Attorney General Merrick Garland denied allegations of political interference in the Justice Department’s investigation into Hunter Biden, and reiterated that the U.S. attorney overseeing the case had full authority to decide what charges to file.
Garland said during a press conference on Friday that he had said early on that David Weiss, the U.S. attorney for the District of Delaware who was appointed by former President Trump, could continue his investigation into the Biden administration and decide what he wanted to prosecute “of any way you want.”
Hunter Biden reached a deal with prosecutors on Tuesday to plead guilty to two lesser tax charges for failing to pay income taxes in 2017 and 2018 and sign a pretrial diversion agreement on a charge of possessing il ·legally a firearm while in possession of an addiction. The deal will likely allow Biden to avoid prison and only receive probation.
Republicans have criticized the deal in the days since, arguing it was too lenient and shows evidence of a two-tier justice system in which Trump faces much more serious charges.
Garland said Weiss has also sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee confirming his authority to make fiscal decisions in the case.
“I don’t know how it would be possible for anyone to stop him from filing a prosecution given that he has that authority,” he said.
The attorney general was responding to a question about two whistleblowers who told the House Ways and Means Committee that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was recommending felony charges against Biden and that prosecutors were advancing the investigation.
Will El Niño make airplane turbulence worse? The Memo: Trailing DeSantis refuses to hit Trump head-on
An IRS supervisory special agent, Gary Shapley, told the committee that the IRS recommended tax evasion charges and felony charges for filing false tax returns against Biden, but he received “preferential treatment.” A second unnamed special agent with the IRS’s criminal investigation team said prosecutors slowed down the case and that their conduct has been “frankly appalling.”
Garland said Weiss never asked for special counsel to be appointed and that he had more authority than a special counsel would have, with “complete” authority to bring any case he wants.
President Biden and Garland have said they would allow the investigation to continue without any interference from them, and Weiss stood by to continue the investigation despite presidents typically asking U.S. attorneys to step down once they take office.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
