Republicans in Congress prepare to challenge the claims that David Weiss faced obstacles from the DOJ in the Hunter Biden investigation.
The Hunter Biden investigation was done under Attorney General Merrick Garland. Garland and Weiss have refuted the allegations. However, two IRS whistleblowers who investigated Biden for years informed Congress that Weiss, appointed by former President Donald Trump, attempted to bring charges against Biden in jurisdictions supervised by his father’s U.S. attorneys. Those appointed by Biden allegedly blocked Weiss.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Donald Trump Honored As Man Of The Decade In Michigan County Where He Lost Twice
In the lengthy interviews that the Justice Department and IRS provided to the House Ways and Means Committee, the whistleblowers made many serious allegations against them.
Republicans have expressed interest in further questioning the attorney general because Garland had previously stated under oath to Congress that Weiss had not encountered conflicts with other jurisdictions.
Additionally, Weiss is the subject of scrutiny from GOP lawmakers, notably since he agreed to a plea deal with Biden to plead guilty to specific charges consistent with what whistleblowers said about his ability to charge.
Weiss will likely be summoned to testify by the House Judiciary Committee in the coming days.
On June 7, Weiss told the Judiciary Committee that he had “ultimate authority” over when and where to charge Biden and that the Justice Department had allowed him to operate independently.
In a letter to Weiss on Thursday, Legal Executive Director Jim Jordan (R-OH) requested replies concerning why Weiss had answered the panel about his clout for the benefit of Wreath, whom the House Judiciary Committee had initially asked for information.
In the initial letter, Jordan had also inquired Garland about the alleged retaliation against the whistleblowers who had spoken to Congress.
One of the informants who permitted his name to become public, IRS agent Gary Shapley, said Weiss had mentioned getting charges in the jurisdictions of both the U.S. lawyer for the Locale of Columbia and the U.S. lawyer for the Central District of California since he had proof that associated Biden to supposed violations committed in those regions. Shapley said Weiss was denied each time.
That was entirely at odds with what Garland told the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 1 when Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) questioned him regarding Weiss’s independence.
“The U.S. attorney in Delaware has been advised that he has full authority … to bring cases in other jurisdictions if he feels it’s necessary. And I will assure that if he does, he will be able to do that,” Garland testified in March.
“I’ve promised to ensure that he’s able to carry out his investigation and that he be able to run it. And if he needs to bring in another jurisdiction, he will have full authority to do that,” Garland added.
The attorney general has once denied that Weiss faced any obstacles, but Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate are interested in learning more.
“This is a clear discrepancy, and one way or the other, we’re going to have to clear it up,” a senior GOP aide told the Washington Examiner. “If that means Weiss is going to appear in person, then that’s what it’s going to take.”
Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee are searching for ways of returning to Laurel’s declaration from Walk, an individual acquainted with the discussions said, including the chance of welcoming him back to address the holes between his public proclamations and the whistleblowers’ claims.
It may be challenging to persuade Democrats to agree to another hearing with Garland because they control the committee.
Weiss indicted Biden last week on two counts of tax evasion and one criminal count of buying a gun while under the influence of drugs. It is anticipated that Biden will not serve time in prison thanks to the plea deal he received for the tax charges and the pre-trial diversion agreement he negotiated for the gun charge.
However, the whistleblowers alleged a wide range of illegal activities for which the president’s son has not been prosecuted, such as unlawful tax write-offs for paying prostitutes and allegedly failing to register foreign business activity.
On Sunday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) suggested that Republicans might think about starting impeachment proceedings against Garland because of the allegations that he interfered politically with the investigation.
McCarthy stated, “U.S. Attorney David Weiss must provide answers to the House Judiciary Committee.” “If the whistleblowers’ allegations are true, this will be a significant part of a larger impeachment inquiry into Merrick Garland’s weaponization of DOJ.”
It’s unclear how widely House Republicans might support an impeachment effort that would almost certainly go nowhere in the Senate.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Mark Ridley-Thomas, A Former LA Councilman, Challenges The Guilty Verdict
However, since Biden’s foreign dealings became a major political issue during his father’s presidential campaign three years ago, the most recent developments are the most serious.
Since associates of Trump faced significant criminal consequences for offenses similar to those of which Biden has been accused, such as tax evasion and illegal foreign lobbying, Republicans have long protested what they saw as preferential treatment from the Justice Department and intelligence community.
