Peter Daszak attacks former head of M16 over lab leak theory.

He writes a Guardian essay attacking former head of M16 for spreading the conspiracy that the “pandemic could have started as an accident.” The essay is later updated, “This article was amended on 11 June 2020 to make clear the writer’s past work with researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. A reference to a peer-reviewed paper has been clarified: a link previously led to a pre-press version; the final version is due for publication in the peer-reviewed Nature Communications.” (The Guardian, June 9, 2021)

July 4: The closest known relative to the COVID-19 virus is RaTG13 which was found in 2013 by Chinese scientists in a mine and was linked to deaths caused by a coronavirus-type respiratory illness. (The Times of London, July 4, 2020)

August 27: The National Institutes of Health awards $7.5 million grant to EcoHealth Alliance. The grant was in the process of evaluation when the NIH canceled another EcoHealth Alliance grant back in April. (STAT, August 27, 2020)

September 9: Boston Magazine explores lab leak theory.

“The world’s preeminent scientists say a theory from the Broad Institute’s Alina Chan is too wild to be believed. But when the theory is about the possibility of COVID being man-made, is this science or censorship?” (Boston Magazine, September 9, 2020)

September 14: Coronavirus researcher Ralph Baric says in an interview with Italian television on the origin of SARS-CoV-2, “You can engineer a virus without leaving any trace. However, the answers you are looking for can only be found in the archives of the Wuhan laboratory.” (HuffPost, September 14, 2020)

November 17: The genetic structure of SARS-CoV-2 does not rule out a laboratory origin: SARS-COV-2 chimeric structure and furin cleavage site might be the result of genetic manipulation. (BioEssays, November 17, 2020)

Shi Zhengli publishes a correction called an “addendum” to her Nature paper. She discloses that RaTG13 is 4991 and was collected from a Mojiang mine. (Nature, November 17, 2020)

November 18: US Right to Know releases emails showing that Peter Daszak of EcoHealth Alliance orchestrated the February 2020 letter in The Lancet calling lab leak a “conspiracy.” (US Right to Know, November 18, 2020)

November 24: Opinion: To stop the next pandemic, we need to unravel the origins of COVID-19, by David Relman (PNAS, November 24, 2020)

“COVID-19 was first reported in December 2019 more than 1,000 miles away in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. Beyond these facts, the ‘“origin story’” is missing many key details, including a plausible and suitably detailed recent evolutionary history of the virus, the identity and provenance of its most recent ancestors, and surprisingly, the place, time, and mechanism of transmission of the first human infection. Even though a definitive answer may not be forthcoming, and even though an objective analysis requires addressing some uncomfortable possibilities, it is crucial that we pursue this question. Preventing the next pandemic depends on understanding the origins of this one.” Relman continued, “A more complete understanding of the origins of COVID-19 clearly serves the interests of every person in every country on this planet.” (PNAS, November 24, 2020)

December 16: According to a search of government databases, the vast majority of EcoHealth Alliance funding comes from the Department of Defense, not the National Institutes of Health. (Independent Science News, December 16, 2020)

December 21: BBC journalists report trying to reach to visit the Mojiang mine area in China’s southwestern province of Yunnan, but Chinese police and security forces block them. (BBC, December 21, 2020)

December 30: AP investigation finds documents from March 2020 showing how Beijing has shaped and censored research into origins of SARS-CoV-2. (Associated Press, December 30, 2020)

2021

January 9: Peter Daszak has funded research by Shi Zhengli at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and should not be part of a World Health Organization investigation of her lab because of this conflict of interest. (Daily Mail, January 9, 2021)

February 10: Facebook places a warning on an article by Ian Birrell about the origins of COVID-19. (UnHerd, February 10, 2021) Facebook says these warnings reduces article viewership by 95%. (UnHerd, May 31, 2021)

February 13: U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan expresses “deep concerns” about the WHO’s COVID-19 investigation, calling on China to be more transparent. (White House Statement: Statement by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, February 13, 2021)

March 4: Multiple researchers sign a public letter calling for an open investigation of the pandemic’s origin. (The New York Times, March 4, 2021)

March 6: The Washington Post calls for serious investigations of lab-leak hypothesis. (The Washington Post, March 6, 2021)

“However, a senior researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Shi Zhengli, was working on ‘gain of function’ experiments, which involve modifying viral genomes to give them new properties, including the ability to infect lung cells of laboratory mice that had been genetically modified to respond as human respiratory cells would. She was working with bat coronaviruses that were genetically very similar to the one that caused the pandemic. Could a worker have gotten infected or inadvertent leakage have touched off the outbreak in Wuhan?” (The Washington Post, March 6, 2021)

March 22: Reporter and journalism professor, Alison Young, writes an essay for USA Today. (USA Today, March 22, 2021)

“'Science, like journalism, is supposed to be about facts and about getting to the truth. But those who dare seek answers to reasonable questions about lab accidents and Wuhan are accused of peddling conspiracies.' Young added that journalists are not reporting and act with derision toward the idea of a lab escape."

March 25: Should we discount the laboratory origin of COVID-19? (Environmental Chemistry Letters, March 25, 2021)

“More than a year after the initial documented cases in Wuhan, the source of SARS-CoV-2 has yet to be identified, and the search for a direct or intermediate host in nature has been so far unsuccessful. While a natural origin is still possible and the search for a potential host in nature should continue, the amount of peculiar genetic features identified in SARS-CoV-2′s genome does not rule out a possible gain-of-function origin, which should be therefore discussed in an open scientific debate.”

March 26: Former CDC Director says he thinks the virus came from a lab in Wuhan. (Bloomberg, March 26, 2021)

"The most likely origin 'was from a laboratory -- you know, escaped,' said Redfield, who served during former President Donald Trump’s administration. 'Other people don’t believe that. That’s fine. Science will eventually figure it out.'"

March 30: World Health Organization releases report on its investigation into the origins of COVID-19, listing the lab leak as the least likely of the possible scenarios considered. (Business Insider, March 30, 2021)

Hours before WHO Director-General Tedros acknowledged lab-leak hypothesis should “remain on the table” and called for a more extensive probe. (The Wall Street Journal, March 30, 2021)

The United States, Australia, Japan, Canada, UK and other governments express concern over the WHO investigation and called for “transparent and independent analysis and evaluation, free from interference and undue influence.” (The Wall Street Journal, March 30, 2021)

May 5: David Baltimore discusses the furin cleavage sites in COVID-19 virus. Furin cleavages do not occur naturally in this virus and are signs of genetic engineering. Baltimore says, “When I first saw the furin cleavage site in the viral sequence, with its arginine codons, I said to my wife it was the smoking gun for the origin of the virus. These features make a powerful challenge to the idea of a natural origin for SARS2.” (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, May 5, 2021)

May 11: Senator Paul and Dr. Fauci spar over U.S. research funding.

Senator Rand Paul accuses Anthony Fauci of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, of funding “supervirus” research in the US and “making a huge mistake” by giving this technology to China. (MIT Technology Review, June 2021)

Fauci denied the accusation: “The NIH has not ever, and does not now, fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.” (MIT Technology Review, June 2021)

Technology Review reports, “The denial rests on the NIH’s specific definition of what was covered by the moratorium: work that would have deliberately enhanced SARS-like viruses, MERS, or flu by—for example—making them easier to spread through the air. The Chinese research did not have the specific goal of making the viruses more deadly, and rather than SARS itself, it used SARS’s close cousins, whose real-world risk to humans was unknown—in fact, determining the risk was the point of the research.” Technology Review reports that the  NIH “did not reply to questions. Citing a pending investigation, it has declined to release copies of the grant that sent the Wuhan institute about $600,000 between 2014 and 2019.” (MIT Technology Review, June 2021)

May 13: Scientists publish letter in the journal “Science” Magazine criticizing World Health Organization report of pandemic’s origins and call for a deeper investigation. (The Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2021)

May 17: Former NYT Lead Health Reporter: “How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Love the Lab-Leak Theory.” (Medium, May 17, 2021)

Former New York Times health reporter Donald G McNeil Jr. writes that editors killed a story he had written about the lab leak, because they thought scientists who said a lab leak was unlikely had more credibility.

May 19: Drumbeat on new investigation continues.

Kaiser Health News: “To the Bat Cave: In Search of Covid’s Origins, Scientists Reignite Polarizing Debate on Wuhan ‘Lab Leak’” KHN reports that Fauci said, “We at the NIH are very much in favor of a thorough investigation as to the origins of SARS-CoV-2.” (Kaiser Health News, May 19, 2021)

May 26: CNN reports that President Biden’s team shut down State Department inquiry into whether the pandemic started by a lab leak in China. (CNN, March 26, 2021)

That same day, Biden tells the intelligence community to report back in 90 days with their assessment of the lab leak theory. (President Biden Statement, May 26, 2021)

May 31: Twitter censors COVID-19 posts.

“One of the pioneers of mRNA technology – Luigi Warren’s Twitter account, has been suspended for now.” (India Today, May 31, 2021)

June 7: Harvard epidemiologist and microbiologist Marc Lipsitch speaks at Brookings event titled “Why understanding the origin of COVID-19 is essential for policymakers: Discussing future regulations to prevent pandemics.” (Brookings Institute, June 7, 2021)

Lipsitch: “I’ve come to the view that we shouldn’t trust scientists more or less than we trust other people. We should trust science. And when scientists speak science, we should trust them, because we should recognize that they are speaking in a way that is based on evidence. When scientists express political views or policy preferences or even claims about how the world is that are not citing evidence, we should not give those scientists undue deference…They are people. We are people.” (The Intercept, June 19, 2021)

June 3: Vanity Fair: “The Lab-Leak Theory: Inside the Fight to Uncover COVID-19’s Origins” (Vanity Fair, June 3, 2021)

“Throughout 2020, the notion that the novel coronavirus leaked from a lab was off-limits. Those who dared to push for transparency say toxic politics and hidden agendas kept us in the dark. David Asher, now a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, ran the State Department’s day-to-day COVID-19 origins inquiry. He said it soon became clear that ‘there is a huge gain-of-function bureaucracy’ inside the federal government. In the words of David Feith, former deputy assistant secretary of state in the East Asia bureau, ‘The story of why parts of the U.S. government were not as curious as many of us think they should have been is a hugely important one’.” (Vanity Fair, June 3, 2021).”

June 8: The Wall Street Journal: “U.S. Report Found It Plausible Covid-19 Leaked From Wuhan Lab.” (The Wall Street Journal, June 8, 2021)

“People familiar with the study said that it was prepared by Lawrence Livermore’s ‘Z Division,’ which is its intelligence arm. One person who read the document, which is dated May 27, 2020, said it made a strong case for further inquiry into the possibility the virus seeped out of the lab. The study also had a major influence on the State Department’s probe into Covid-19’s origins. State Department officials received the study in late October 2020 and asked for more information, according to a timeline by the agency’s arms control and verification bureau, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal." (The Wall Street Journal, June 8, 2021)

June 8: Unherd: “Beijing’s useful idiots: Science journals have encouraged and enforced a false Covid narrative.” (Unherd, June 8, 2021)

“Springer Nature, which publishes Nature and Scientific American, has been blocking access to journals in China which offends the government. China has become a sponsor of journals published by Springer Nature and “one source estimated that 49 sponsorship agreements between Springer Nature and Chinese institutions were worth at least $10m last year.”

June 13: Medpage Today: “The Legal Stakes of a Lab Leak: China could be on the hook for a trillion dollars, but the U.S. isn’t blameless.” (Medpage Today, June 13, 2021)

“The highly ironically named ‘Operation Warp Speed’ told a false story that speedy vaccine development occurred because of super-human insight based on de novo hard work. Many scientists already knew this virus very well. Coronavirus gain-of-function research is another example of the insufferable hubris that infects morally careless scientists, and we are all the losers as a consequence.” (Medpage Today, June 13, 2021)

June 14: CNN reports that President Joe Biden’s administration was “assessing [a] reported leak at Chinese nuclear power facility.” (CNN, June 14, 2021)

July 15: World Health Organization says it will fix unintended errors from its joint report with China on the origins of COVID-19. The WHO also clarified that the first family cluster of infections in Wuhan had no exposure to the Huanan seafood market. (The Washington Post, July 15, 2021)

June 17: The Bulletin: “Essential reading on lab leaks and gain-of-function research” (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, June 17, 2021)

June 19: The National Pulse: “Google & USAID Funded Wuhan Collaborator Peter Daszak’s Virus Experiments For Over A Decade.” (The National Pulse, June 19, 2021)

“The unearthed financial ties between EcoHealth Alliance and Google follow months of big tech censorship of stories and individuals in support of the COVID-19 ‘lab leak’ theory. The decade-plus relationship is evident in a 2010 study on bat flaviviruses, which lists Daszak and EcoHealth Alliance Vice President Jonathan Epstein as authors, that thanks Google.org for funding. A 2014 study on henipavirus spillover, which was authored by Daszak, similarly declares it was partly ‘supported by Google.org.’ And a 2015 paper focusing on herpes, which lists EcoHealth’s Daszak and Epstein as authors, reveals it was ‘supported by funding from the US Agency for International Development’s Emerging Pandemic Threats: PREDICT program, the Skoll Foundation, and Google.org’.”(The National Pulse, June 19, 2021)

June 20: NIH Director Francis Collins and Anthony Fauci host a weekend Zoom call to discuss deleted coronavirus sequences with Jesse Bloom. They also invite researcher Kristian Andersen. (Empower Oversight, March 29, 2022)

One expert tells Fauci that the deleted sequences suggest the pandemic began in a lab,. NIH misled reporters about their policy for deleting sequences, and guided reporters to favorable coverage. The NIH Director is found to review all FOIA releases. (Empower Oversight, March 29, 2022)

Vanity Fair later reports that Kristian Anders seems to have bullied Jesse Bloom. (Vanity Fair, March 31, 2022)

June 21: Galveston Lab’s James Le Duc sends a private email outlining the need to investigate Wuhan and how the pandemic began. He had previously stated publicly that Wuhan was being unfairly targeted. (US Right to Know, March 3, 2022)

June 23: PRINCIPLE: “Ivermectin to be investigated in adults aged 18+ as a possible treatment for COVID-19 in the PRINCIPLE trial.” (PRINCIPLE, June 23, 2021)

June 25: The New York Times Essay: “Where Did the Coronavirus Come From? What We Already Know Is Troubling.” (The New York Times, June 25, 2021)

“Nearly every SARS case since the original epidemic has been due to lab leaks — six incidents in three countries, including twice in a single month from a lab in Beijing. In one instance, the mother of a lab worker died. On Dec. 10, Peter Daszak insisted it was a conspiracy theory to suggest that there were live bats in labs he had collaborated with for 15 years. ‘That’s not how this science works,’ he wrote in a tweet he later deleted. ‘We collect bat samples, send them to the lab. We RELEASE bats where we catch them!’ (Peter Daszak Twitter, December 10, 2020) (Peter Daszak Twitter Archive, December 10, 2020)

But evidence to the contrary has accumulated. An assistant researcher told a reporter that Dr. Shi took on the role of feeding the bats when students were away. Another news report in 2018 said a team led by one of her doctoral trainees ‘collected a full rack of swabs and bagged a dozen live bats for further testing back at the lab.’ The Chinese Academy of Sciences website has listed the Wuhan institute as having at least a dozen cages for bats, and in 2018 the institute applied for a patent for a bat cage. Dr. Shi has talked about monitoring antibodies in bats over time — which would not be done in a cave. Recently, another video surfaced that reportedly showed live bats in the institute. Just a few weeks ago, Dr. Daszak changed his claims. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if,’ he said, ‘like many other virology labs, they were trying to set up a bat colony.’” (Peter Daszak Twitter, June 1, 2020) (The New York Times, June 25, 2021)

June 26: Wall Street Journal: “What We Know About the Origins of Covid-19.” (The Wall Street Journal, June 26, 2021)

1. “A WHO-led inquiry into the origins of the virus was stymied from the start.
2. “China withheld data on potential early cases and delayed sharing information on animals sold at a market where the first cluster was found.
3. “The question of whether a lab accident was the cause of the pandemic remains unanswered. Other scientists sought more information about the WIV’s role in investigating a mysterious respiratory illness that afflicted six people clearing bat guano from a mine in southwest China in 2012. Three of them died, and samples the WIV took from bats in the mine were later found to contain the closest known virus on earth to the one that causes Covid-19
4. “International pressure for a fuller inquiry into the origins of the virus grows.” (The Wall Street Journal, June 26, 2021)

June 27: The Wall Street Journal: “Biden Administration Warns Covid-19 Origins Review May Not Be Definitive.” (The Wall Street Journal, June 27, 2021)

“'There has not yet been a properly organized, independent, scientific evaluation of all of the available evidence,’ said Philip Zelikow, the former executive director of the commission on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Mr. Zelikow is heading a planning group, backed by prominent foundations, for a possible commission to investigate how Covid-19 emerged and how to better prepare for future pandemics” (The Wall Street Journal, June 27, 2021)

June 29: MIT Technology Review: “Inside the risky bat-virus engineering that links America to Wuhan.” (MIT Technology Review, June 29, 2021)

“In a potentially fateful decision, it funded work similar to Baric’s at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which soon used its own reverse-genetics technology to make numerous coronavirus chimeras. Unnoticed by most, however, was a key difference that significantly shifted the risk calculation. The Chinese work was carried out at biosafety level 2 (BSL-2), a much lower tier than Baric’s BSL-3+.” (MIT Technology Review, June 29, 2021)

June 29: NBC: “Wuhan lab researcher linked to military scientists, NBC News finds.” (NBC News, June 29, 2021)

June 30: The Wall Street Journal: “Search for Covid’s Origins Leads to China’s Wild Animal Farms—and a Big Problem.” (The Wall Street Journal, June 30, 2021)

“WHO-led team wants an examination of farms that supplied the market where early cases emerged, but most animals are now gone.” (The Wall Street Journal, June 30, 2021)

July 2: The Bulletin: “How to make sure the labs researching the most dangerous pathogens are safe and secure.” (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, July 2, 2021)

July 4: POLITICO: “Virus lab leak theory dogs Democrats eager to keep focus on Trump’s Covid failings: Democrats worry that murky conclusions that don’t identify the origin of the virus could play into the Republicans’ hands.” (Politico, July 4, 2021)

“A Thursday House Appropriations markup of a 2022 spending bill turned rancorous when Republicans tried to withhold funding for the World Health Organization until more information is released about its role investigating a possible lab leak… A recent Morning Consult poll found that 70 percent of self-identified Republicans believe Covid originated in a lab, compared to just 32 percent of Democrats. Republicans also were twice as likely as Democrats to have heard about the ‘lab leak’ theory… (Morning Consult, June 9, 2021)

Senate health committee chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) andranking member Richard Burr (R-N.C.) have said their committee will launch its own inquiry into a swath of issues, including where Covid came from and how to boost vaccination rates in rural communities. A resolution from Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) calls on the WHO to conduct another investigation into the virus’ origins passed by unanimous consent in May. And Sens. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) have partnered on a bill that proposes setting up an independent 9/11-style commission to investigate Covid’s source as well as the Trump and Biden administration’s responses.” (Politico, July 4, 2021)

July 6: UnHerd: “Why won’t The Lancet admit it was wrong?” (UnHerd, July 6, 2021)

“The medical journal is doubling down on its rejection of the Wuhan Lab Leak hypothesis.” (UnHerd, July 6, 2021)

July 8: The BMJ: “The COVID-19 lab leak hypothesis: did the media fall victim to a misinformation campaign?” (BMJ, July 8, 2021)

“Scientists and reporters contacted by The BMJ say that objective consideration of COVID-19’s origins went awry early in the pandemic, as researchers who were funded to study viruses with pandemic potential launched a campaign labelling the lab leak hypothesis as a ‘conspiracy theory.’” (BMJ, July 8, 2021)

Fact checking sites such as PolitiFact and FactCheck.org added editor’s notes to pieces that had “debunked” views that the virus was created in a lab or could have been bioengineered.

July 15: AP: “WHO chief says it was ‘premature’ to rule out COVID lab leak.” (Associated Press, July 15, 2021)

“Tedros told reporters that the U.N. health agency based in Geneva is ‘asking actually China to be transparent, open and cooperate, especially on the information, raw data that we asked for at the early days of the pandemic.’ He said there had been a ‘premature push’ to rule out the theory that the virus might have escaped from a Chinese government lab in Wuhan – undermining WHO’s own March report, which concluded that a laboratory leak was “extremely unlikely.’ ‘I was a lab technician myself, I’m an immunologist, and I have worked in the lab, and lab accidents happen,’ Tedros said. ‘It’s common.’” (Associated Press, July 15, 2021)

August 5: The National Institutes of Health must release internal documents they have kept from Congress and the media to understand how the pandemic started. (Newsweek, August 5, 2021)

August 13: UnHerd publishes “Science journals have been corrupted by China: Have researchers close to Beijing been compromised?" (UnHerd, August 13, 2021)

Article examines internal emails showing how virologists orchestrated a February 2020 commentary in Emerging Microbes & Infections that denigrated the idea that the pandemic started in a lab or was engineered. (U.S. Right to Know, August 11, 2021). Publisher Taylor & Francis refused to answer questions, and Reuters previously reported that the publisher pulled journals that offended the Chinese government. (Reuters, December 24, 2018)

August 22: U.K.’s Channel 4 releases a documentary “Did Covid Leak from a Lab in China?” that outlines the evidence of a lab leak. (iNews, August 21, 2021)

Documentary can be watched on Youtube “Did Covid Leak from a Lab in China?”

August 25: U.S. intelligence agency report to President Biden after 90-day review is inconclusive on whether virus came from animals or a Wuhan lab. (The Guardian August 25, 2021)

August 31: “Anthony Fauci Lied Before Congress and the American People, But Will President Biden Do Anything? Evidence finds that Fauci has not been truthful about his role in funding research tied to the pandemic’s origin.” (The DisInformation Chronicle, August 31, 2021)

September 10: NIH Documents Provide New Evidence U.S. Funded Gain-of-Function Research in Wuhan (The Intercept, September 10, 2021) “Is this proof of lab leak lies?” (UnHerd, September 10, 2021)

Revealed: How scientists who dismissed Wuhan lab theory are linked to Chinese researchers (The Telegraph, September 10, 2021) 26 out of 27 signatories of the Lancet letter dismissing lab-leak theory of COVID-19 origin are linked to Wuhan researchers.

September 23: A leaked Department of Defense proposal finds that EcoHealth Alliance proposed studies that were cited as “gain-of-function.” (The Intercept, September 23, 2021)

“Some of the same experimental platforms flagged by DARPA as being gain-of-function and dual use research were those performed in the bat coronavirus emergence grant funded by [NIH] for 6 years,” said Shannon Murray of US Right to Know. (The DisInformation Chronicle, September 28, 2022)

October 21: “Fauci LIES On Gain Of Function Research CONFIRMED By NIH, EcoHealth Failed To Report Findings.” (HILL TV Rising, October 21, 2021)

November 3: “NIH Official Worked with EcoHealth Alliance to Evade Restrictions on Coronavirus Experiments: Emails show that NIH officials allowed EcoHealth Alliance to craft oversight language governing its own gain-of-function research.” (The Intercept, November 3, 2021)

2022

January 20: “FBI Sought Documents Related to the U.S.-Funded Coronavirus Research in China.” (The Intercept, January 20, 2022)

A lawyer representing Peter Daszak and EcoHealth Alliance also asked the NIH to deny a FOIA request because “disinformation and conspiracy theories, the need to protect the privacy of EcoHealth Alliance’s employees and affiliates is more important than ever.” (The Intercept, January 20, 2022)

March 15: Emails and internal documents find that federal funds were misappropriated to set up the Global Virome Project. (The Disinformation Chronicle, March 15, 2022; US Right to Know, March 16, 2022; The DisInformation Chronicle March 22, 2022)

While at USAID, Dr. Dennis Caroll used hundreds of thousands of dollars from the PREDICT program to set up a new group called the Global Virome Project. After he retired from USAID, he then took over the GVP. (The Disinformation Chronicle, March 15, 2022)

“The Inspector General’s office should investigate whether the law was broken and, upon finding probable cause, refer the case to the Department of Justice for prosecution,” said Craig Holman of Public Citizen. (The Disinformation Chronicle, March 15, 2022)

“The law is clear that officials cannot use government resources to benefit themselves or prospective employers,” said Kedric Payne, senior director of ethics with the Campaign Legal Center. (US Right to Know, March 16, 2022)

“There’s numerous conflict of interest laws that should be investigated here to ensure that Carroll didn’t violate the laws on the books,” said Scott Amey, general counsel for the Project on Government Oversight. (US Right to Know, March 16, 2022)

March 31: Vanity Fair reports that Robert Redfield, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), was excluded from a meeting to discuss how the pandemic began early in 2020, possibly by Fauci. (Vanity Fair, March 31, 2022)

April 20: The Wuhan Institute of Virology is discovered to have a memorandum with the Galveston National Laboratory at the University of Texas Medical Branch that states each lab can ask the other to return or “destroy” any “secret files” from their collaboration.  (U.S. Right to Know, April 20, 2022; Houston Chronicle, April 21, 2022)

April 27: At meeting by the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and NIH virologists denied the need for more regulations for virus research. (US Right to Know, April 27, 2022.)

May 19: Two academics publish an essay in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) calling for an independent investigation of how the pandemic began. “[W]e argue here that there is much important information that can be gleaned from US-based research institutions, information not yet made available for independent, transparent, and scientific scrutiny.” (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, May 19, 2022)

June 10: World Health Organization released a report recommending more investigation into the theory that Covid-19 leaked from a Chinese laboratory, something once dismissed by some as a conspiracy theory. (NBC News, June 10, 2022) (See also, WHO Report, June 9, 2022)

The post COVID-19 ORIGINS TIMELINE appeared first on Empower Oversight.

“I don’t know, again, what the practice or policy is at NIH when you get a congressional request. Is there a central office that handles all communications with members of Congress that would cover all of the subagencies within that department? I’m not convinced that the declaration that you provided actually covered that.”

WASHINGTON — Empower Oversight is releasing a report detailing an initial tranche of 238 pages of National Institutes of Health (NIH) documents relating to the termination of public access to coronavirus genetic sequences from NIH’s Sequence Read Archive (SRA) at the request of a researcher from China’s Wuhan University in June 2020. 

Since July 2021, Empower Oversight—through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and litigation in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia—has sought records related the controversy over the NIH agreeing to remove information from the SRA and its failure to respond to related questions from a group of U.S. Senators. 

“Discovering the origin of COVID-19 is vital to ensuring that no pandemic like it ever happens again. Yet, shortly after it began, the NIH bowed to the wishes of researchers in Wuhan to terminate public access to genetic sequences that could shed light on how it began,” said Jason Foster, Founder and President of Empower Oversight. 

In conjunction with its release of the initial tranche of 238 pages of NIH documents, Empower Oversight is publishing a report of key findings that can be gleaned from them.  These findings include:

• NIH initially declined a Wuhan University researcher’s request to terminate public access on the SRA to one set of coronavirus genetic sequences before agreeing to a later request from the same researcher to terminate public access on the SRA to a second set of coronavirus genetic sequences.  Further, in connection with its agreement to terminate public access to the second set of coronavirus genetic sequences, NIH offered to remove both sets of coronavirus genetic sequences (these two sets of coronavirus genetic sequences are hereinafter collectively referred to as “the sequences”)

• Immediately prior to the publication of a paper by an American Scholar, Dr. Jesse Bloom, which revealed NIH’s termination of public access to the sequences, NIH Director Francis Collins and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci hosted a conference call of experts to discuss the termination and conclusions about the sequences that had been drawn by Dr. Bloom, who had been able to reconstruct some of them from the Cloud.  One of the invitees advised the conferees that the sequences seemed to support the theory that the pandemic began outside of the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan and that they needed to be analyzed further.

• After publication of Dr. Blooms paper, in “off-the-record” emails, an NIH communications official steered reporters toward more favorable coverage concerning termination of public access to the sequences by The Washington Post, and away from coverage by The New York Times, whose “tone” had been criticized in communications among NIH officials.  Additionally, NIH’s communications staff appears to have provided reporters with inaccurate information concerning NIH’s policy for terminating public access to genetic sequences on the SRA.

• Although NIH claims that it retains copies of the sequences “for preservation purposes,” it refused to examine them in a transparent process.

• Dr. Bloom pressed NIH about a separate set of coronavirus genetic sequences whose public access also had been terminated on the SRA, claiming that they were being examined by “an investigative entity.”

In addition to Empower Oversight’s FOIA request and lawsuit (with an amended complaint), it has focused on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic since last year, releasing a COVID-19 origins timeline in September 2021. In January 2022, Empower Oversight sent a letter to Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt regarding that state’s civil suit against China and its Community Party, along with the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the Chinese Academy of Sciences for their roles in the global pandemic.

If you have first-hand information you’d like to disclose to assist Empower Oversight with these inquiries, please contact us confidentially here.

The post Empower Oversight Releases Research on NIH Deleting Coronavirus Data During the Pandemic appeared first on Empower Oversight.

[Download Full Research PDF]

Summary

According to whistleblower contacts with Congress, executive branch authorities, and Empower Oversight—as well as public reports and documents—inside information about a controversial announcement by the Veterans Administration (VA) on March 9th, 2020, appears to have leaked in advance to select groups before the general public.

The announcement included market-moving information that veterans would lose access to their G.I. Bill benefits at certain for-profit schools. Because some of the schools were operated by publicly traded companies with substantial veteran student enrollments, anyone with advanced knowledge of the VA announcement could have profited handsomely at the expense of average investors by trading on that information before the news became public.  During the relevant period, one company lost 58%, or $800 million, of its market capitalization, before the VA decided to reverse its initial announcement.

In addition to news reports, the controversy has been the subject of a federal FOIA lawsuit, congressional oversight letters to the VA, VA Inspector General, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and an Empower Oversight FOIA request. Empower Oversight’s analysis of these circumstances suggests that further investigation by the proper authorities is necessary to:

1. confirm whether the VA’s selective release of information enabled insider trading;
2. hold accountable any officials who improperly released information early; and
3. improve the VA’s procedures for handling market moving information to ensure fair and equal access for all investors.

This research summarizes the factual record on this controversy, relevant information from whistleblower contacts, and analysis supporting the opinion that further inquiry is necessary.

The post Did the Department of Veterans Affairs Enable Insider Trading? appeared first on Empower Oversight.

Dear Staff and Members,

Since the start of the pandemic last year, over 618,000 Americans have died and our economy has been hit harder than anyone has experienced in nearly a century. However, Congress has done little to investigate how this pandemic started even though a shared understanding of this pandemic is key to preventing the next one.

Empower Oversight Whistleblowers & Research (“Empower Oversight”) has prepared the attached briefing document to explain the existing oversight mechanisms created by Congress to investigate the origins of this pandemic. Sentiment across the country is growing for answers. This analysis is offered to Congressional Leadership, members, staff, and the public as a constructive roadmap to improving the existing tools and authorities to get answers for the American people about how this pandemic started.

A link to the briefing document be found here.

Empower Oversight.

The post Congressional Oversight of COVID-19’s Origins appeared first on Empower Oversight.