At a recent press conference, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland shot down the narrative from Republicans like Josh Hawley and Jim Jordan that the president’s son Hunter Biden was given special treatment or had his recently concluded investigation handled in some generally suspicious fashion.
Hunter Biden, who for some reason has been a prominent fixture of GOP conspiracy theories about imaginary corruption ensnaring the president’s family, recently had a plea arrangement announced that saw him admitting to multiple tax offenses and facing a single weapons charge that he’d otherwise deal with. And that’s it — no allegations of some sweeping bribery scheme and nothing ensnaring the president himself either, though Jordan has helped promote the allegations of a whistleblower who’s alleged there was pressure to orient the Hunter Biden investigation in a way that would be politically favorable to Joe. There’s no evidence for that.
“As I said at the outset, Mr. Weiss, who was appointed by President Trump as the U.S. Attorney in Delaware and assigned this matter during the previous administration, would be permitted 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,” Garland said. “Mr. Weiss has since sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee confirming that he had that authority. I don’t know how it would be possible for anybody to block him from bringing a prosecution, given that he has this authority.”
Garland was speaking alongside other top officials. The condemnation of Republicans’ narrative from multiple sources inside the Justice Department, including the prosecutor behind the Hunter Biden case, has been consistent. Still, the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees will no doubt continue running with Republican theories, with their party’s control of the chamber set to last until at least early in 2025.
Check out Garland’s comments below:
Attorney General Merrick Garland denies IRS whistleblower allegations that he interfered with the Hunter Biden case:
“[David Weiss] was given complete authority to make all decisions on his own.” pic.twitter.com/SEMLcK6Wk2
— The Recount (@therecount) June 23, 2023
