The federal prosecutor tasked with investigating Hunter Biden told at least six witnesses last year that he did not have authority to charge the first son outside of Delaware and had been denied special counsel status, according to an Internal Revenue Service whistleblower’s legal team — contradicting sworn testimony from Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Delaware US Attorney David Weiss made the shocking statement during an Oct. 7, 2022, meeting with IRS investigators and FBI agents, IRS supervisor Gary Shapley told the House Ways and Means Committee last month.
“He surprised us by telling us on the charges, ‘I’m not the deciding official on whether charges are filed,'” Shapley recalled during his May 26 testimony.
“He then shocked us with the earth-shattering news that the Biden-appointed D.C. U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves would not allow him to charge in his district,” added Shapley, who later explained that Graves’ denial meant that Hunter, now 53, would not face charges in connection with alleged actions he took in 2014 and 2015, including “foreign income from Burisma [Holdings] and a scheme to evade his income taxes through a partnership with a convicted felon.”
“The purposeful exclusion of the 2014 and 2015 years sanitized the most substantive criminal conduct and concealed material facts,” he said.
In the same Oct. 7, 2022, meeting, Shapley recalled, Weiss said he had “subsequently asked for special counsel authority from Main DOJ at that time and was denied that authority. Instead, he was told to follow the process, which was known to send U.S. Attorney Weiss through another President Biden-appointed U.S. Attorney.”
In a statement issued Friday evening, Shapley’s legal team identified four of the six witnesses in the meeting as Baltimore FBI Special Agent in Charge Tom Sobocinski and Assistant Special Agent in Charge Ryeshia Holley, as well as Shapley and his boss, IRS Special Agent in Charge Darrell Waldon.
In an internal IRS email memorializing the Oct. 7, meeting and made public with Shapley’s testimony, the whistleblower wrote that Weiss’ disclosure that he was “not the deciding person” was “a huge problem — inconsistent with DOJ public position and Merrick Garland testimony.”
The following Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022, Waldon corroborated Shapley’s read on the proceedings, responding: “Thanks, Gary. You covered it all.”
Also present at the meeting were Shawn Weede and Shannon Hanson, who work in Weiss’ office as a criminal chief prosecutor and assistant prosecutor, respectively.
None of the meeting attendees responded to The Post’s request for comment. The FBI referred inquiries for Sobocinski and Holley to Weiss’s office — even though the US Attorney’s comments are specifically at issue.
The Justice Department told The Post earlier Friday that Garland and Weiss have both maintained the Delaware US Attorney has had “full authority over this matter, including responsibility for deciding where, when and whether to file charges as he deems appropriate,” without further approval necessary.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said the disparities between the Department of Justice’s statements and Shapley’s testimony need to be reconciled — and has apparently tapped Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to lead the inquiry.
“US Attorney David Weiss must provide answers to the House Judiciary Committee,” McCarthy tweeted Sunday. “If the whistleblowers’ allegations are true, this will be a significant part of a larger impeachment inquiry into Merrick Garland’s weaponization of DOJ.”
Garland has also noted that Weiss was appointed by former President Donald Trump and allowed under President Biden “to continue his investigation and to make a decision to prosecute any way in which he wanted to and in any district in which he wanted to.”
Hunter Biden is expected in federal court July 26 as part of a probation-only plea deal he reached with Weiss’ office following a five-year investigation into potential tax and gun crimes.
The first son was spotted at a state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday evening — which Garland also attended — and later accompanied his father to Camp David on a weekend trip.