DOJ Names Special Counsel in Hunter Biden Case

CV NEWS FEED // The Biden Administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) has named David Weiss, the federal prosecutor investigating Hunter Biden’s questionable business dealings, a special counsel in the ongoing probe.

House Republicans sounded the alarm about the appointment, claiming it represented a coverup of the Biden family’s business dealings since Weiss as special counsel will be answerable to the Biden administration’s DOJ and – ultimately – to the president.

“The DOJ is attempting a Biden family coverup,” said the Republican leadership of the House Oversight Committee, chaired by Rep. James Comer, R-KY, in a statement posted to X (formerly known as Twitter).

This “coverup,” wrote the Oversight Republicans, is “in light of our Committee’s mounting evidence of President Joe Biden’s role in his family’s schemes selling ‘the brand’ for millions of dollars to foreign nationals.”

“The Justice Department’s misconduct and politicization in the Biden criminal investigation already allowed the statute of limitations to run with respect to egregious felonies committed by Hunter Biden,” the statement continued:

Justice Department officials refused to follow evidence that could have led to Joe Biden, tipped off the Biden transition team and Hunter Biden’s lawyers about planned interviews and searches, and attempted to sneakily place Hunter Biden on the path to a sweetheart plea deal.

Let’s be clear what today’s move is really about. The Biden Justice Department is trying to stonewall congressional oversight as we have presented evidence to the American people about the Biden family’s corruption.

Weiss has been looking into the younger Biden for the past five years. Politico’s Betsy Woodruff Swan reported that Weiss’ promotion gives him “broader leeway to investigate and bring charges.” 

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) explained that Weiss is now allowed to “prosecute Hunter Biden in any district he deems appropriate rather than solely in Delaware.”

Swan continued that the appointment also means Weiss “will produce a report on his high-profile investigation into the president’s son. Garland said he will make as much of that report public as possible.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland said Weiss had asked him for an appointment earlier this week. “Upon considering his request, as well as the extraordinary circumstances relating to this matter, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint him as special counsel,” Garland said.

WSJ added that the news “came the same day Weiss said in a court filing that plea talks with Biden were at an impasse and prosecutors expected the case against him to go to trial.”

Weiss, a Republican, is the current U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware, serving in that role since 2018. He was appointed by then-President Donald Trump. Weiss previously served in the same role, albeit in an acting capacity, from 2009 to 2011.

He has a legal background in prosecuting both violent and white-collar crimes.

NBC News reported that “Weiss is one of the few U.S. attorneys who stayed in place when President Joe Biden took office” and, according to Garland, “will continue in that position as he takes on the additional special counsel role”

Again from Swan:

The developments signal a stunning escalation for a case that just two months ago appeared all but over. In June, prosecutors and Biden’s lawyers revealed the outlines of a plea deal: Biden would plead guilty to misdemeanor tax charges and would enter a “pretrial diversion agreement” to resolve a felony gun charge and likely avoid prison time. As part of the deal, the Justice Department would grant Biden some degree of immunity against more charges. At the time, Biden’s lawyers signaled that they expected the agreement to end the lengthy criminal investigation.

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee stated they “will continue to follow the Biden family’s money trail and interview witnesses to determine whether foreign actors targeted the Bidens.”

“President Biden is compromised and corrupt, and our national security is threatened,” the Republican Congressmen added at the end of their statement.

In June, CatholicVote reported that the president’s son “agreed to plead guilty to multiple counts of tax fraud and illegal gun-possession,” thus “contradicting President Joe Biden’s recent assurance that he was ‘confident’ his son was innocent.”

At the time, Weiss said Hunter Biden “received taxable income in excess of $1,500,000 annually in calendar years 2017 and 2018.”

Weiss’ office added: “Despite owing in excess of $100,000 in federal income taxes each year, [Hunter Biden] did not pay the income tax due for either year.”

In late July, CatholicVote reported that federal judge Maryellen Noreika rejected the younger Biden’s “sweetheart” plea deal, allowing the investigation to continue, and setting the stage for Weiss’ promotion.