Washington
CNN
—
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday rejected claims that the Justice Department interfered in the Hunter Biden investigation, while the White House repeatedly refused to answer questions about a newly released text message in which Hunter Biden invoked his father to a Chinese businessman.
In congressional testimony released Thursday, two IRS whistleblowers who worked on the investigation alleged to lawmakers that the Justice Department had given preferential treatment to the president’s son. The whistleblowers made several explosive allegations, including that the IRS had recommended far more serious charges against the president’s son, that Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss was unable to bring charges in other states, and that Garland deny a request by Weiss to be appointed as special counsel.
Hunter Biden has agreed to plead guilty next month to two misdemeanor fiscal charges and reached a deal with federal prosecutors to resolve a gun charge. His lawyer, Chris Clark, said Friday that “any suggestion that the investigation was not thorough, or cut corners, or shortchanged my client, is absurd and deeply irresponsible.”
When pressed on the charges during a news conference Friday, Garland said Weiss was “allowed to continue his investigation and make the decision to prosecute in any way he wanted and in any district he wanted.”
“I don’t know how it would be possible for anyone to prevent him from filing a prosecution, given that he has that authority,” Garland said.
Garland rejected any claim that he would not appoint Weiss as special counsel, stating that “Mr. Weiss never made that request to me.”
“Mr. Weiss had, in fact, more authority than a special counsel would have,” Garland added. “He had and has full authority, as I said, to present a case wherever he wants at his discretion.”
In addition, Garland said he would “support Mr. Weiss to explain or testify” about the allegations raised by the whistleblowers “when he deems it appropriate.”
Later Friday, the White House declined to say Friday whether Biden was present in July 2017 when Hunter Biden sent a text message to a Chinese business partner, claiming he was sitting with his father and using that claim as leverage to pressure a Chinese company to pay him.
The questions referred to a portion of testimony in which an IRS supervisor-turned-whistleblower told House lawmakers that Justice Department prosecutors denied requests to investigate messages allegedly from Hunter Biden in which he used his father as leverage to pressure a Chinese company to pay him. .
“I’m sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled,” according to a document the whistleblower provided to Congress, which cites texts purported to be from Hunter Biden to the CEO of a chinese fund management company.
The message continues: “Tell the manager I’d like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand. And now it means tonight.” The message goes on to say, “I’ll make sure that between the man sitting next to me and everyone I meet and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you’ll regret not following my address I’m sitting here waiting for the call with my dad.”
The second, unnamed IRS whistleblower also testified to lawmakers about that alleged WhatsApp message, saying prosecutors questioned whether they were sure Hunter Biden was telling the truth that his father was really in the message room . The unnamed whistleblower stated that they did not know if the FBI investigated the message.
Pressed repeatedly on the issue, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre referred questions to the White House Counsel’s Office, insisting the matter had been addressed.
Ian Sams, a spokesman for the adviser’s office, said in an email that Joe Biden had had no dealings with his son. But he did not provide information specifically about Joe Biden’s whereabouts when Hunter texted the Chinese businessman on July 30, 2017.
“As we have said many times before, the president was not in business with his son,” he wrote. “As we have also said many times before, the Justice Department makes decisions in its criminal investigations independently, and in this case the White House was not involved.”
But neither said definitively whether Joe Biden was with Hunter when the text was sent.
Asked whether Joe Biden had been involved in coercive dealings for his son, Jean-Pierre said: “I appreciate the question. I think my colleague at the White House counsel has already answered that question, he he’s dealt with and made it very clear. I just don’t have anything to share outside of what my peers have shared.”
In a statement Friday, Hunter Biden’s attorney, Chris Clark, suggested the messages were written at a time when the president’s son was suffering from addiction.
“The DOJ investigation covered a period that was a time of turmoil and addiction for my client. Any verifiable words or actions of my client, in the midst of a horrific addiction, are his alone and have no connection to anyone else of his family,” the statement said.
President Biden has said he has never spoken to his son about his foreign trade deals.
“I have never spoken to my son about his overseas business,” he said in 2019.
This story and its headline were updated with additional updates Friday.
