Special counsel David Weiss, who has led a more than five-year federal investigation into first son Hunter Biden, appeared before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday to answer questions about the investigation.
“Special Counsel Weiss appears voluntarily to testify before the House Judiciary Committee about the scope of his authority,” Weiss spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle said in a statement.
“Mr. Weiss is prepared to take this unprecedented step of testifying before his investigation concludes to make clear that he has had and continues to have full authority over his investigation and to file charges in any jurisdiction.
“In accordance with department policy and the law, you will not be able to address the details of your investigation. In closing this matter, Special Counsel Weiss will prepare a report, which the Attorney General has committed to making public to the fullest extent possible, consistent with the law, department policy, and the public interest.”
Weiss’ appearance comes months after congressional Republicans first sought answers about the degree of authority he exercised over the Hunter investigation and whether President Biden’s Justice Department improperly interfered in the case.
Special counsel David Weiss, who has led a more than five-year investigation into first son Hunter Biden, will testify Tuesday before the House Judiciary Committee. Saquan Stimpson – CNP “Special Counsel Weiss is voluntarily appearing to testify before the House Judiciary Committee about the scope of his authority,” Weiss spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle said in a statement.
Two IRS whistleblowers, Supervising Special Agent Gary Shapley and Special Agent Joseph Ziegler, testified before the House Ways and Means and Oversight committees that the investigation was “slow.”
U.S. attorneys appointed by President Biden to Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles declined to help bring charges, but Weiss’s letters and sworn congressional testimony from Attorney General Merrick Garland argued that the U.S. attorney for Delaware received the “ highest authority”.
Whistleblowers, Justice Department officials, other IRS officials and U.S. attorneys (Matthew Graves and Martin Estrada) have since testified that Weiss needed to partner with prosecutors to file a case out of Delaware and had to get final approval. of DOJ Tax Division charges.
The appearance comes months after congressional Republicans sought answers from Weiss about the degree of authority he exercised over the Hunter investigation.
The whistleblowers also alleged that Weiss’ team in Delaware had prevented investigators from taking certain steps to develop their tax fraud case against the first son, and discouraged lines of inquiry that could lead to the president.
Shapley and Ziegler were initially interviewed behind closed doors weeks before Weiss slapped the president’s son with a probation-only deal on June 20 for two misdemeanor tax offenses.
It also allowed Hunter to enter into a diversion agreement for lying on a federal gun purchase form about his drug use in 2018, when he was heavily addicted to crack cocaine, according to his 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things.”
Letters from Weiss and sworn congressional testimony from Attorney General Merrick Garland attest that Delaware’s U.S. attorney was given “ultimate authority.”
But the “favorable” deal, as Republicans called it, blew up in federal court on July 26 under persistent questioning from U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika.
The judge pressed federal prosecutors and Hunter’s defense team on a provision in the diversion agreement that would have given the first son broad immunity from charges related to his foreign business dealings.
That immunity would have protected him against possible charges of money laundering and violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, with Hunter’s family and his associates raking in $17.3 million between 2014 and 2019.
Hunter’s former business partner, Devon Archer, told members of the House Oversight Committee in July that the first son spoke by phone with his associates at least 20 times.REUTERS
Garland elevated Weiss to special prosecutor to complete the investigation on August 11, and prosecutors dropped their Delaware tax case. Weiss is expected to file more charges in another jurisdiction.
Prosecutors also charged Hunter Biden with three counts of unlawful possession and false statements he made when purchasing the Colt Cobra revolver in October 2018, accusing him of possessing a gun that the first son said was “unloaded” and was possessed “during 11 days.”
In a Nov. 2 USA Today op-ed, the first son called the accusation unprecedented and said the “weaponization” of his alcohol and drug addiction “poses a real threat to those desperate to get sober.” ”.
His first testimony before Congress came behind closed doors, weeks before Weiss slapped the president’s son with a probation-only deal on June 20 for two misdemeanor tax offenses.
“My struggles and my mistakes have been fodder for a vile and sustained misinformation campaign against [President Biden]and a total annihilation of my reputation through sharp but fruitless Congressional investigations,” Hunter also wrote.
The congressional investigation has included testimony from Hunter’s former business partner, Devon Archer, who told members of the House Oversight Committee in July that the first son put his father on the phone with business associates at least 20 times.
Archer also alleged that Hunter took a position on the board of directors of the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holdings (to the tune of $1 million a year) to promote the Biden “brand” while his father oversaw US policy in Kiev.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) earlier this year released a confidential FBI informant file from a “credible” source that alleged Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevky paid a $10 million bribe to Hunter and Joe Biden to quash an investigation into the gas company. by Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin.
Biden boasted during a 2018 panel at the Council on Foreign Relations that he had withheld $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees from Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to get Shokin fired.
Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) also obtained bank records showing that at least $260,000 from one of Hunter’s Chinese associates was transferred to the president’s Delaware address.Getty Images
Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) also obtained bank records showing that at least $260,000 from one of Hunter’s Chinese associates was transferred to the president’s Delaware address.
Another $40,000 from the Chinese government-linked energy company was “laundered” to the president through First Brother James Biden, who was part of the deal with CEFC China Energy, Comer alleged.
House Republicans launched an impeachment inquiry into Biden, 80, on Sept. 12 to determine whether he abused his position as vice president or president, violated the public trust or impeded the investigation of his son.
Weiss, who began his investigation into Hunter Biden in 2018, was nominated by former President Donald Trump to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware on the recommendation of the state’s Democratic senators, Chris Coons and Tom Carper, both Biden allies and protégés.
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