Hunter Biden adviser lashes out at former GOP colleagues over whistleblowers hearing: 'I am ashamed'

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Former Virginia Republican Rep. Denver Riggleman, who has worked alongside Hunter Biden's legal team to conduct digital forensics on the infamous laptop, lashed out at his former GOP colleagues amid testimony given to the House Oversight Committee by IRS whistleblowers on Wednesday.

"As a former Republican member of Congress and intelligence officer, today I am ashamed," Riggleman, who now identifies as an independent, wrote in a tweet. "I am ashamed of my former colleagues and their abhorrent behavior during the Oversight Committee hearing."

"We have to be better than this," added Riggleman.

The comments from Riggleman — a former senior technical adviser to the Jan.6 committee — came as an IRS whistleblower testified before Congress on Wednesday and claimed that Hunter Biden and his companies raked in over $17 million from foreign sources over several years, beginning while his father was vice president.

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Former Virginia GOP Rep. Denver Riggleman lashed out at his former Republican colleagues, insisting he is "ashamed" of their behavior during the House Oversight Hearing on Wednesday. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The House Oversight Committee interviewed two IRS whistleblowers alleging political misconduct throughout the Hunter Biden investigation: special agent Joseph Ziegler, whose identity was revealed during the hearing, and his IRS supervisor Gary Shapley, who previously blew the whistle on alleged political influence surrounding prosecutorial decisions throughout the years-long federal probe into the president's son.

Ziegler told Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., that Hunter Biden, his family members and business associates received over $17 million due to business dealings in China, Ukraine and Romania.

Those deals included multimillion-dollar payments to Biden family-linked companies from 2014 to 2019, including $7.3 million from Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings.

Earlier this month, it was revealed that Riggleman reportedly aided President Biden's son since late 2022, analyzing whether any of the data on the lost laptop was fabricated — as Hunter Biden faces intensifying investigations from House Republicans.

"When I took this job, I wasn’t pro-Hunter or anti-Hunter. I am pro-data and facts," Riggleman wrote at the time. "Forensics make clear that considerable information linked to Hunter Biden is questionable."

Supervisory IRS Special Agent Gary Shapley, left, and IRS Criminal Investigator Joseph Ziegler are sworn-in as they testify during a House Oversight Committee hearing related to the Justice Department's investigation of Hunter Biden on July 19, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

"What ‘data’ is being used? A laptop and data saying it’s a laptop are two different things," Riggleman said in a separate post, apparently attempting to question the validity of the Hunter Biden laptop. Data from the hard drive of the laptop has been verified by multiple news outlets, and an IRS whistleblower recently revealed that federal investigators knew in December 2019 that the laptop was "not manipulated in any way" and contained "reliable evidence."

BIDEN FAMILY, HUNTER ASSOCIATES RAKED IN OVER $17M FROM FOREIGN SOURCES, IRS WHISTLEBLOWER TESTIFIES

Individuals close to Hunter Biden's legal team reportedly told CBS News that Riggleman was also feeding first son information on the investigation methods of House Republicans.

Kevin Morris, a Malibu-based lawyer working with Hunter Biden, said Riggleman is "an invaluable resource" to the first son's legal team.

"Denver has been assisting us with data analysis since late last year," Morris told CBS News. "He is an invaluable resource, and we have made tremendous strides in untangling the massive amount of corruption and disinformation involved in this story. There will be much more coming to the public."

Riggleman's comments on Wednesday drew immediate backlash from several social media users, many of whom pointed out that his position on the issue appears to be a partisan one.

IRS Criminal Investigator Joseph Ziegler told Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., that Hunter Biden, his family members and business associates received over $17 million due to business dealings in China, Ukraine and Romania. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"As a former Republican member of Congress AND A PAID ADVISER FOR HUNTER BIDEN," Brent Scher, executive editor of the Washington Free Beacon, wrote in a tweet.

"Hunter committed federal crimes including sex trafficking and writing off the cost of prostitutes as business expenses. The Democrats, the DOJ, and the FBI are covering for him, and you're ashamed of the Republican members of the committee," Michael Rectenwald, an author and Hillsdale College distinguished fellow, questioned in a tweet to Riggleman.

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"It seems you are the only one expressing shame," another user wrote in response to Riggleman.

Riggleman, a former Air Force officer and NSA contractor, represented Virginia's 5th Congressional District in the House from 2019 to 2021.

Fox News' Jessica Chasmar and Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.