U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday announced special prosecutor designation for David Weiss, the U.S. attorney who for months has been investigating Hunter Biden’s overseas business affairs.
Garland’s announcement gives Weiss additional authority to continue his investigation of President Biden’s son, but also the discretion to file and prosecute federal charges. It is the same authority that was afforded to Jack Smith, who began investigating former President Donald Trump in November and has indicted him on documents and election interference charges.
Weiss, a Trump appointee in to the U.S. District Attorney’s office 2018, began his investigation into Hunter Biden a year later with federal law enforcement partners to look into “certain criminal conduct,” Garland said. “That investigation remains ongoing.”
Garland said Weiss requested special prosecutor status on Tuesday. “Upon considering his request, including the extraordinary circumstances in this matter, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint him as special counsel,” Garland said.
Congress has been notified that Weiss will be given all the resources he needs to conclude his case however he sees fit – a tradition that began by President Ulysses S. Grant.
“Mr. Weiss has told Congress that he has been granted ultimate authority over this matter, including the responsibility for deciding where, when, and whether to file charges, and for making decisions necessary to preserve the integrity of federal prosecution,” Garland said.
In a statement, Biden’s lawyer Chris Clark wrote that Weiss “has diligently been investigating my client for five years and he had proposed a resolution which we fully intend to pursue in court. It is hard to see why he would have proposed such a resolution if there were other offenses he could have successfully prosecuted, and we are aware of none. We are confident when all of these maneuverings are at an end, my client will have resolution.”
In response to the appointment, a spokesperson for Donald Trump released statement that read: “If this special counsel is truly independent – even though he failed to bring proper charges after a four year investigation and he appears to be trying to move the case to a more Democrat-friendly venue – he will quickly conclude that Joe Biden, his troubled son Hunter, and their enablers, including the media, which colluded with the 51 intelligence officials who knowingly misled the public about Hunter’s laptop, should face the required consequences.”
