Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel in the criminal investigation of Hunter Biden, signaling a wider probe of President Joe Biden's son ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
USATODAY reports Garland announced Friday that he is elevating David Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware who has led the Hunter Biden investigation for five years, to special counsel status.
Garland, delivering a surprise statement from the Justice Department headquarters, said Weiss informed him on Tuesday that "his investigation had reached a stage at which he should continue his work as a special counsel" and asked for the appointment.
"Upon considering his request, as well as the extraordinary circumstances relating to this matter, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint him as special counsel," Garland said.
The move marks a significant turn in the Justice Department's ongoing investigation of Hunter Biden, whose plea deal with prosecutors to resolve tax evasion and gun charges unraveled in court last month.
Shortly after the special counsel appointment, prosecutors filed a motion stating that the two sides are at an "impasse" and that the government expects the matter to go to trial. The Justice Department is seeking to move the case to either a federal court in Washington or California, which prosecutors argue would be the appropriate venues for the alleged crimes.
After his appointment as Special Counsel, Weiss has announced that the deal with Hunter is dead as Dillinger. Defense counsel may now regret telling the prosecutors to "just rip up" the agreement. FARA anyone?
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) August 11, 2023
After long repeating denials of Joe Biden that he ever knew about his son’s foreign business deals, the media must now recognize that Hunter was selling influence and access. So they have added yet another task: show Joe Biden actually accepting money.https://t.co/0WGfWqeBVs
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) August 11, 2023
After news broke that Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed David Weiss to be the special counsel in the ongoing Department of Justice’s Hunter Biden probe, former federal prosecutor and CNN legal analyst Shan Wu trashed the decision as a "debacle."
Hunter Biden special counsel appointment called ‘debacle’ for Biden Justice Department https://t.co/NFIiH5Rrsy #FoxNews
— Tom Benson (@Tombenson1) August 12, 2023
Wu argued the move reveals that Garland is paranoid of looking political and slammed the AG for poorly managing the investigating into the president’s son, claiming it implies there’s a connection between the president and his son's behavior.
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