Hunter Biden Investigation Heats Up: David Weiss Pushes Back Against President’s Criticism
Special Counsel David Weiss, who secured convictions against Hunter Biden on drug and gun charges, strongly criticized President Biden’s remarks.
Special Counsel David Weiss, who led the successful prosecution of Hunter Biden on charges of tax fraud and illegal firearm possession, has strongly criticized President Joe Biden’s recent remarks about the investigation. Weiss, in a detailed report released on Monday, described the president’s comments as “gratuitous and wrong,” pushing back against the criticism of the Justice Department’s handling of the years-long probe into the president’s son.
Weiss emphasized the integrity of the Justice Department, stating that past presidents who have pardoned family members did not use such occasions to undermine public servants or question their professionalism. He pointed out that President Biden’s statements appeared to be based on “false accusations” rather than factual evidence. These remarks were included in a comprehensive 27-page report summarizing the extensive investigation into Hunter Biden’s financial misconduct and illegal gun possession, a case that has drawn significant public and political attention.
The report highlights tensions between the White House and the Justice Department, with Weiss defending the impartiality of his team while subtly criticizing the president for politicizing the matter.
Special Counsel David Weiss, who also serves as the U.S. Attorney for Delaware, firmly defended his decision to prosecute Hunter Biden, emphasizing that the charges were based on clear violations of the law rather than political motivations. In his recently released report, Weiss wrote, “I prosecuted the two cases against Mr. Biden because he broke the law,” making it clear that his actions were guided strictly by legal principles rather than personal or political bias.
Weiss included hundreds of pages of court documents with his report, reinforcing the legitimacy of the legal proceedings against the president’s son. He pointed out that Hunter Biden was found guilty of federal gun charges by a unanimous jury, while the first son himself admitted guilt in the tax fraud case by entering a guilty plea. Weiss emphasized that his decisions were consistent with his long-standing commitment to justice, stating, “As I have done for twenty years, I applied the Principles of Federal Prosecution and determined that prosecution was warranted.”
However, President Joe Biden, 82, took a contrasting stance on the matter. On December 1, he issued a broad pardon for Hunter Biden, his only surviving son, contending that the criminal cases had been driven by “raw politics” and amounted to a “miscarriage of justice.” The president’s remarks suggested a belief that his son had been unfairly targeted in a politically charged legal battle, sparking further public debate over the impartiality of the prosecution and the Justice Department’s handling of the case.
In his pardon announcement, President Joe Biden expressed deep concern over what he described as the selective and unfair prosecution of his son, Hunter Biden. The president, who was responding to ongoing legal issues surrounding Hunter, claimed, “I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.” At the time of the pardon, Hunter, aged 54, was awaiting sentencing for a pair of federal cases involving serious criminal charges.
Hunter Biden had been convicted in June of three felonies related to illegal firearm possession. Then, in September, he pleaded guilty to charges of tax evasion, admitting to failing to pay taxes on over $1.4 million in income derived from foreign business dealings, including in China and Ukraine. These actions had sparked widespread controversy, particularly because Hunter’s father, as Vice President at the time, was implicated in some of these foreign dealings, raising questions about potential conflicts of interest and whether Hunter’s actions had involved his powerful father. The president’s pardon, which came after these legal developments, framed the charges as politically motivated and an unjust attack on his son.
President Joe Biden, in his statement regarding his son’s legal troubles, asserted, “No reasonable person who examines the facts of Hunter’s cases can come to any conclusion other than that Hunter was singled out solely because he is my son – and that is wrong.” Despite this claim, it’s important to note that many similar cases, involving individuals not connected to high-profile political figures, have been prosecuted and led to imprisonment for those convicted. The president’s remarks emphasized his belief that Hunter’s case was an unfair and politically motivated exception, though this perspective contrasts with the broader legal precedent for such offenses.
During his re-election campaign, President Joe Biden initially stated that he would not pardon his son, Hunter Biden, while emphasizing that former President Donald Trump should respect the legal process and accept his conviction on 34 felony counts related to falsifying business records in New York. Trump, in turn, dismissed the case as politically motivated.
However, when Biden ultimately decided to grant his son a pardon, he framed the decision as being influenced by his belief in the justice system, while also acknowledging that political forces had played a role in the legal proceedings. “Here’s the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice,” Biden stated in his justification for the pardon.
Special Counsel David Weiss, however, strongly disagreed with the president’s perspective. In his report, Weiss rejected the notion that the prosecution was politically driven, writing, “These prosecutions were the culmination of thorough, impartial investigations, not partisan politics.” He pointed out that eight judges across multiple courts had reviewed and rejected claims that the charges against Hunter were motivated by political bias or selective prosecution.
Special Counsel David Weiss strongly criticized any attempts to question the rulings in Hunter Biden’s case, arguing that such actions introduce partisanship into the legal process and undermine the core principles of fairness and impartiality that define the U.S. justice system. He stated, “Calling those rulings into question and injecting partisanship into the independent administration of the law undermines the very foundation of what makes America’s justice system fair and equitable. It erodes public confidence in an institution that is essential to preserving the rule of law.”
However, Weiss’s report did not address several controversial aspects of the lengthy investigation, including claims made by IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler. The whistleblowers alleged that Justice Department officials had deliberately delayed the investigation, obstructed efforts to gather evidence, and prevented the pursuit of leads that could have implicated Joe Biden in foreign business dealings.
Additionally, the report did not explain why Weiss filed charges only after the whistleblower allegations came to light in early 2023, nor did it clarify why he initially recommended probation for Hunter Biden after he agreed to plead guilty months earlier, only for the deal to fall apart in July 2023.
Special Counsel David Weiss’s report did not address several critical questions, such as why he allowed the statute of limitations to expire on alleged tax fraud committed by Hunter Biden before 2016. It also failed to explain why Weiss chose not to pursue charges under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) against Hunter, even though similar charges were pursued against others in comparable situations.
James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee and a key figure in the House impeachment inquiry into alleged corruption within the Biden family, criticized the report as inadequate. Comer accused Weiss of releasing a “flawed” 27-page document after President Joe Biden granted his son an unprecedented pardon. He claimed the pardon prevented the special counsel from holding Hunter Biden accountable for what he described as an international influence-peddling operation facilitated by the president.
Comer further stated, “Let’s be clear: the Biden DOJ was never going to prosecute the Biden Crime Family,” adding that the president’s legacy, like his family’s business dealings, was rooted in corruption.
Weiss defended his actions, asserting that they were beyond criticism. He stated, “Throughout my decision-making process, I remained completely unaffected by political pressures.”
Weiss also justified the specific charges he brought against Hunter Biden, dismissing the argument that his past struggles with alcohol and drug abuse should excuse the tax offenses. He explained, “The evidence showed that, despite earning millions from high-paying positions, Mr. Biden chose to prioritize financing his lavish lifestyle over paying his taxes.”
Weiss emphasized that the tax violations in question were far from minor or technical, stating, “These are not ‘inconsequential’ or ‘technical’ violations of the tax code.” He further dismissed the notion that Hunter Biden’s drug use could explain his actions, pointing out that he filed a false tax return for 2018—intentionally underreporting his income to reduce his tax liability—around eight months after he had gotten sober in February 2020. Given the seriousness of the tax crimes, Weiss concluded that prosecution was entirely justified.
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