David Weiss' Appointment as Hunter Biden Special Counsel Raises Questions

Numerous Republicans and pundits are questioning U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland's Friday appointment of U.S. Attorney David Weiss as special counsel to oversee the yearslong investigation involving Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden.

An attorney from Delaware, Weiss has been overseeing the Department of Justice's (DOJ) probe into Hunter Biden since it was launched in 2018 after being appointed to his position a year prior by former President Donald Trump. In June, Weiss—who was retained by the Biden administration—charged the president's son with failure to pay federal income taxes and illegally possessing a firearm.

Weiss asked Garland for special counsel status in the case on Tuesday, according to the attorney general. Speculation as to why Weiss made the request is partially derived from the most recent legal twist involving the president's son who reportedly planned to plead guilty last month to federal tax violations in exchange for two misdemeanors and no prosecution for a felony gun charge due to his history of substance abuse.

However, the so-called "sweetheart deal" as coined by conservatives fell through when U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, who is presiding over the case in Wilmington, Delaware, asked if the deal offered Hunter Biden blanket immunity from prosecution in his plea dealings or only for his tax offenses. Both sides offered different interpretations of the plea, leading to a "null and void" agreement.

Attorney and legal scholar Jonathan Turley told Newsweek via email on Friday following the announcement that an issue remains due to recent testimony of two Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblowers last month before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee.

In that hearing, Supervisory IRS Special Agent Gary Shapley and IRS Criminal Investigator Joseph Ziegler testified that the Hunter Biden investigation had been mishandled and allegedly stymied by the DOJ and Biden officials.

"For those IRS agents, this seems a lot like sending 'Shoeless Joe' Jackson back into the game after telling him, 'Say it ain't so, Joe!'" Turley said. "Garland again had the chance to take a bold step to restore public trust in his department."

Turley continued: "He could have appointed a new and unimpeachable special counsel and expand the mandate to include the broader influence peddling scandal. He did neither. The immediate impact will be to insulate Weiss from questioning by Congress."

Weiss pushed back against claims of DOJ retaliation, going as far as to write a letter early last month to House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican.

"First, the Department of Justice did not retaliate against 'an Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") Criminal Supervisory Special Agent and whistleblower, as well as his entire investigative team...for making protected disclosures to Congress,'" Weiss wrote.

He also rejected Shapley's notion that the DOJ and not Weiss had authority over the probe.

In a June 7 letter, Weiss wrote that he has "ultimate authority over this matter," extending to decisions as to "where, when and whether to file charges and for making decisions necessary to preserve the integrity of the prosecution."

Garland said on Friday that Weiss being appointed special counsel includes that aforementioned authority, in addition to wider jurisdiction that extends beyond Delaware.

"First, David Weiss said he didn't have the power he needed and wanted special counsel status," Jordan wrote Friday on X, formerly Twitter. "Then, he said he had all the power he needs. Now, he gets special counsel status because he didn't really have the power he needs? Something's not right."

The GOP-led House Oversight Committee wrote on X that Garland's move is part of a coverup aimed to discredit the "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."

Representative James Comer, a Kentucky Republican and chairman of the Oversight Committee, has led a consistent investigation into Hunter Biden and the Biden family based on alleged financial dealings with foreign nationals.

Comer wrote on X that the DOJ "is trying to stonewall congressional oversight" from the American people."

A spokesperson for Comer declined to comment further to Newsweek, instead referring to Comer's post.

The White House, which also declined to comment to Newsweek, issued a memo on Friday prior to Garland's announcement that in its view detailed Comer's undermining of credibility as it pertains to the ongoing investigation.

"Comer has told big lies and small ones, from repeatedly peddling debunked allegations in his relentless attempts to smear Joe Biden, to trafficking in fringe conspiracy theories, to reportedly lying about something as basic as showing up to a transcribed interview with a witness," wrote Ian Sams, White House spokesman for oversight and investigations.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, criticized the appointment as an affront to the American public.

"This action by Biden's DOJ cannot be used to obstruct congressional investigations or whitewash the Biden family corruption," McCarthy posted on X on Friday. "If Weiss negotiated the sweetheart deal that couldn't get approved, how can he be trusted as a Special Counsel?"

Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said the move was likely made to shut down the federal investigation.

"We're not gonna let this go," Graham said Friday on Fox News. "Mr. Weiss, you're not off the hook. This Friday afternoon gambit is not gonna work. We're going to continue to ask questions about the biggest sweetheart deal in the history of America."

Representative Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican, posted on X that she doesn't expect much to come out of this due to Weiss "just trying to give Hunter a sweetheart deal."

"Remember when they told us David Weiss had even more power than a special counsel and that's why we didn't need to worry about the no-special-counsel-designation thing?" broadcaster Megyn Kelly wrote on X. "And David Weiss went along with that nonsense? These keystone cops are laughing at us."