The Department of Justice “pulled punches” and “disabled veteran investigators” throughout its investigation into Hunter Biden’s first son, the Republican leader of three House committees accused in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, demanding documents related to the appointment of a special counsel in the investigation.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.), House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) on Monday called on the Biden administration to provide a panel them with all documents and communications referring to or related to the appointment of Delaware US Attorney David Weiss as special counsel earlier this month in the government’s 5-year investigation into President Biden’s 53-year-old son.
Weiss’ appointment “raises many concerns” because of previous statements by Garland indicating that the Delaware US attorney already had “ultimate” authority in the investigation, committee chairs wrote in their seven-page letter to the attorney general, released Tuesday.
Representative James Comer called on the Biden administration to provide their panel with all documents and communications that refer to or relate to the appointment of Delaware US Attorney David Weiss as special counsel earlier this month.Getty Images
“Now, recently reported information raises additional concerns about the Department’s unusual actions in this matter, and suggests that the Department under your leadership has attempted to circumvent the rule of law in favor of Hunter Biden, President Biden, and the Biden family. As this issue is very serious, the Committee expects unfettered cooperation with our oversight from you and the Department,” the lawmaker wrote.
The chairman singled out several allegations made by IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler earlier this year as “deviations from standard procedure” that concerned them and that showed “special privileges” given to the eldest son, including allegations that the DOJ told Biden’s Attorney Hunter that investigators would search one of his storage units and that the government allowed the statute of limitations to expire on some potential criminal tax evasion charges.
Republicans also blasted Weiss as the “architect of the sweetheart plea deal” brokered between the DOJ and attorney Hunter Biden that broke out in a Delaware courtroom last month, questioning Garland’s elevation of Weiss to special counsel.
“It is not clear why you only now, after a five-year investigation, chose to appoint Mr. Weiss as special counsel, especially after you and the Department stated that Mr. Weiss already had ‘ultimate’ power over it. to there. Indeed, the only explanation you offer is that ‘extraordinary circumstances’ require an appointment,” the lawmaker wrote.
Weiss’ appointment “raises many concerns” because of previous statements by Garland indicating that he already had “ultimate” authority in the investigation, the committee chairman wrote in his seven-page letter to the attorney general.AP
“The department is taking a hit in this investigation, crippling veteran investigators and preventing them from freely pursuing the facts. The department agreed to an apparently unprecedented plea deal with Hunter Biden after his attorney threatened to call his father, President Biden, as a witness in the case,” Smith, Jordan and Comer opined.
“Now you have appointed as special counsel an individual who oversees all investigative misconduct, who has spent the past two months claiming he does not need special counsel status, and who is responsible for a plea deal that collapsed in court and is widely seen as an embarrassment to the Department.”
Garland has until September 11 to respond to the document request.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
