Delaware US Attorney David Weiss consulted with Justice Department officials about a congressional request for information about his five-year investigation into Hunter Biden, challenging the prosecutor’s self-signed statement that he had “ultimate authority” to bring charges against the first son.
Weiss’ office traded emails with the DOJ’s Office of Legislative Affairs and Office of Legal Counsel about how to answer questions posed by House Republicans about the case, according to emails obtained by the conservative Heritage Foundation and seen by The Post Monday.
The heavily redacted message showed a key Justice official offering to “take the lead” from Weiss in drafting a response to GOP lawmakers who brought up Hunter’s case.
Delaware US Attorney David Weiss spoke with Justice Department officials about congressional requests in his five-year investigation into Hunter Biden.AP
On May 9, 2022, for example, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) sent a letter to Weiss asking about the Hunter investigation, prompting back-and-forth between the Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) and the office Weiss.
“I will send this now to [redacted]. Anything else you want me to say or ask?” Assistant US Attorney Shannon Hanson told Weiss in a June 2, 2022 message.
“I don’t think it matters. Is it?” Weiss replied.
Assistant US Attorney Shannon Hanson helped Weiss coordinate with key Justice Department officials.USAO_DE/Twitter
Later that same day, Hanson confirmed OLA was “working on it.”
When Weiss asked Hanson to update the draft a few days later, he said nothing had been sent.
“Not to my knowledge,” he said in a June 7, 2022 email, adding that the chief justice knew the Delaware office wanted to “review the draft letter” first.
“Joe Gaeta just responded that they are working on a response,” Hanson said in another email the same day, referring to the then-deputy assistant attorney general overseeing OLA.
Weiss upbraided congressional Republicans earlier this year when he took the lead in responding to a letter Jordan sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland about Weiss’ authority.REUTERS
On June 9, 2022, OLA told Grassley and Johnson that due to Justice Department policy it could not comment on ongoing investigations.
Other emails in June and July 2022 show Weiss confirming to her team that she “will not respond” to the Republican letter until apparently hearing back from the Justice Department.
On July 8, 2022, Grassley and Johnson sent a follow-up request that was also denied by OLA, which said in an email to Weiss’ office the same day it would “lead the drafting of a response for the Department.”
Weiss’ office traded emails with the Office of Legislative Affairs and the Office of Legal Counsel on how to respond to Congress on the Hunter Biden case.AP
Several emails also revealed prosecutors in Weiss’ office shared news articles about the status of the investigation, including a Dec. 7, 2020, report from The Post on Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) asked then-Attorney General Bill Barr to appoint a special counsel. On August 11, Garland promoted Weiss to the position, even though DOJ rules indicate the special counsel must come from outside the government.
Heritage’s Oversight Project, which sued the DOJ to obtain the messages as part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, alleged that they violated Weiss’ statement in a June 7, 2023 letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) that he was given “ultimate authority ” to bring charges in the case.
“It’s insane that we need a court order to produce some documents after months of the Justice Department throwing up every roadblock they possibly can, at taxpayer expense of course,” Oversight Project director Mike Howell told The Post. “They did not submit this document to Congress, which requested it at the same time we did.”
Oversight Project Director Mike Howell told The Federalist, which first reported on the email, that communications to Congress were all conducted “through the political control of the Chief Justice.”REUTERS
“Now we know why they resisted the release: Weiss’ claim of independence was false,” he added. “Garland’s political lobbyists controlled congressional communications to Hill, while Hill thought they would hear from Weiss himself.”
The revelation was first reported by The Federalist.
The Oversight Project expects further redacted documents as part of its records request, following the first court-ordered disclosure last Friday. It expects the next batch by Oct. 31.
Weiss gave congressional Republicans a standing ovation earlier this year when they took the lead in responding to a letter Jordan sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland about Weiss’ authority, further hinting at coordination between the two.
The Oversight Project expects further redacted documents as part of its records request, following the first court-ordered disclosure on Aug. 25, 2023. It expects the next batch by Oct. 31.AP
In a June 30, 2023 letter, Weiss went further and said that his initial response to Jordan had been “drafted” by his office — though the newly released email raises questions about who actually authored the letter.
A spokesman for Weiss’ office declined to comment.
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