Garland denies allegations of politics impacting Hunter Biden plea deal

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday forcefully rejected allegations from congressional Republicans and an Internal Revenue Service whistleblower that political considerations impacted the federal investigation into Hunter Biden.

“As I said at the outset, Mr. [David] Weiss, who was appointed by President [Donald] Trump as the U.S. Attorney in Delaware and assigned this matter during a 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 during a press conference at Justice Department headquarters about a crackdown on fentanyl precursors.

“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 added. “He was given complete authority to make all decisions on his own.”

Garland’s comments Friday were his first substantive discussion about the Hunter Biden investigation since two criminal tax charges and one gun-related felony charge were filed in federal court in Delaware on Tuesday against President Joe Biden’s 53-year-old son.

Under a plea deal with Weiss’ team, Hunter Biden has agreed to plead guilty to the more minor tax charges, but will avoid a felony record on the gun charge if he fulfills the obligations of a two-year period of probation. The sentence is subject to approval by a federal judge.

Republicans have denounced the deal as unduly soft, pointing to allegations that Hunter Biden traded on potential access to his father when seeking business overseas. No crimes of that sort are in the charges filed this week, and Hunter Biden’s attorneys have said they believed that the agreement rules out future prosecution of him on such matters.

In deposition testimony released Thursday, IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley described alleged interference by prosecutors with Weiss’ probe, claiming that the prosecutor’s efforts to file criminal charges had been turned down by officials in Washington and that Weiss was subsequently denied the independence conferred by special counsel status.

However, Garland said he never received such a request from Weiss.

“Mr. Weiss never made that request to me,” the attorney general said.

Garland added that Weiss “has more authority” than would a special counsel, who is effectively required to clear certain major decisions with the attorney general.

The attorney general noted that Weiss confirmed in a letter to Congress that he’d been given sweeping authority. Garland also said he’d welcome Weiss testifying to Congress whenever the prosecutor thinks the time is right.

“I would support Mr. Weiss explaining or testifying on these matters when he deems it appropriate,” the attorney general said.

Separately, a lawyer for Hunter Biden issued a statement Friday rejecting Republican claims that the proposed resolution to the probe is a cushy deal.

“As his attorney through this entire matter, I can say that any suggestion the investigation was not thorough, or cut corners, or cut my client any slack, is preposterous and deeply irresponsible,” attorney Chris Clark said.

Clark said suggestions his client sought advice from, or access to, his father in connection with business deals were the product of Hunter Biden’s long struggle with drug addiction.

“The DOJ investigation covered a period which was a time of turmoil and addiction for my client. Any verifiable words or actions of my client, in the midst of a horrible addiction, are solely his own and have no connection to anyone in his family. Biased and politically-motivated, selective leaks have plagued this matter for years,” Clark added.

While Garland seemed eager to confront the GOP allegations head-on Friday, during an appearance in Sweden earlier this week for meetings with European Union counterparts, Garland had deflected questions about the Hunter Biden deal.

“I would leave this matter in the hands of the United States attorney who was appointed by the previous president and assigned to this matter by the previous administration, that he would be given full authority to decide the matter as he decided was appropriate. And that’s what he’s done,” the attorney general said there. “If you have any further questions about that matter, you should direct them to the U.S. attorney to explain his decision.”