The federal prosecutor leading the case against President Joe Biden’s son on Friday denied he was obstructed by the Justice Department.
An IRS whistleblower has claimed that US Attorney General David Weiss from Delaware said he could not bring charges against Hunter Biden outside of Delaware, contrary to statements made by US Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Weiss himself previously said in a letter to congressional Republicans that he had “ultimate authority” to press charges against Hunter Biden in any judicial district, and he said Friday that he still does.
“I stand by what I wrote,” Weiss said in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). Weiss has not yet responded to the whistleblower allegation.
House Republicans have threatened to impeach Garland over the whistleblower allegation, which they say is further evidence the Justice Department is biased toward former President Donald Trump and protecting the Biden family.
But Weiss was appointed by Trump and kept by Joe Biden so he could continue his investigation into Hunter Biden, whom he accused of tax crimes in Delaware last month. The younger Biden has agreed to plead guilty to failing to pay federal taxes and to participate in a diversionary program to stave off a charge of illegal gun ownership.
Before the indictments were filed, a special agent with the IRS Criminal Division named Gary Shapley alleged that Weiss said at an October meeting that he could not indict Biden in Washington, DC or California because US attorneys in those jurisdictions would not cooperate.
Republicans made Shapley’s testimony public after Weiss announced the Biden plea deal, which they described as a slap on the wrist.
Weiss said in his Friday letter that he had been given “assurances” that Garland would allow him to pursue charges in Washington, California, “or any other county where charges might be brought,” even if prosecutors were in other states did not want to cooperate with the case on this matter.”
House Republicans this week asked Weiss, along with other Justice Department and IRS officials, to participate in transcribed interviews about the Hunter Biden case, but Weiss said in his letter that he could not provide details about the investigation. He denied that the Justice Department retaliated against Shapley.
Separately on Friday Hunter Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell damn republicans for the release of Shapley’s testimony and indicated that Shapley himself may be under internal investigation for wrongdoing.
“The timing of the agents’ revelations and your subsequent decision to release their statements does not appear innocent — they came shortly after a public filing that indicated the conclusion of the five-year investigation into Mr. Biden,” Lowell said in a letter to the House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.). “To any objective eye, your actions should serve to unduly undermine the court proceeding in this case.”