Shapley, a 14-year IRS veteran who oversaw parts of the Hunter Biden probe, alleged in testimony to Congress there was political interference in the investigation. He and the entire IRS team were later removed from the probe as Weiss neared a charging decision.

“I am alleging, with evidence, that DOJ provided preferential treatment, slow-walked the investigation, did nothing to avoid obvious conflicts of interest in this investigation,” Shapley told lawmakers in his closed-door testimony in May.

IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley, left, and Joseph Ziegler testify in July to the House Oversight Committee about alleged meddling in the Justice Department’s investigation of Hunter Biden. Leah Millis/Reuters

In letters to the House Judiciary Committee, Weiss has pushed back on Shapley’s allegations, including that he was denied special counsel status in October 2022. Weiss wrote that he had not even asked for a special counsel designation at that point, and that he had discussions with the DOJ about filing charges outside of his district.

In their recent testimony, the other FBI and IRS officials in the October 2022 meeting have supported Weiss’s version of events on several key points of contention, particularly his allegation that Weiss said he was “not the deciding person” on whether to bring charges.

“I do not remember – I don’t – he didn’t say that. In my recollection, if he would have said that, I would have remembered it,” Thomas Sobocinski, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Baltimore field office, told the committee.

“I do not recall that ever being said,” said Darrell Waldon, who was previously Shapley’s boss as the IRS special agent in charge of the Washington, DC, field office overseeing criminal investigations.

“I don’t remember him saying that,” said Ryeshia Holley, an assistant special agent in charge with the FBI, who added she thought Shapley may have been confused or misunderstood what transpired at the meeting.

Last week, CNN and others reported on Sobocinski’s testimony, which prompted Shapley’s attorneys to dispute his recollection of the October 2022 meeting.

“Mr. Sobocinski apparently acknowledged that he took no notes in the meeting, nor did he document it in any contemporaneous fashion afterwards,” attorney Mark Lytle and Tristan Leavitt, president of Empower Oversight, a nonprofit group that represents whistleblowers, wrote in a letter to the House Judiciary Committee. “By contrast, [supervisory special agent] Shapley took notes during the meeting.”

Shapley alleged Weiss requested Special Counsel status in 2022 and was denied

When emailing his supervisor about the October 2022 meeting later the same day, Shapley claimed that Weiss stated he requested special counsel authority, and that the Justice Department “denied his request and told him to follow the process.”

Waldon responded to the 2022 email at the time by saying, “thanks, Gary. You covered it all.”

But when pressed by committee investigators earlier about it this month, Waldon said, “I agreed that he covered it all, but, in terms of the word ‘special counsel’ being requested, I don’t recall those words being used.”

Both Holley and Sobocinski also said they did not remember Weiss bringing up any discussion of special counsel authority during the meeting.

Since, Shapley’s allegation came to light in June, Weiss has told Congress that he had never requested special counsel status, but rather explored becoming a “special attorney” under a different statute.

After Hunter Biden’s plea deal fell apart, Weiss did request and was granted special counsel status. Weiss has offered to testify to Congress, but securing that testimony is more difficult now that he is a special counsel overseeing the ongoing criminal probe.

While the testimony from the trio of FBI and IRS officials complicates the allegations from the IRS whistleblower, it’s not the final word on the matter in the House GOP probe. Congressional investigators have also heard from Waldon’s supervisor, Michael Batdorf, who was not in the October 2022 meeting, and a source tells CNN they’ve subpoenaed two more officials from DOJ’s tax division involved in Hunter Biden’s criminal case: Mark Daly and Jack Morgan.

Witnesses agreed with some of Weiss’ assertions

Though they contested Shapley’s claims that Weiss said he had been denied special counsel status, they did confirm that Weiss said he had been rejected when he tried to partner with US attorneys in Washington, DC, and California in order to bring a potential case there.

But the other officials contended that didn’t mean Weiss couldn’t bring a case there if he chose.

“I believe Mr. Weiss said that the case was presented and they did not agree to join or take on the case,” Waldon said of a discussion about the US attorney in Washington, DC, adding that he didn’t take it to mean a case couldn’t be brought there.

US Attorney David Weiss speaks during a press conference on May 3, 2018, at his district office in Wilmington, Delaware. Suchat Pederson/The News Journal/AP

“I didn’t understand that, that the case was declined – just that they were not going to be a partner on the case,” Waldon added. “The case was still able to move forward.”

Shapley also said that Weiss disclosed at the meeting he was not planning on bringing charges over Hunter Biden’s tax years of 2014 and 2015, due to the statute of limitations expiring.

The FBI and IRS officials said they had no reason to dispute Shapley’s assertions on the tax years, which cover Hunter Biden’s time on the board of Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, a key part of House Republicans’ allegations surrounding Hunter Biden’s business dealings.

“I remember overall charges for being a conversation in the sense that that is something that they are still deciding,” Holley said. “I don’t remember if it was stated at this meeting that that was not – those tax years were not going to be charged. I just know that, again, those tax years and others were part of the overall discussions.”

Testimony on Shapley’s character and recollections

Holley said her experience working with Shapley was “very limited,” but she did not have any reason to believe he lied.

“I have no reason to believe that Mr. Shapley is not being truthful. But at the same time, my understanding and recollection is different than his as noted in this document,” Holley said.

Instead, Holley told committee investigators she believes Shapley was confused about what transpired in the meeting.

“Of my understanding, as well as my recollection of the meeting, I definitely think there is either some confusion or misunderstanding in things that were communicated,” Holley said.

Waldon told the panel that he recommended to Batdorf that Shapley be removed from the case. Waldon said that Weiss told him after the October 2022 meeting that he would “not be talking with Mr. Shapley henceforth, as they were going through their deliberative process.”

“Before I left the special agent in charge position, in February, I recommended to Mr. Batdorf that Gary Shapley be removed as the [supervisory special agent] from the Hunter Biden investigation, primarily due to what I perceived to be unsubstantiated allegations about motive, intent, bias” Waldon said.

“When I left, Mr. Shapley was still on the case, and as I understand it, was on it until May. So in my mind, my recommendation was just that, a recommendation,” he said.