Turley Warns Weiss Appointment Has Major Downside

Fox News contributor and legal analyst Jonathan Turley said Friday that the appointment of David Weiss as special counsel has one major downside that could affect Congressional investigations into Hunter Biden.

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday that Weiss would be appointed special counsel to continue the ongoing investigation into Hunter Biden. Weiss came under scrutiny after IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley testified that Weiss was not in control of the Hunter investigation. Weiss allegedly told a group of law enforcement officials in an Oct. 2022 email that he was “not the deciding person on whether charges [would be] filed” in the Hunter case. Weiss has denied those allegations.

Fox’s Kayleigh McEnany asked Turley whether the Weiss appointment would “provide any sort of impediments for the congressional investigation into Hunter Biden and the Biden family?”

“Well, I think that’s the concern. The initial concern is whether Weiss is damaged goods,” Turley responded. “You usually appoint a special counsel who will satisfy all sides, that this is someone who doesn’t bring any baggage to the question, who can resolve these issues. These whistleblowers were critical of Weiss. You know, Weiss has suggested that he always had this authority [to charge Hunter Biden]. The whistleblowers said that he said the exact opposite to staff. They suggested he allowed statute of limitations to run. That has not been the suggestion of the Department of Justice. So, the reappointment of Weiss is gonna raise some questions.”

 

 

“As for the congressional investigations, there’s no question that making him special counsel will now make it more difficult for Congress to get answers from him and from this investigation,” he continued. “It is not likely to deter Congress, however, particularly if they are shifting towards an impeachment inquiry. And once again, it goes to, ‘What is the mandate here?’ This goes beyond Hunter Biden. They’ve already allowed critical crimes to expire.” (RELATED: ‘He’s Inside The Government!’: Andy McCarthy Tears Into DOJ Appointing Weiss As Special Counsel)

Turley went on to argue that, for Hunter Biden, Weiss’ appointment is “a chilling moment.”

“His counsel told the prosecutors in open court, ‘Just rip it up,'” Turley explained, referring to a plea agreement between Hunter Biden and federal prosecutors that U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika rejected in late July. “Now, I gotta tell you, as a criminal defense attorney, if I ever said that to a prosecutor in open court, my client would be toast. They would just say, ‘Well, that’s fine with us. We’ll hit you with everything we’ve got.’ So, the question is whether Weiss is going to follow that standard response and say, ‘All right, let me introduce you to my friend called [the Foreign Agents Registration Act] and you will have an indictment as a foreign agent. I’m also going to take a look at some of these other crimes. That is the cost of ripping up a deal in open court.”

The deal collapsed due to disagreements between the two parties as to the scope of Hunter’s immunity from further prosecution, including for possible FARA violations.