The federal prosecutor leading an investigation into Hunter Biden defended his “ultimate authority” over the decision to charge the president’s son.
United States Attorney David Weiss has come under fire since two IRS whistleblowers came forward with allegations about the investigation, accusing the Department of Justice of slow-walking the inquiry and blocking investigators from following leads linking Biden’s conduct to President Joe Biden.
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In a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) on Friday, Weiss wrote he was “required to protect confidential law enforcement information and deliberative communications related to the case,” but repeated his position that he had “been granted ultimate authority over this matter, including responsibility for deciding where, when and whether to file charges.”
House Republicans have questioned Weiss’s authority over the Hunter Biden investigation since two IRS whistleblowers said the prosecutor had been blocked from pursuing charges in Washington, D.C., and in California.
Weiss, who is the U.S. attorney in Delaware, told Jordan he had control and authority over the investigation, but, because of his office, he had to partner with other U.S. attorney’s offices.
“As the U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware, my charging authority is geographically limited to my home district,” Weiss wrote. “If venue for a case lies elsewhere, common Departmental practice is to contact the United States Attorney’s Office for the district in question and determine whether it wants to partner on the case.”
Last month, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Jason Smith (R-MO) held a closed-door meeting with the committee to review whistleblower reports about misconduct in the DOJ and IRS. After the meeting, Smith held a press conference, telling reporters about Weiss’s attempts to bring charges against Hunter Biden in 2022 and his being denied both times.
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Smith also said that while Weiss had asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to protect his investigation by granting him special counsel status in 2022, his request was denied.
Weiss addressed the special counsel status of his investigation in Friday’s letter, writing he had “been assured that, if necessary after the above process, I would be granted § 515 Authority in the District of Columbia, the Central District of California, or any other district where charges could be brought in this matter.”