The developments are a major turn in the long-standing federal investigation into Hunter Biden, which has created a political distraction for President Biden amid GOP efforts to tie him to his son’s alleged misconduct. Republicans have not presented evidence that the president was involved in any wrongdoing.
Garland announced the special counsel appointment during a midday news conference at Justice Department headquarters in Washington. Weiss, an appointee of former president Donald Trump’s who began the investigation of Hunter Biden in 2018 and has continued to lead the prosecution under Garland, stands to gain broad authority and, presumably, will help distance the attorney general from some key decisions in the case.
Justice officials said that Weiss requested Tuesday to be named special counsel and that Garland agreed. Weiss will hold this position while he continues to serve as the U.S. attorney in Delaware, Garland said.
“Mr. Weiss advised me that in his judgment, his investigation has reached a stage at which he should continue his work as a special counsel,” Garland said in a statement. Given the “extraordinary circumstances” of the case, Garland said, “I have concluded it is in the public interest.”
Garland’s announcements the latest twist in Hunter Biden’s years-long legal saga. He had reached a tentative agreement with federal prosecutors in June to plead guilty to two minor tax crimes and admit to the facts of a gun charge under terms that would probably have kept him out of jail.
But that deal unraveled in a federal courtroom in Delaware last month when the judge assigned to the case questioned whether the terms of the deal were constitutional and asked them to spend a few weeks to ensure it was on solid legal footing.
Hunter Biden’s attorney, Chris Clark, said in a statement Friday that he is not aware of any wrongdoing that Biden committed outside of Delaware that could be prosecuted.
“It is hard to see why [Weiss] would have proposed such a resolution if there were other offenses he could have successfully prosecuted, and we are aware of none,” Clark said. “We are confident when all of these maneuverings are at an end my client will have resolution and will be moving on with his life successfully.”
Garland has maintained that Weiss has wielded full authority to make independent decisions during the Hunter Biden investigation. The attorney general did not delineate Friday how special counsel status would notably change Weiss’s authority.
The appointment could clarify whether Weiss can bring charges in states outside Delaware. An IRS agent who supervised the investigation told Congress this year that Weiss had said he could not bring charges outside Delaware.
The Justice Department has denied the IRS agent’s claims.
“As special counsel, he will continue to have the authority and responsibility that he has exercised previously to oversee the investigation and decide where, when and whether to file charges,” Garland said Friday.
Weiss and his prosecutors have described the investigation as “ongoing.”
Republican politicians have repeatedly accused Hunter Biden of broad wrongdoing in his overseas business deals and have questioned whether Weiss has aggressively pursued the investigation.
