For a second there, Attorney General Merrick Garland almost had Republicans.
On Friday, the head of the Department of Justice announced that there was going to be a special counsel in the Hunter Biden investigation. Yes! Moreover, the special counsel would be an individual previously appointed by former President Donald Trump. Yes! According to The Associated Press, Garland told the media the special counsel should work in an “even-handed and urgent” manner. Yes!
And then conservatives noticed the special counsel, David Weiss, was the same U.S. prosecutor who had been investigating the Hunter Biden case for years and had never gotten to the point of an indictment. Um, no. And he was also the one who was behind the sweetheart plea deal that was struck down by a federal judge. “Um, no,” but this time in italics.
And just in case you needed too long to figure out what the new special counsel is going to be doing, one of his first act’s was to move to dismiss the Hunter Biden tax charges to file in a new venue — you know, away from the judge who struck down that plea agreement.
The move was part of a filing on Friday in which Weiss wrote that talks between the parties had failed, according to CNN.
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“After the hearing, the parties continued negotiating but reached an impasse,” prosecutors wrote. “A trial is therefore in order.”
🚨BREAKING: DOJ moves to dismiss Hunter Biden tax charges to file in new venue, rendering Hunter Biden plea deal null and void pic.twitter.com/7WUv24Yg99
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) August 11, 2023
However, the move away from the Delaware venue could open up a window for a pro-Biden judge to view it — especially since Weiss now wants the case to possibly be heard in either Washington, D.C., or California.
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“Venue for these offenses does not lie in Delaware,” prosecutors wrote in their filing. “Rather, venue for these offenses and any other related tax offenses lies either in the Central District of California or in the District of Columbia.”
In other words, away from District Judge Maryellen Noreika, who rejected the plea deal that offered Hunter Biden broad immunity for tax and gun charges because it was, to use her words, “confusing,” “not straightforward,” “atypical” and “unprecedented.”
Put plainly, just because Weiss says that “[a] trial is therefore in order” doesn’t necessarily mean he plans to bring a trial, just a find judge who might be more amenable to whatever new plea agreement he happens to reach with Hunter Biden’s counsel.
Republicans, needless to say, weren’t happy — and were vociferous about it after Weiss was announced as special counsel on Friday.
“David Weiss can’t be trusted and this is just a new way to whitewash the Biden family’s corruption,” said a spokesman for House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio. “Weiss has already signed off on a sweetheart plea deal that was so awful and unfair that a federal judge rejected it.”
House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, meanwhile, said it was a “Biden family coverup.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scales of Louisiana, meanwhile, warned Republicans not to “be fooled.”
“Garland appointing Weiss as a sham special counsel on Hunter is a way to block info from Congress while claiming they’re investigating,” he tweeted in the aftermath of the announcement.
Don’t be fooled. Garland appointing Weiss as a sham special counsel on Hunter is a way to block info from Congress while claiming they’re investigating.
Weiss approved the sweetheart plea deal. This is an even better deal for Hunter since charges may never come.
Outrageous.
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) August 11, 2023
“Weiss approved the sweetheart plea deal. This is an even better deal for Hunter since charges may never come,” he wrote. “Outrageous.”
“There were provisions within that sweetheart plea deal that granted complete immunity to Hunter Biden for these crimes and future crimes,” Missouri Republican Rep. Jason Smith told Fox News.
“And [the judge] even stated that she’s never seen anything like that before. And who was the architect of that? Now, the person who Garland — who president Biden’s Justice Department — just appointed to be special counsel. I am very fearful that appointing this special counsel is just an attempt to stonewall Congress’ investigation of the Biden family.”
David Weiss was the architect of Hunter Biden’s sweetheart plea deal and oversaw the botched investigation into his alleged tax crimes.
Appointing him special counsel isn’t about Justice, it’s about stonewalling our investigation into the Biden family. pic.twitter.com/T6KHTMdOQL
— Rep. Jason Smith (@RepJasonSmith) August 11, 2023
Now, could Weiss take the role of special counsel seriously and finally prosecute Hunter Biden on his shady business dealings and gun charges to boot? If he does, that won’t eliminate the fact that 1) he was still picked not in spite of, one surmises, but because of the sweetheart plea deal he offered Hunter, and 2) he shouldn’t have been eligible to have been picked in the first place.
As former federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy wrote at National Review on Friday, “under the regulations that Garland purports to be applying, what makes a special counsel special is that he or she is a lawyer brought in from outside the government, not just outside the Justice Department.” [Emphasis in the original.]
The Weiss appointment is proof of why that language exists in the federal code: A corrupt administration might try to take the heat off of itself by appointing an “independent” special counsel who doesn’t even bother having the appearance of independence.
“Weiss is an official of the government and the Biden Justice Department,” McCarthy wrote.
“In his statement this afternoon, Garland confirmed not only that Weiss had been asked in February 2021 to stay on with the Biden Justice Department, but that — notwithstanding today’s farcical appointment — Weiss will be continuing on as the Biden Justice Department’s top prosecutor in Delaware.
“That is to say: Weiss is the vehicle by which the Biden Justice Department intends to maintain tight control over the so-called Biden investigation.”
Both the attorney general and the special counsel apparently take the average voter for a moron. Americans should return the favor and show both Garland and Weiss as much contempt as they’ve shown the country.
