The House Judiciary Committee will soon hear testimony from special counsel David Weiss and is preparing to interview other Justice Department officials next month in connection with its examination of the long-running probe into first son Hunter Biden.
Weiss, Washington, DC, US Attorney Matthew Graves, Los Angeles US Attorney E. Martin Estrada and Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart Goldberg will all sit for interviews, a spokesman for the House panel told The Post on Monday.
Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) received a letter from the DOJ on Friday confirming its “commitment” to having Weiss testify “in the near term” on his authority to bring charges against the 53-year-old Hunter — but not by mid-October as Jordan requested, according to a copy of the missive also obtained by The Post.
Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte told Jordan that the “volume and requested pace” of the Judiciary Committee’s proposed interview schedule “far exceeds the Department’s resources, especially in light of the Committee’s other pending requests and subpoenas to the Department on other topics.”
“We remain committed to providing information voluntarily, without unnecessary escalation,” he said. “However, any additional testimony and documents shared at this early juncture must continue to be appropriately limited to protect the ongoing matter and important confidentiality interests.”
The testimony is meant to shed light on repeated claims by Weiss and Attorney General Merrick Garland that the Delaware US Attorney’s office faced no impediment to bringing charges against the first son and maintained “full authority” to do so.
Last week, Garland contradicted himself about the inquiry, affirming both that Weiss had the “authority” to indict Hunter Biden — and noting that other US attorneys had the right to decline partnering on the case.
“I’m going to say again that no one had the authority to turn him down,” Garland told Jordan in the Sept. 20 hearing. “They could refuse to partner with him.”
The Justice Department made Graves available on Oct. 3, Estrada on Oct. 20 and Goldberg on Oct. 24, according to its letter to Jordan. A date has not been set for Weiss.
The Judiciary Committee spokesman told The Post that interviews with the federal prosecutors are currently being scheduled.
Weiss had been prepared to answer questions from House lawmakers in July before plea talks broke down between his prosecutors and Hunter Biden’s defense team in court.
Weiss’ office on June 20 charged Hunter Biden, 53, with evading $1.2 million in tax payments in 2017 and 2018 — and let him duck a felony charge for lying on a firearm purchase form about his crack cocaine use in 2018.
But on July 26, the first son pleaded not guilty to two tax misdemeanors and walked away from a diversion agreement for the firearms charge.
US District Judge Maryellen Noreika forced prosecutors to say in Wilmington, Del., federal court that a provision in the plea agreement would not grant the first son sweeping immunity from past charges.
Defense attorney Chris Clark immediately afterward declared the plea agreement “null and void.”
Weiss’ office on Sept. 14 hit Hunter Biden with three charges for the firearms offense in a new indictment, for which he faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison. His initial hearing is scheduled for Oct. 3.
IRS whistleblowers have alleged to the House Ways and Means and Judiciary committees that the Biden Justice Department interfered in the case, allowing Hunter to duck felony tax charges on $2.2 million in missed payments.
They also claim that Weiss was denied special counsel authority from the Justice Department and that Graves and Estrada turned him down when he sought to partner on Hunter’s case.
The New York Times has also independently confirmed that Estrada declined Weiss’ offer.
IRS Director of Field Operations Michael Batdorf and DC IRS Special Agent in Charge Darrell Waldon in recent transcribed interviews also said the DOJ’s Tax Division would also have to sign off on any charges Weiss sought.
Shapley, Ziegler, Batdorf, Waldon and two FBI agents from the Baltimore field office were present at an Oct. 7, 2022, meeting, at which Weiss allegedly said he was “not the deciding person” on charging the first son.
Shapley, Ziegler and Batdorf have confirmed the remark, whereas Waldon, and FBI agents Tom Sobocinski and Ryeshia Holley have said they could not recall Weiss’ purported statement.
Garland on Aug. 11 elevated Weiss to special counsel status for the investigation, further undermining his claim that the Delaware prosecutor was already vested with the power necessary to carry it out.
In the Friday letter, the Justice Department affirmed that the attorney general will also produce a written report for the House Judiciary Committee on Weiss’ decision to not prosecute other charges laid out by IRS investigators.
Those include potential violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act for his business deals abroad, according to IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley and IRS Special Agent Joseph Ziegler.
Hunter Biden, his family members, and associates raked in roughly $8.3 million in income between 2014 and 2019 from entities in Ukraine, Romania and China, the IRS whistleblowers alleged.
The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed bank records for the first son showing that funds from the Romanian deal flowed to at least nine Biden family members.
The first son has also said his father, President Biden, asked him to fork over “half” of his income, according to text messages found on his abandoned laptop.
Devon Archer, who cofounded the investment firm Rosemont Seneca Partners with Hunter, also testified to Congress that the first son put his father on speakerphone at least 20 times while meeting with foreign business associates.
House Republicans earlier this month launched an impeachment inquiry into the president over his alleged involvement with his son’s business dealings, which largely occurred while Biden was serving as vice president in the Obama White House.
The House Oversight Committee is set to begin its impeachment inquiry against Biden with a hearing on Thursday morning.