As Katie wrote earlier today, the Justice Department has appointed a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden. The announcement from Attorney General Merrick Garland drops two weeks after the sweetheart plea deal for the president’s son fell apart, being tossed by a judge who couldn’t get over a few of the charges, including gun crimes. Most Americans who have committed what Hunter allegedly did go to prison for years. US Attorney David Weiss has been selected to spearhead this effort (via NBC News):
JUST IN — Attorney General Merrick Garland appoints David Weiss as special counsel in the Hunter Biden investigation. pic.twitter.com/DsGLpGLcRL
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 11, 2023
U.S. Attorney David Weiss will be appointed special counsel in the ongoing probe of the president's son Hunter Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday.
Weiss will be responsible for the “ongoing investigation" of President Joe Biden's son "as well as for any other matters that arose or may arise from that investigation," the Justice Department said in a statement. Weiss, who was already overseeing the Hunter Biden probe and is based in Delaware, asked to be appointed special counsel on Tuesday and Garland agreed it was "in the public interest" to do so, the attorney general said.
DOJ noted that Weiss was nominated by then-President Donald Trump in 2017 and confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate in 2018.
Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor charges related to his failure to pay income taxes earlier this year. But while standing in court last month waiting to enter the plea, the agreement fell apart over confusion about a separate gun charge.
The judge asked the parties to hammer out the agreement and return later, leaving Hunter Biden to enter a not-guilty plea while it's litigated.
Lawyers for Hunter Biden had also indicated they believed that the plea agreement would settle all matters facing the president's son, but prosecutors said that other investigations continued.
Yet, as some have noted, this would delay some other inquiries into the activities of Hunter Biden, namely that they need to interview Mr. Weiss, who reportedly tried to charge the president’s son multiple times but was blocked. We need that congressional testimony.
As Donald Trump plays for lengthy trials over his three indictments, Biden seems to be taking a page out of that legal playbook. CBS News Reporter Catherine Herridge also highlighted that point when this announcement dropped.
.@CBS_Herridge on Garland suddenly naming Weiss special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden: "It is an extraordinary turn of events when you consider...just a few wks ago...there was an effort by both the prosecutors and Hunter Biden's defense team to wrap up this...case w/a bow" pic.twitter.com/stPu3Miki1
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 11, 2023
.@CBS_Herridge sniffs out the possibility that AG Garland names David Weiss a special counsel to "delay a resolution on the Hunter Biden matter" and keep Weiss from testifying before members of Congress about what he found in his investigations thus far pic.twitter.com/kHxdx60LUd
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 11, 2023
Well Sam you're also forgetting this shields Weiss from having to testify to Congress and he can stonewall the House Subcommittee now. https://t.co/SKTNQAM51d
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) August 11, 2023
🚨STATEMENT🚨
— Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) August 11, 2023
This move by AG Garland is part of the Justice Department’s efforts to attempt a Biden family coverup in light of @GOPoversight's mounting evidence of President Biden’s role in his family’s schemes selling ‘the brand’ for millions of dollars to foreign nationals. pic.twitter.com/ZXMB1ngFX1
Garland said that the initial investigations into Hunter Biden were independent. Was that a lie? Why is there a special counsel poking around? The attorney general also said that Weiss had all the powers and tools to charge Hunter Biden, another lie, and a peculiar one since it’s implied that Mr. Weiss could have charged the younger Biden in any jurisdiction. He would need a letter from Garland granting that authority. Is there a letter? Or did Merrick lie again, another top Biden official who should be subjected to impeachment for his reported role in interfering with the Hunter Biden probes?
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Also, is this appointment legitimate?
AG Merrick Garland violates Dept. of Justice regulations by appointing David Weiss as Special Counsel. Weiss works for Biden’s DOJ and isn’t eligible. Here’s the relevant reg. Section 600.3. pic.twitter.com/x49rDJIxUD
— Dagen McDowell (@dagenmcdowell) August 11, 2023