On Friday, Senate and House Republicans tore into Attorney General Merrick Garland’s decision to appoint U.S. Attorney David Weiss as special counsel in the ongoing Hunter Biden investigation.
GOP members accused Weiss of signing off on a “sweetheart deal” with Hunter Biden. They suggested he was appointed as a special counsel to inhibit Congressional testimony and investigations into the Bidens.
“This action by Biden’s DOJ cannot be used to obstruct congressional investigations or whitewash the Biden family corruption,” said GOP Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “If Weiss negotiated the sweetheart deal that couldn’t get approved, how can he be trusted as a Special Counsel? House Republicans will continue to pursue the facts for the American people.”
Republican James Comer of Kentucky, chairman of the Oversight Committee investigating the Biden family’s business dealings, criticized the development as “part of the Justice Department’s efforts to attempt a Biden family coverup.”
Rep. Comer vowed the Oversight panel’s probe would continue simultaneously as the special counsel’s work. Just a day prior, the chairman promised that his committee would soon issue subpoenas for Biden family members, potentially including the president.
“Let’s be clear what today’s move is really about. The Biden Justice Department is trying to stonewall congressional oversight as we have presented evidence to the American people about the Biden family’s corruption,” said Comer in a Friday statement.
Jim Jordan: “David Weiss can’t be trusted”
Another influential member of the GOP, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio, had called on Garland previously to name a special counsel in the case. On Friday, Jordan’s team also aimed at Weiss, nominated by former President Donald Trump to serve as U.S. attorney in Delaware who stayed under President Joe Biden.
Weiss approved the DOJ’s plea agreement with Hunter Biden on two misdemeanor tax charges; however, the deal fell apart after a judge nominated by Trump refused to accept the deal. The GOP has criticized the deal, which would have included Biden pleading guilty to two tax-related charges in exchange for probation recommended by prosecutors and dropping a gun charge later under a diversion agreement.
“David Weiss can’t be trusted, and this is just a new way to whitewash the Biden family’s corruption,” said Russell Dye, spokesman for Jordan. “Weiss has already signed off on a sweetheart plea deal that was so awful and unfair that a federal judge rejected it.”
In July, Weiss had offered to testify in front of the Judiciary Committee this fall, and Dye said on Friday that the panel still expects him to do the same.
GOP Majority Leader Scalise called Weiss a “sham special counsel.”
GOP Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana disparaged Weiss as a “sham special counsel” and said the development “is an even better deal for Hunter since charges may never come.”
Across the Capitol, Republican criticism of Weiss was much similar.
Shortly following Garland’s announcement, a top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Lindsey Graham, appeared on Fox News and said he did not “trust” Weiss or his team to “fairly investigate” the Bidens and added that by appointing a special counsel “they’re trying to make it harder” for a Congressional investigation.
“What they tried to do is give Hunter Biden a deal that no other American would get; the judge asked hard questions, and the plea agreement blew up. And to think that the very guy who wrote the plea agreement will seriously continue to investigate the Bidens is laughable,” said Graham. “Who in their right mind believes that changing the title of what you call Mr. Weiss solves all the problems associated with Mr. Weiss? Nobody.”
About Weiss testifying before Congress, Graham said the appointment to the special counsel “does not absolve him of the obligation” to answer questions from Congress, reiterating that this appointment is a means to “shut down” congressional investigations.
“We’re not gonna let this go. Mr. Weiss, you’re not off the hook here. This Friday afternoon gambit is not going to work. We’re gonna continue to ask questions about the biggest sweetheart deal in the history of America. We’re not going away in Congress,” said Graham.
