Hunter Biden, son of former President Joe Biden, and his wife Melissa Cohen Biden, leave the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on June 07, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Now no longer a DOJ employee, Weiss spoke candidly for hours with the committee, shedding new light on his interactions with the Biden DOJ and giving fresh insight into why Hunter Biden was never charged with certain violations.
Weiss was appointed U.S. attorney of Delaware during the first Trump administration and began investigating Hunter Biden at that time. Former Attorney General Merrick Garland made Weiss special counsel in August 2023 after a plea agreement with Hunter Biden fell apart.
Republicans had accused Weiss of offering Hunter Biden a "sweetheart" plea deal that involved only misdemeanors. But in an unusual move, a judge rejected the deal, leading Weiss to instead bring two successful indictments against the then-first son, one for illegal gun possession and another for nine tax charges, including three felonies.
Weiss came under enormous scrutiny by Republicans and Democrats for his handling of the investigation, which had become a hyper-political national news story centered on the salacious behavior and wrongdoings of Hunter Biden, a recovering drug and alcohol addict, and allegations that Joe Biden was complicit in his son’s crimes.
Republicans claimed Weiss was not tough enough on Hunter Biden, while Democrats said he was being treated more harshly than a typical defendant because he was the president’s son. Joe Biden ultimately granted an unconditional pardon to his son, a move widely criticized by members of both parties.
Hunter Biden and Joe Biden (Teresa Kroeger/Getty Images for World Food Program USA)
"To the extent I can put together — and this is general — a case that involves more years than not and allows me to more fully develop allegations about a course of conduct and a scheme, that's better for the prosecution," Weiss said. "So it's not like I'm looking to cut out years generally when you're pursuing a tax investigation."
During the years in question, Hunter Biden was raking in $1 million per year as a board member of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma while his father, then vice president, was overseeing foreign policy with Ukraine. The scenario became ripe for questions about conflicts of interest, in part because of suspicious interactions between Hunter Biden and the Obama State Department.
In Weiss’s final special counsel report, he dodged explaining why he brought charges of failure to pay taxes and tax evasion against Hunter Biden only for the tax years after 2015, citing Joe Biden’s pardon. Now, Weiss said, he would be more willing to talk about it if he were legally allowed to do so.
Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, pressed Weiss, saying the "political aspects of Burisma" raised "glaring" questions about the prosecutorial decisions made for the years for which Hunter Biden avoided charges.
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"I understand," Weiss replied. "Absolutely. Yes. And I wish that I could address it. But it's my understanding that, for me to trip into 2014 and '15 is a violation of [U.S. code]."
Weiss also told the committee his team had no serious discussions about charging Hunter Biden under a foreign lobby law called the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
"We just couldn't put together a sufficient case," Weiss said.
Ashley Oliver is a reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business, covering the Justice Department and legal affairs. Email story tips to ashley.oliver@fox.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/special-counsel-david-weiss-got-little-help-from-biden-doj-prosecute-presidents-son-hunter-transcript