The House Oversight, Judiciary and Ways and Means Committee are demanding all documents and communications from the Department of Justice (DOJ) related to Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss’ special counsel appointment in the Hunter Biden case.
The House committees wrote a letter to the DOJ Monday outlining their concerns with Weiss’ special counsel status given his role overseeing the Hunter Biden investigation that was slow-walked and obstructed by DOJ prosecutors, according to Congressional testimony from IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Zeigler. House lawmakers also expressed dismay at Weiss’ role in the proposed guilty plea and diversion agreements for Biden that collapsed under scrutiny from a federal judge. (RELATED: House Republicans Subpoena Witnesses To Key Moment From IRS Whistleblower Testimony About Hunter Biden Case)
BREAKING: House lawmakers are demanding all documents and communications related to Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss’ special counsel appointment, given the IRS whistleblower revelations about how the DOJ gave Hunter Biden special treatment under Weiss’ watch @DailyCaller pic.twitter.com/dqGRHm0szb
— James Lynch (@jameslynch32) August 28, 2023
“Now, recently reported information raises additional concerns about the Department [of Justice]’s unusual actions in this matter, and suggests that the Department under your leadership has been attempting to circumvent the rule of law in favor of Hunter Biden, President Biden, and the Biden family. Given the extremely serious nature of these issues, the Committees expect unfettered cooperation with our oversight from both you and the Department,” the letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland reads.
“The Department pulled punches in this investigation, handicapping veteran investigators and preventing them from freely pursuing the facts. The Department agreed to an apparently unprecedented plea deal with Hunter Biden after his attorneys threatened to call his father, President Biden, as a witness in the case,” the letter continues. “Now you have appointed as special counsel an individual who oversaw all the investigation’s irregularities, who spent the past two months claiming that he did not need special counsel status, and who was responsible for the plea agreement that collapsed in court and is widely viewed as an embarrassment for the Department.”
“In light of Mr. Weiss’s record leading this investigation, we have concerns with his appointment as special counsel,” the letter concludes. The DOJ will have until Sept. 11, 2023 to turn over the requested documents.
The House lawmakers highlighted aspects of the IRS whistleblower testimony including the Biden transition team being tipped off to a scheduled interview with Hunter Biden and prosecutors’ efforts to slow-walk search warrants.
#NEWS: @Jim_Jordan, @RepJamesComer, and @RepJasonSmith demand an unredacted copy of the memorandum outlining the scope of Special Counsel David Weiss’s investigation into Hunter Biden.
📍 Read here: https://t.co/PD9LIMFZfr
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) August 28, 2023
Congressional investigators raised additional concerns about the guilty plea and diversion agreement negotiated between DOJ prosecutors that would have allowed Biden to avoid jail time for two tax misdemeanors and a felony gun charge in Delaware. The diversion agreement contained a prosecutorial immunity provision that DOJ prosecutor Leo Wise admitted was unprecedented during the July court appearance where Biden’s plea deal fell apart.
Delaware U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika scrutinized the guilty plea and diversion agreement’s immunity provision, resulting in a disagreement between Wise and Biden’s defense counsel. Biden ended up pleading not guilty to two tax charges and his diversion agreement was not implemented.
Weiss reportedly did not plan on having Biden plead guilty to the two tax misdemeanors until the IRS whistleblowers came forward with allegations of special treatment for the president’s son. (RELATED: Top Hunter Biden Prosecutor David Weiss Previously Worked With Beau Biden)
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Weiss’ special counsel appointment on Aug. 11, and Weiss immediately moved to withdraw Biden’s Delaware tax charges to potentially charge him in either Washington, D.C. or the Central District of California. Noreika granted Weiss’ request on Aug. 17, and Biden’s tax charges were dismissed without prejudice.
IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley testified that Biden-appointed U.S. Attorneys had previously blocked Weiss from charging Hunter Biden in D.C. and California. The New York Times independently confirmed that Weiss was blocked from charging Biden in California.
Shapley’s attorneys released an Oct. 2022 email in which Shapley explained how the D.C. U.S. Attorney blocked Weiss from charging Hunter Biden and described Weiss’ failed attempt to obtain special counsel authority afterwards. Weiss’ charging authority is also part of the House lawmakers’ records requests because of contradictory statements he made in letters to Congress responding to the IRS whistleblower allegations.
The House Oversight, Ways and Means and Judiciary Committees have subpoenaed witnesses to the meeting outlined in Shapley’s email. Garland has denied the whistleblower’s allegations of political interference in the Hunter Biden investigation.