Biden-appointed U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves testified in early October about how Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, the lead prosecutor in the Hunter Biden investigation, needed outside “approval” to bring tax charges against Hunter Biden.
Graves testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Oct. 3 and described how attorneys from the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) tax division would have to approve potential tax charges against Hunter Biden, according to a transcript of his testimony reviewed by the Daily Caller. (RELATED: Biden-Appointed Prosecutor Refused To Cooperate On Potentially Charging Hunter Biden, Testimony Confirms)
My latest: Biden-appointed U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves confirmed he declined to partner with David Weiss for potentially charging Hunter Biden, according to a transcript reviewed by @DailyCaller https://t.co/TFvdizuFvf
— James Lynch (@jameslynch32) October 9, 2023
“There are various steps along the investigative process that have to be approved by the Tax Division in connection with the prosecution or investigation of tax charges,” Graves said, according to his testimony.
“Okay. And so, if a U.S. attorney, whether it’s yourself or Mr. Weiss, wanted to bring tax charges against an individual, it would require the approval of the Tax Division, correct?” Graves was asked as a follow-up.
“That is correct,” he said.
“Okay. Are there ever instances where you’ll bring a tax case without the assistance of the Tax Division lawyers?”
“All of the cases that I can recall that I worked on or supervised where there were tax charges, we were doing those cases on our own without the Tax Division,” Graves said.
“Okay. And why was that, or why would that occur, where you wouldn’t lean on Tax Division resources to prosecute a case?”
“It’s actually fairly normal…in my experience. There is, unfortunately, lots of tax evasion out there, and the Tax Division, it isn’t structured to have prosecutors…in all of them. The idea is that the U.S. attorney’s offices in general will handle a lot of those cases,” Graves replied.
“Okay. So the Tax Division reviews the charges, okays them, and then your office would move forward?”
“Correct,” Graves answered, according to his testimony.
Graves later testified about how Weiss would need to work with him in order to schedule time in front of a D.C. grand jury to potentially bring a case to his district.
“So we often refer to the grand jury,” Graves said. “In actuality, at least in the District, there are multiple grand juries sitting at any point in time. We maintain a schedule of the grand jury. So, if you want time before a grand jury, you have to go to the scheduler. If you’re coming from our office and they know who you are, you can request your time, and that’s how you get authority to enter the grand jury.”
“If you’re coming from a Main Justice component and we’ve what we call deconflicted with them, and they’re going it alone in our jurisdiction, they can reach out to our coordinator, and our coordinator knows that it is a case that has been authorized to be brought in our district. That’s generally the process you have to follow. You can’t just show up at the Federal courthouse and say: I’m a Federal prosecutor and I’d like to go into a grand jury now,” Graves added.
The D.C. U.S. attorney also testified that he declined to partner with Weiss on potentially charging Hunter Biden, confirming the testimony of IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley and other officials on the Hunter Biden case who said Graves did not cooperate.
IRS official Michael Batdorf similarly testified to the House Ways and Means Committee in September that Weiss required authorization from the DOJ tax division in order to move forward with charges against Hunter Biden. Likewise, FBI agent Thomas Sobocinski testified to the House Judiciary Committee in September and recalled the “very cumbersome” bureaucratic process Weiss dealt with.
Attorney General Merrick Garland disputed Sobocinski’s testimony when he appeared before the Judiciary Committee in September. Garland repeatedly said Weiss could have requested additional authority under section 515 to bring charges against Hunter Biden outside of his jurisdiction. However, the attorney general confirmed the U.S. attorneys “could refuse to partner” with Weiss.
Garland appointed Weiss special counsel in August to continue the Hunter Biden case after the younger Biden’s guilty plea agreement fell apart in court and IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler accused the DOJ of giving him special treatment.
Weiss wrote a letter in July to Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham denying the whistleblower accusation. In the letter, Weiss claimed he was never denied the authority to bring charges and considered using section 515 authority to file charges outside of his district. The Ways and Means Committee released documents in late September substantiating the IRS whistleblower testimony.
Shapley’s attorneys previously released an email and handwritten notes documenting his interpretation of an Oct. 7, 2022, meeting where Weiss allegedly said he did not have final charging authority.
Weiss filed a motion in August to dismiss Hunter Biden’s Delaware misdemeanor tax charges to potentially charge him in a different jurisdiction. Delaware U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika approved Weiss’ motion and the tax charges against Biden were dismissed.
Hunter Biden was indicted in September on three federal gun charges connected to his October 2018 purchase of a Colt Cobra revolver while he was allegedly suffering from an addiction to crack cocaine. The younger Biden pleaded not guilty to the charges at an Oct. 3 arraignment and will seek to have the indictment dismissed, his attorneys said in a court filing.
Henry Rodgers contributed to this report.