A former high-level donor to President Joe Biden said authorities at the FBI asked him to wear a wire and interact with the president’s campaign team after he claimed the president’s campaign manager directed him to conceal illegal donations during the 2020 campaign.
Chris Tigani served two years in prison over campaign finance violations. He told Fox News that he was approached by federal investigators following a scheme to reimburse his business associates for making donations to the president’s campaign, known as straw donations.
Tigani said: “The illegal donations were a request from Dennis Toner, the campaign manager, and [the FBI] wouldn’t have it. So yes, they asked me to wear a wire.
“They did put me in situations where I was involved with other people, and once it got to Dennis and Joe, the entire investigation was called off and the indictment was unsealed.
“And so I did maybe five or six different appearances and the targets that they wanted to focus on just didn’t work out.
“Other people who have been charged in the district with tax crimes all were charged with felonies.
“All had no say, and Hunter’s information and his plea bargain was announced the day that his information was released.
“That’s never happened.
“Hunter is the only person in the district to be charged as a misdemeanor under 26 US Code Section 7203.
“No one else in 30 years has ever been charged with that as a standalone charge as a misdemeanor.
“That’s not right, and I think U.S. Attorney David Weiss has some explaining to do with respect to the public.
“If you want to know why I went to jail and Hunter didn’t, it’s because my name is Tigani, not Biden.
“It’s pretty simple.
“If your name is Biden, then investigations last as long as they need to and end in your favor.
“I don’t want anything to happen to Hunter to make me feel better.
“I only want fairness, but the justice system in this case certainly doesn’t appear to be fair.”
According to The New York Post:
At the afterparty at a Chestnut Street bar nearby, Hunter and his late brother, Beau Biden, sidled up to Tigani and asked him for $100,000 to pay for billboards in Iowa for their father’s ill-fated 2008 presidential run.
According to Tigani, the Biden brothers said, “Hey, we need $100,000 for billboards. Do you think you can help us with that?”
Tigani replied, “I don’t think I have that much, but I can probably do $75,000.”
Soon after, Joe approached him with a big smile and said in vague terms: “Hey, I hear you’re going to support our billboards program.”
Then Dennis Toner, Joe’s campaign finance director, came over to discuss logistics and, Tigani alleges, taught him what “bundling” was.
Toner asked: “How many people do you have there at your office you can trust?”
“All of them,” replied Tigani, who had 160 employees working at the family firm, N-K-S Distributors, where he was president.
Tigani, whose father had played football with Joe at the tony Archmere Academy, says he had no idea it was illegal to solicit his employees for campaign donations and then reimburse them from company funds.
🧵7/8
7. When you prosecuted me, you argued with “heavy media interest in my case . . . a term of imprisonment would serve as a powerful deterrent.” Given the interest in #HunterBiden is exponentially higher, you still believe this logic? Still think tax crimes warrant jail? pic.twitter.com/mVEtg0Cvfa
— Chris Tigani (@ChrisTigani) June 27, 2023
Questions for the Hon. @USAO_DE David C. Weiss:
Thread. 🧵 1/8
1. Last week, your office charged #HunterBiden with two misdemeanor tax charges. AG Garland said you had sole charging authority over any prosecution. This raises some questions, I would appreciate you answering.
— Chris Tigani (@ChrisTigani) June 27, 2023
