Special Counsel David Weiss has been told by President Biden’s Justice Department to “follow the process” after requesting special authorities in the Hunter Biden investigation.
The Delaware US attorney insisted, however, in his voluntary testimony before the House Judiciary Committee earlier this week, that he would eventually be authorized to bring charges against the 53-year-old eldest son in California and Washington, DC — jurisdictions that refused to cooperate with Weiss — if he “chooses to do so.”
Weiss told the committee that he first “raised the idea” of being granted a special counsel authority — referred to as a 515 authority — with senior DOJ officials Bradley Weinsheimer and John Carlin in the spring of 2022, according to a transcript of Weiss’ testimony reviewed by the Post.
“I raised the idea of 515 authorities at that time because I had been handling the investigation for some period of time,” he said. “And, as I said, they suggested that we go through the normal process and contact DC and see if DC would be interested in joining or otherwise participating in the investigation.”
“It is not a given. They said, follow the process. I followed the process,” Weiss later explained.
Weiss maintains that he has the authority to bring charges against Hunter Biden in any US.AP jurisdiction
That process entails contacting DC US Attorney Matthew Graves and California US Attorney Martin Estrada and asking them to cooperate with him in investigating and potentially bringing charges against Hunter Biden for alleged tax crimes committed between 2014 and 2015, when the first son sat in court. board of directors of Ukrainian energy giant Burisma.
“He’s — you know, he’s receptive,” Weiss said of her initial call with Graves.
“I know that the team met, but finally, I received word from my staff that the US Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia has decided not to join the case as a partner or co-counsel,” he added.
After Graves refused to cooperate with him, Weiss told the committee that he again contacted the Justice Department.
Weiss confirmed that the statute of limitations on Hunter Biden’s alleged tax crimes from 2014-2015 has expired.Saquan Stimpson – CNP
“John Carlin at the time said, ‘Look, if you decide to proceed in DC, you have the authority to do so, and you have the authority to — under 515, to bring whatever charges you see fit,'” Weiss said. , noting , “In my next conversation with Carlin and Weinsheimer, I did ask for 515 power.”
Weiss, however, declined to explain why he did not pursue charges against Hunter Biden in DC.
The special counsel’s efforts to cooperate with the California US Attorney’s Office also failed.
“I had a brief conversation with the US Attorney [Martin] Estrada. It was in October of ’22, and Mr. Estrada informed me that his office – refused to join us or join us in the case,” Weiss told the committee.
Graves refused to cooperate with Weiss in the Hunter Biden case.AP
Weiss confirmed that the statute of limitations on the alleged crimes committed by Hunter Biden from 2014-2015 had expired, and prosecutors said he would explain why it was allowed to expire in a future report on his investigation.
“I will address that in the report, but even if the statute of limitations had expired and even if charges would not have been filed, if there were outstanding tax prosecutions, there is no reason to believe that evidence relating to the years, or witnesses involved in previous years, would not be part of the litigation,” he said.
Weiss, who was granted special counsel status by Attorney General Merrick Garland in August after a plea deal with Hunter Biden fell apart in a Delaware courtroom, insists that she is not done investigating the first son, even though Delaware District Judge Maryellen Noreika has accepted the terms of the plea deal — that Hunter Biden should enter a pretrial diversion program instead of facing a felony firearms charge and plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges.
Estrada declined to join the case as well after Graves overruled Weiss. MediaNews Group via Getty Images
“Our efforts are not over,” Weiss said of the status of the investigation at the time the plea deal fell through in July.
Weiss would not discuss some aspects of the Hunter Biden case, the case staff or anything related to the investigation during her testimony.
“He’s not going to answer a lot of questions,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said of Weiss’ testimony Wednesday, also describing Weiss as inconsistent.
“He insisted, ‘Oh, I’ll always be able to get it if I ask for it.’ But the answer was, ‘I asked for it and it wasn’t given,’” Jordan said.
IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley contacted Congress in April to allege a cover-up in the Hunter Biden case, which Shapley oversaw for more than three years. Shapley said that Weiss told investigators at the October 2022 meeting that she did not have the final decision-making authority, contrary to claims under Garland’s oath to Congress.
Shapley, supported by another IRS agent, Joseph Ziegler, alleges there were numerous irregularities in the first son’s investigation into about $2 million in unpaid taxes from 2014 to 2019.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
