DOJ shredded for 'inexplicable' handling of Hunter Biden probe: 'I genuinely am perplexed'

CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said Monday he is "perplexed" at the way that the Department of Justice has conducted the Hunter Biden probe, claiming it has made "a real mess" and will have to deal with the "consequences."

"The Lead" host Erica Hill agreed, adding that the DOJ risks losing the "public trust" over how it has handled the probe.

The segment aired in the afternoon, with Hill bringing up a recent New York Times article detailing how now-special counsel David Weiss was looking to drop the case against Hunter Biden earlier this year, until IRS whistleblowers came forward to allege misconduct. 

Now that Weiss has been named special counsel in the probe, and is spearheading the investigation, Hill remarked to Honig that it is "quite the evolution" in the case and suggested that the behavior of the DOJ is unusual.

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CNN legal analyst Elie Honig slammed the DOJ investigation into Hunter Biden, claiming they've "made a real mess" of it. (Screenshot/CNN)

She asked the analyst, "Have you ever seen a federal case play out like this before?"

Honig replied "No, Erica, it’s really inexplicable to me." He then detailed the twists and turns of the case so far.

"First, we basically had five years of behind-the-scenes investigation with no transparency, no action, and some questions being asked, ‘What’s taken so long?’" he said.

"But in the last couple months we’ve seen a pattern here," Honig continued, adding, "We’ve now seen it play out two or three separate times. DOJ moves towards a very lenient disposition, they’re just about to lock in that lenient disposition, and then there arises pressure, either through whistleblower testimony or through public scrutiny, and then DOJ backs off and says, ‘Actually, we’re not gonna do that, now that it’s been called out, we’re gonna try to up it a little bit.’"

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Honig claimed to be "perplexed" over how the Department of Justice has been conducting its investigation into Hunter Biden's alleged crimes. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Highlighting the winding road of the investigation, Honig said, "And then that happened again. And then, they go all the way to appointing special counsel the same guy who’s been presiding over the case for five plus years already."

He concluded, "So I genuinely am perplexed by what DOJ is doing here. I think that they have made a real mess for themselves and now they’re gonna have to deal with the consequences of it."

Hill added, "So in terms of the mess and consequences, look, public trust is certainly one of them." She then asked  if bringing Biden to trial would be one way to get "public confidence in the investigation" back.

Honig answered, stating, "It may be, Erica, you know, DOJ has sort of been in a darned if they do, darned if any don’t posture on this from the start. But they have made it way worse by sort of careening back and forth here. It may well be that any deal is never going to be accepted as fair. So, if I’m in David Weiss’ shoes here, heaven help me."

Honig also slammed the DOJ and Weiss earlier in the day on "CNN This Morning," stating, "The takeaway is that the DOJ has made an unholy mess of this whole Hunter Biden situation. I fault David Weiss, who I’ve spoken positively about on this show, given his long service as a U.S. attorney." 

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Gabriel Hays is an associate editor for Fox News Digital.