Hunter Biden was given preferential treatment by the Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney David Weiss, IRS whistleblower Joseph Ziegler told CBS News Wednesday, adding that it's up to the prosecutor and judge whether to pause Biden's plea deal.
Ziegler, whose name was withheld in closed-door interview transcripts released earlier by Republicans, was referred to by the committee as "whistleblower X," said Wednesday he decided to come forward publicly "not as a hero or a victim," but as a married, gay Democrat "compelled to disclose the truth."
"I do this with a heavy heart. This is awful. It's not a fun experience to go through this. I don't wish this upon anyone."
When asked whether he wanted the Department of Justice to pause Hunter Biden’s plea agreement, he responded: "This is up to the U.S. attorney who brought the charges, David Weiss. And it's up to the judge to make that decision. But at the end of the day, it's a matter of are we treating everyone the same? Are we treating all taxpayers the same?"
"And in this case?" CBS News' Catherine Herridge asked.
"And in this case, no, I don't think so," Ziegler responded.
Democrats on the committee pushed back on the whistleblower claims that Hunter Biden received special treatment because his father was the nominee for president in the upcoming 2020 election.
Ziegler told CBS he felt uncomfortable answering whether he uncovered evidence that President Joe Biden benefited from his son's business deals.
"Any time we potentially wanted to go down the road of asking questions related to the president, it was that's going to take too much approvals. We can't ask those questions. And I mean, it created ... an environment that was very hard to deal with," he said.
He said he asked for approval to question Hunter Biden's adult children to discuss "business deductions, expenses related" to them but was told by Weiss "that that's going to get us into hot water."
"Is that in the IRS handbook, avoiding hot water?" Herridge asked.
"No, but I mean, I was asking to do these certain things. And roadblock after roadblock was put up in front of me," Ziegler responded.