David Weiss, a U.S. attorney serving in Delaware whose time in the post originates with a selection by then-President Donald Trump, has again refuted allegations spread by sources including Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) of malfeasance.
Jordan has been spreading such allegations of a potentially serious problem in the context of the federal investigation conducted into Hunter Biden, a son of the current president. For some odd reason, Hunter has consistently been a key figure in GOP conspiracy theories about corruption that Republicans imagine ensnares the president’s family. Though they all came with further courses of action including a plea already lined up, Hunter is now facing a short series of criminal accusations, including claims of tax offenses. In an honestly unsurprising turn of events, a man named Gary Shapley with evident career experience at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has claimed the contours of key parts of the investigation were limited, effectively providing the Biden family with a political boost.
Shapley evidently has also claimed retaliation. In a letter recently sent to Jordan, who is leading the House Judiciary Committee in this Congress, Weiss refuted some of this, also outlining how it just wasn’t true that there were significant external restraints placed upon the investigative actions he could take around the Bidens.
“First, the Department of Justice did not retaliate” against Shapley, the June 30 letter from Weiss unequivocally asserts.
And though the prosecutor reiterated that he could not provide some of the critical documentation related to the Hunter Biden case that Jordan wanted because of long established standards around maintaining the secrecy of such materials, he continued: “As the U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware, my charging authority is geographically limited to my home district. 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. If not, I may request Special Attorney status from the Attorney General pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 515. Here, I have 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.” Read here.
Image: Gage Skidmore/ Creative Commons
