House Democrats pointedly mentioned Ivanka Trump multiple times Wednesday during the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee hearing with IRS whistleblowers who allege the government's investigation into Hunter Biden was mishandled.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, was the first to do so when she said that if lawmakers "want to follow the evidence, perhaps we should discuss Ivanka Trump's investigation...who was close to being charged with felony fraud."
Fellow Democratic Representatives Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico and Robert Garcia of California also brought up Donald Trump's eldest daughter, who also served as an adviser to her father during his time in the White House.
During her questioning of IRS Criminal Investigator Joseph Ziegler and IRS Special Agent Gary Shapley, Ocasio-Cortez alleged Donald Trump's personal attorney Marc Kasowitz provided political contributions to then-Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. to have charges dismissed against Ivanka. The former president's daughter had been named in a 2012 investigation in which she and Donald Trump Jr. allegedly misled prospective buyers of units in a hotel and condo development.
"Those charges were dismissed," she said. "President Trump's attorney provided over $50,000 in political contributions after the case was dismissed."
Ocasio-Cortez continued, "So, we talk about political contributions. If we're following the evidence, that if this committee is going to go there, that they'd be willing to open investigations into the dismissed charges of Ivanka Trump."
Newsweek attempted to reach Ivanka Trump via email.
Stansbury soon brought up Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner during her questioning time, as did Garcia.
After saying that the House committee is "massively obsessed" with Hunter Biden, Garcia said: "Now keep in mind there's been no evidence of any wrongdoing or transaction of the person that's actually in government: Joe Biden."
He then added that no other "Biden family members hold government positions of any kind. Now this is, of course, in stark contrast to the Trump crime family. The [House] majority conveniently glazes over the Trump family's foreign dealings. The Trump family were actually appointed to White House senior jobs."
Garcia noted Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie recently criticized Kushner's investment firm for taking a $2 billion investment from a Saudi-backed investment fund led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2021.
"You think it's because he's [Jared] some kind of investing genius? Or do you think it's because he was sitting next to the president of the United States for four years doing favors for the Saudis?" Christie said, as quoted by Garcia.
"These people were in the White House every day formerly making policy, unlike Hunter Biden," Garcia said.
During the hearing, Shapley and Ziegler both reiterated their claims that Justice Department officials stymied their investigation into Hunter Biden's tax affairs. They also took exception with Trump-appointed U.S. attorney David Weiss, who oversaw the investigation, not pursuing more charges.
"If Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss followed DOJ policy as he stated in his most recent letter, Hunter Biden should have been charged with a tax felony, and not only the tax misdemeanor charge," Ziegler said to the committee. "We need to treat each taxpayer the same under the law."
