U.S.
Hunter Biden prosecutor David Weiss says Justice officials never blocked him
By
The Washington Post November 7, 2023
Devlin Barrett and Jacqueline Alemany
The Washington Post November 7, 2023
The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building. (Voice of America/Wikimedia Commons)
David Weiss, the federal prosecutor tapped to serve as special counsel investigating Hunter Biden, testified Tuesday behind closed doors to a House committee, telling lawmakers that he has had full authority over the case and was not overruled at any point by other Justice Department officials.
It is highly unusual for the Justice Department to make a special counsel available for questioning by Congress before an investigation is complete. Weiss did so in large part to address lingering concerns raised by two IRS agents on the Biden case who earlier this year accused Weiss and other Justice Department officials of slow-walking their work. One of the agents said Weiss told him he wasn’t the decision-maker in the case.
Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware, has disputed that claim, and did so again in his opening statement to the House Judiciary Committee.
“I am, and have been, the decision-maker on this case,” Weiss told the panel, according to a written copy of his opening remarks. “I do not, however, make these decisions in a vacuum. I am bound by federal law, the principles of federal prosecution and DOJ guidelines. As a result, there are processes that I must adhere to in making investigative and charging decisions. These processes did not interfere with my decision-making authority. At no time was I blocked, or otherwise prevented from pursuing charges or taking the steps necessary in the investigation by other United States Attorneys, the Tax Division or anyone else at the Department of Justice.”
Citing the IRS agents’ accounts, Republican lawmakers have accused the Justice Department under President Biden of stalling the politically sensitive investigation.
Weiss warned the committee that there were a great many questions about the Hunter Biden case he would not answer, even behind closed doors, because the investigation and prosecution is ongoing. He promised to share more information when the case is finished.
In his written testimony, Weiss said there had been “misunderstandings about the scope of my authority to decide where, when, and whether to bring charges in this matter.”
He also said his team of prosecutors “have made decisions based on the facts and the law. Political considerations played no part in our decision-making. Our analysis has been moored to the principles of federal prosecution, and going forward, my team and I will continue to abide by the same principles as we try to bring this matter to a just conclusion.”
Weiss launched the Hunter Biden probe in 2018, when Donald Trump was president. Attorney General Merrick Garland has long insisted that Weiss, a holdover from the Trump administration, was fully authorized to oversee the investigation and make charging decisions. Both he and Weiss have disputed any claim otherwise by the whistleblowers.
Weiss filed false-statement and illegal-gun-possession charges against Hunter Biden in Delaware this summer after a plea agreement collapsed, setting the stage for a possible trial next year. The charges relate to a pistol Biden bought in 2018, when by his own telling he was addicted to and abusing drugs.
Shortly before that indictment, Weiss sought and was granted special-counsel authority by the Justice Department, which among other things makes it easier to also bring charges in other jurisdictions. He is considering bringing tax charges against Hunter Biden as well.
Justice Department regulations require special counsels to file a report detailing their findings and decisions at the end of their work. The last two such reports — by special counsels Robert S. Mueller III and John Durham — were released publicly, albeit with some redactions.