Attorney General Merrick Garland’s announcement that he was granting special counsel status to U.S. Attorney David Weiss is quite obviously a response to the indictment of Trump, the IRS whistleblowers, and to a Delaware judge calling out the slap on the wrist that the DOJ had colluded to grant Hunter Biden.

IRS whistleblowers had testified that Weiss had been denied the authority to charge Hunter Biden in the relevant jurisdictions by local U.S. Attorneys who were Biden appointees.

Garland, the Justice Department, and Weiss denied this (albeit in very selective ways) and the media cheered.

U.S. Attorney Smacks Down GOP “Whistleblower” Claims – New Republic

Federal prosecutor pokes hole in key Republican claim about Hunter Biden case, says never asked for special counsel status – Daily News

Now Garland has announced that Weiss will have special counsel status.

Previously, according to Garland, Weiss could have charged Hunter Biden in any jurisdiction anyway. (A claim which is factually not true.) But if that was true, then why grant him special counsel status now?

As a practical matter, it’s meaningless.

Whatever Weiss might have done, he had already sold out. His response to the IRS whistleblowers demonstrated that much. Dragging the Hunter Biden matter through a more extended staged fight will ultimately have the same conclusion. It’ll just be more of a show. This time the fine may be bigger and an extended open-ended investigation, which hurtful to Hunter, will keep the matter out of the hands of Congress.

Weiss, having proven himself, will now get to be a special counsel and run out the clock.