U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has dismissed claims made by whistleblowers stating that the Justice Department, FBI and IRS obstructed U.S. Attorney David Weiss’s investigation of the Hunter Biden probe.
READ: Hunter Biden to Plead Guilty on Tax and Weapons Charges
Speaking to reporters, Garland clarified, “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.” He further emphasized that Weiss had full autonomy over his proceedings, saying, “I don’t know how it would be possible for anybody to block him from bringing a prosecution, given that he has this authority.”
These comments come in the wake of allegations by two IRS whistleblowers suggesting that officials at the Justice Department, FBI and IRS had interfered with Weiss’s tax evasion case against Hunter Biden. The whistleblowers, released by the House Ways and Means Committee, accused these officials of curtailing inquiries relating to President Biden as part of the investigation into his son.
IRS Criminal Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley Jr., one of the whistleblowers who supervised the IRS investigation, accused the Justice Department of “slow-walking” the probe, limiting the investigators’ questioning, and delaying the investigation, ostensibly to avoid influencing elections.
Following these allegations, the Justice Department defended its position: “As both the Attorney General and U.S. Attorney David Weiss have said, U.S. Attorney Weiss has full authority over this matter, including responsibility for deciding where, when, and whether to file charges as he deems appropriate. He needs no further approval to do so. Questions about his investigation should be directed to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Delaware.”
These whistleblower allegations surfaced shortly after the Justice Department announced that Hunter Biden would plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax, which is expected to keep him out of prison. Additionally, Biden agreed to enter a pretrial diversion agreement regarding a separate charge of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.
The White House has consistently denied any involvement of President Biden in his son’s business affairs, maintaining that the President has never discussed them with his son.
