During a contentious House Oversight Committee hearing featuring testimony from two IRS whistleblowers alleging political interference in the Hunter Biden investigation, Democratic representatives clashed with their Republican counterparts over the phrase "two-tier justice system."

The whistleblowers' claims centered on the Justice Department's handling of the investigation into President Biden's son, Hunter. Republicans argued that the alleged leniency demonstrated a biased legal system favoring the politically connected. However, Democratic Representatives Summer Lee (D-Pa.) and Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) countered, asserting that the GOP's use of "two-tier justice system" trivialized the term's historical significance within the civil rights movement.

Rep. Frost addressed the whistleblowers directly, stating, "They’re using you and your story and your work to advance their own argument." He further elaborated, "Since January 6th, these Republicans and Trump have invoked a 'two-tier justice system,' appropriating language from the decades-long fight for Black lives and Black freedom." Frost emphasized the historical weight of the phrase, connecting it to cases like Emmett Till, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and the Central Park Five. He argued that the real two-tiered system impacts "Black, brown, and poor people" disproportionately.

Rep. Lee echoed Frost's sentiments, criticizing the over-criminalization and over-incarceration of Black and brown individuals in America. She accused Republicans of using the "two-tier justice system" narrative as a diversionary tactic. "The reality is that the term 'two-tier system of justice' refers to a very real system in the United States impacting Black and brown communities, not powerful former presidents and their political allies," Lee stated. She cited statistical data on racial disparities in incarceration rates to bolster her point.

Lee concluded that Republican usage of the term obfuscates the true victims of unequal treatment within the criminal justice system. The hearing underscored the deep partisan divide regarding the Hunter Biden investigation and the broader implications for perceptions of fairness and equity within the American legal system.