Reply to Rep. Merrick B. Garland: ‘What do we do after the FBI’s probe of President Biden and his son, Hunter,’
As Attorney General Merrick B. Garland appears on Capitol Hill on Wednesday for a routine oversight hearing, there is a far-from-routine question on a lot of Republicans’ minds: Should he be impeached?
It is part of the committee’s standard oversight duties, but there will be a heated meeting between the top prosecutor and the panel’s Republican members.
A widely respected federal judge before becoming attorney general, Mr. Garland has become a favorite target of House Republicans after the Justice Department launched investigations that resulted in felony charges against former President Donald J. Trump. But it’s his agency’s handling of another investigation — into President Biden’s son Hunter, over allegations of tax and gun crimes — that has congressional Republicans most animated.
Investigations are going on into the handling of classified material by former President Donald Trump, former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
Garland said there was no one set of rules for the powerful or for the powerless, one set for the rich or for the poor, one for Democrats or Republicans, or different rules depending on race.
He said that he is not the President’s lawyer. I will also add that I am not Congress’s prosecutor. The Justice Department works for the American people. Our job is to follow the facts and the law, wherever they lead. And that is what we do.”
His special counsel designation came after a plea deal between Biden and federal prosecutors fell apart. As part of the plea deal, Biden would have avoided prosecution on a felony firearm offense.
Two IRS agents come forward and accuse the DOJ of giving Biden preferential treatment and slow-walking the investigation.
In an interview with the Washington Examiner this week, Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan made it clear that a major focus for the committee this morning will be also be on special counsel Jack Smith, who has led the federal investigation into Trump.
Jordan and other Republican lawmakers have sided with Trump in his claims that he did nothing wrong and that Smith and the DOJ are interfering in the 2024 election by prosecuting the former president.
The Delaware U.S. Attorney, David C. Weiss, and the Hunter-Biden Correspondence in the Appellate Division
When David C. Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware, asked for special counsel status, the Justice Department says Mr. Garland approved his request quickly.
There are some discrepancies between the statements of both Mr. Garland and Mr. Weiss, with the question at the core of the case being whether the discrepancies are misunderstandings or more sinister.
In the Hunter Biden case, Mr. Weiss and Mr. Garland gave assurances to lawmakers that they had the authority to bring charges.
Three other witnesses at that meeting have contradicted the specifics of Mr. Shapley’s claims, saying they did not hear Mr. Weiss say what Mr. Shapley attributed to him. But they have vouched generally for the statements about Mr. Weiss’ limited authority, describing a more nuanced scenario in which Mr. Weiss had sought to partner with prosecutors in Washington, D.C., and California, only to be rebuffed, causing him to try a different approach.
Mr. Weiss was turned down for special counsel status when he applied, which would have given him more flexibility in handling the case.
Instead, Mr. Weiss said he had discussions with Justice Departmental officials about a potential appointment as a “special attorney,” which would allow him to bypass the standard chain of command and file charges against Hunter Biden outside his district.