On 9/20/2023, during House hearing, Attorney General Merrick Garland sensationally contradicted himself, insisting that the Hunter Biden investigation never faced obstacles from President Biden’s Justice Department — before admitting Biden-appointed US attorneys until recently “could refuse to partner” on prosecuting the president’s son.
House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) grilled Garland on IRS whistleblower claims that he lied under oath earlier this year about Delaware US Attorney David Weiss having “full authority” to bring charges outside the state — when in fact top federal prosecutors in DC and Los Angeles allegedly refused to go after Hunter Biden for tax fraud.
“Quote, ‘Mr. Weiss has authority to bring cases and other jurisdictions if he feels it’s necessary.’ That was your response, attorney general, to Sen. [Chuck] Grassley’s question on March 1, 2023,” Jordan pressed Garland at the Judiciary Committee hearing. “The only problem is he had already been turned down by the US Attorney in the District Columbia, Matthew Graves. So he didn’t have full authority, did he?”
Garland at first sought to defend his prior testimony, which critics say was belied by his elevation of Weiss Aug. 11 to the rank of special counsel to bring charges against the first son anywhere in America over about $2.2 million in alleged tax evasion.
“I had an extended conversation with Sen. Grassley at the time. We briefly touched on the Section 515 question and how that process went,” Garland at first said. You said he had complete authority, but he’d already been turned down,” Jordan interjected. “He wanted to bring an action in the District of Columbia and the US attorney there said, ‘No, you can’t.’ And then you go tell the United States Senate, under oath, that he has complete authority.”
“I’m going to say again that no one had the authority to turn him down,” Garland responded. “They could refuse to partner with him.”
“You can use whatever you use language you want — refuse to partner is turning down,” Jordan replied.
Garland also insisted during an exchange with Rep. Russell Fry (R-SC) that Weiss “had the authority because I promised he would have the authority” — even if he didn’t have the specific grant of authority at the time.
Until Weiss was named a special counsel, he would need approval from DOJ leadership to be granted special attorney or special counsel status to bring charges outside Delaware if other US attorneys refused to participate.
The attorney general repeatedly declined to comment on the investigation of Hunter Biden, during which IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler said that Weiss’s office stymied key investigative steps — including preventing them from investigating Joe Biden’s alleged role in Hunter’s business dealings in countries such as China and Ukraine.
Garland said he could not comment on any details because of the “ongoing” investigation while deflecting other queries, including about Hunter’s reported $1.3 million in art sales to a presidential appointee and other still-unidentified buyers since his father entered the White House.
The attorney general repeatedly emphasized that Weiss was nominated in 2017 by former President Donald Trump, without noting that he was recommended by the state’s two Democratic senators, who are close Biden allies.
Garland also refused to say whether he’s spoken to Weiss or anyone else about the sprawling Hunter Biden probe, which appeared poised to end in a probation-only plea deal before a federal judge in July rejected the agreement.
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Garland admits Biden-appointed attorneys could ‘refuse to partner’ on Hunter tax-dealings probe