Special Counsel David Weiss was the only individual considered for special counsel status despite the fact he allowed the statute of limitations to lapse and gave Hunter Biden a sweetheart plea deal that collapsed under judicial scrutiny, Attorney General Merrick Garland told lawmakers Wednesday.
“I did not consider an alternative” because “to put in an alternative would have greatly disrupted investigation,” Garland told House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH).
“He was the only one under consideration?” Jordan asked again. “It was either no special counsel or if there was a special counsel, it was going to be the guy who presided over the investigation for the previous five years?”
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) September 20, 2023
“I thought about the possibility of what the consequences would be both of not appointing him and trying to find somebody else at that time, but there was no other,” Garland claimed.
IRS whistleblowers told lawmakers in August that Weiss allowed the civil and criminal statutes of limitations to expire, even though Weiss investigated Hunter Biden for five years before his appointment to special counsel. The expiration allowed Hunter Biden to forgo paying $125,000 in taxes related to income from Burisma Holdings, the whistleblowers said.
Weiss, nominated for United States prosecutor by two Democrat senators, also agreed to give Hunter Biden a sweetheart plea deal. The deal collapsed after a Delaware judge scrutinized it.
United States Attorney David C. Weiss (Screenshot/CBS News)
The agreement afforded Hunter Biden the ability to plead guilty for not paying taxes on over $1.5 million in income in 2017 and 2018, receiving probation rather than jail time. In addition, Weiss devised a separate diversion agreement that gave Hunter Biden immunity from potential future charges, including a provision to essentially wipe a felony gun violation from his record.
Jordan questioned Garland about Weiss’s special counsel status, citing the whistleblower allegations and the failed sweetheart plea deal.
“Number one, they let the statute of limitations run, they let it expire. In fact number two, the plea deal fell apart,” Jordan stated. “So I just wanted to be clear that the guy who presided over all that was the only guy under consideration for special counsel designation. Is that right?”
“Mr. Weiss is a person known for high integrity,” Garland replied. “I have no doubts about his abilities.”
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
