Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss will sit behind closed doors with congressional investigators today and will answer questions from Republicans questioning his impartiality in the investigation of the president’s son.
Weiss — the lead investigator into Hunter Biden’s gun and tax crimes — will be questioned Tuesday at 10 a.m. ET as House Judiciary Committee Republicans look into allegations of politicization during his investigation.
Special Counsel Weiss will insist he has “full authority” over the Hunter Biden investigation despite allegations that his team has been improperly influenced by the Justice Department. It is rare for a special counsel to be interviewed on a voluntary basis during an ongoing investigation.
‘Mr. Weiss is prepared to take this unprecedented step by testifying prior to the conclusion of his investigation, to make it clear that he has and continues to have full control over his investigation and to bring charges in any jurisdiction,” said Special Counsel spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle said in a statement. DailyMail.com Monday.
At the end of the investigation into Hunter, Weiss will also prepare a report that Attorney General Merrick Garland is “committed to making public.”
Weiss was appointed special counsel by Garland in August after IRS whistleblowers alleged he said he was not the “deciding” person on whether to file charges against Hunter.
The special counsel is expected to strongly push back on the whistleblowers’ testimony during intense questioning about the department’s impartiality in the case.
U.S. Attorney Weiss will be available to testify on September 27, September 28, October 18 and October 19
The House Judiciary Committee is led by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio
His testimony comes just days after the House Judiciary Committee retained U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada for the Central District of California and Stuart Goldberg of the Tax Division.
Estrada confirmed he declined to prosecute Hunter Biden for tax crimes, bizarrely claiming he had “limited resources” and did not have enough lawyers to handle the case.
Weiss charged Hunter in September with three felonies related to lying on a federal gun application form while under the influence of drugs. He faces a prison sentence of up to 25 years.
The president’s son pleaded not guilty at his first hearing. The not guilty plea comes after what Republicans called a “sweetheart” plea deal — which would have seen Joe Biden’s son avoid jail time — collapsed this summer.
Over the summer, two IRS whistleblowers, Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, testified under oath that Hunter Biden received “special” treatment in the investigation into his financial dealings led by Weiss.
They said Hunter’s tax assessment should have been a crime, but political pressure instead led to the first son’s “love deal.”
Republicans, including Jordan, have pointed to discrepancies between Attorney General Merrick Garland’s and U.S. Attorney Weiss’ public statements on the Hunter Biden case and who had “full authority” to charge the president’s son.
Ziegler and Shapley testified that Weiss asked DC U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves to file “crimes and misdemeanors” charges against the president’s son.
But after Graves declined, Weiss threw out the possible misdemeanor charge and struck a plea deal with the president’s son that included no jail time. Hunter is expected in court Wednesday to make the plea deal official.
“I watched as U.S. Attorney (David) Weiss told a room full of senior FBI and IRS leaders on October 7, 2022 that he was not the final decision on whether charges were filed,” Shapley said, contradicting Weiss’ previous public statements.
“If Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss had followed DOJ policy as he stated in his most recent letter, Hunter Biden should have been charged with a tax crime, not just the tax crime,” Ziegler said.
“We must treat every taxpayer the same under the law.”
Graves has denied allegations that he contributed to improper political interference during the federal investigation into Hunter Biden.
According to a transcript reviewed by DailyMail.com, Graves said he was “surprised” by the whistleblowers’ claim that his office blocked a request by Weiss to file charges against Hunter.
The allegations were “not consistent with my recollection,” Graves told congressional investigators on Oct. 3.
Hunter Biden was in court to make the plea deal official
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan will question Weiss behind closed doors in November
Weiss also sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee seeking to clarify his role in the investigation and emphasizing that he actually has the “ultimate authority” in the criminal gun and tax case against the president’s son.
He explained that as the U.S. attorney for Delaware, his charging authority is normally “geographically limited” to that district, but said Attorney General Merrick Garland had promised to grant him special attorney status to bring charges anywhere.
However, Garland said Weiss was free “to make a decision to prosecute in any way he wanted and in any district in which he wanted to.”
DOJ attempted to clarify the discrepancies in the letter to Jordan.
“Although testimony at this early juncture should be appropriately limited to protect the ongoing case and important confidentiality interests, the Department recognizes your stated interest in addressing aspects of this case at short notice, such as the authority and jurisdiction of the U.S. Attorney Weiss to press charges anywhere. he deems appropriate.’