Attorney General Merrick Garland Appoints David Weiss As Special Counsel In Hunter Biden Investigation
11.08.2023 - 16:51
/ deadline.com
U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who has been overseeing the investigation into Hunter Biden, has been appointed to the post of special counsel, a move intended to give him a new level of independence from the Justice Department.
Attorney General Merrick Garland made the announcement on Friday, amid Republican claims that the investigation of the president’s son had been treated differently and that a proposed plea deal was too lenient.
Weiss, a Trump appointee, has supervised the case since 2019, and remained in his position after Biden took office.
Last month, a proposed plea deal, criticized by House Republicans, unraveled in a Delaware federal court. Biden was to plea guilty to two counts of failure to pay federal income tax, and to enter a diversion program that would resolve a potential gun charge. At one point during the hearing, prosecutors had insisted that the investigation was ongoing, while Hunter Biden’s attorneys said that the deal meant that he would not face additional charges.
Although Weiss had previously not requested special counsel designation, he did so on Tuesday, Garland said. The attorney general said that Weiss advised him that “in his judgment, the investigation had reached a stage at which he should continue his work as a special counsel, and he asked to be so appointed.”
“Upon considering his request, as well as the extraordinary circumstances relating to this matter, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint him as a special counsel,” Garland said.
He said that as special counsel, Weiss “will continue to have the authority and responsibility that he has previously exercised to oversee the investigation and to decide where, when and whether to file charges,” Garland said.
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