Emails have surfaced that challenge the assertion that U.S. Attorney for Delaware, David Weiss, had “ultimate authority” over charging decisions in the investigation into Hunter Biden, reported The Federalist on Monday.
The emails obtained by the Heritage Foundation after a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit show that Weiss, now special counsel in charge of the investigation into the younger Biden, coordinated with the Department of Justice on several occasions in response to Republican lawmakers over the inquiries in the case.
The emails contradict the June 7 letter from Weiss to GOP House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan of Ohio, that he had “ultimate authority.”
But instead, the emails, which were heavily redacted, show DOJ officials, not Weiss, offering to “take the lead” on drafting responses.
One such email showed Weiss asking Shannon Hanson lead assistant, if the DOJ’s Office of Legislative Affairs (OLA) had responded to Republican Senators Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Chuck Grassley of Iowa in May 2022. Johnson and Grassley directed their letter to Weiss, but OLA ultimately responded to them a month later, saying the DOJ wouldn’t respond to their questions.
According to The Federalist, when Johnson and Grassley followed up with another letter to Weiss, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland, the OLA said again in an email that it would “take the lead on drafting a response.”
Weiss ran communications from Weiss to Grassley through the controls of Main Justice
While AG Garland was asserting Weiss’ independence to lawmakers, he was also “simultaneously running communications from Weiss to Grassley through the political controls of Main Justice,” said Mike Howell, Heritage Foundation director.
“It is a slap in the face,” said Howell to the outlet.
Even Weiss’ “ultimate authority” letter to Jordan June 7 responded to an inquiry that Jordan sent to Garland, not Weiss.
In a follow-up letter June 22, this time directed to Weiss, Jordan demanded details and substantive responses “in light of the unusual nature of your response on behalf of Attorney General Garland…”
Jordan wanted to know who authored the June 7 “ultimate authority” letter. Weiss replied on June 30 that he was not at liberty to provide substantive details, said The Federalist.
The Federalist reported that after viewing all of the emails, Weiss didn’t even write the June 7 letter to Jordan. Still, it was written by the DOJ to “corroborate the attorney general’s Senate testimony that he had given Weiss full authority to make charging decisions in the Hunter Biden investigation.”
