Republican chairmen accuse DOJ of circumventing ‘rule of law,’ demand Weiss appointment docs

Top House Republicans demanded documents, communications and directives from the Justice Department surrounding the appointment of U.S. Delaware Attorney David Weiss to special counsel status in the Hunter Biden probe.

Republican chairmen from three separate House committees sent the letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, giving the top DOJ official until Sept. 11 to comply with their demands.

The letter, signed by House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer of Kentucky, House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan of Ohio, and House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith of Missouri, contended that the reason for Mr. Weiss’ appointment was murky and raised “numerous concerns.”

“Your appointment raises numerous concerns considering earlier statements from you and Mr. Weiss that Mr. Weiss already had ‘ultimate’ authority — free of any political pressure — to pursue the investigation” however he wished, the lawmakers wrote.

“Now, recently reported information raises additional concerns about the Department’s unusual actions in this matter, and suggests that the Department under your leadership has been attempting to circumvent the rule of law in favor of Hunter Biden, President Biden, and the Biden family,” the lawmakers wrote. “Given the extremely serious nature of these issues, the Committees expect unfettered cooperation with our oversight from both you and the Department.”

The lawmakers questioned Mr. Weiss’ decision-making following the collapse of the plea deal earlier this month to which he and Hunter Biden’s defense lawyers agreed.

The deal crumbled under scrutiny from a U.S. District Court judge who questioned part of the deal that related to a felony gun charge against the first son.

The agreement, widely blasted as a sweetheart deal, would have let Hunter Biden plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges, and allow the dismissal of a felony gun charge if he completed two years of probation. It also would have given him blanket immunity from all possible future charges on his Burisma ties.

Following the collapse of the deal, Mr. Weiss requested and was approved by Mr. Garland to be appointed special counsel.

“It is not clear why you have only now, after the investigation has been going on for five years, opted to appoint Mr. Weiss as special counsel, especially after you and the Department represented that Mr. Weiss already had ‘ultimate’ authority over the case,” the lawmakers wrote.

“Indeed, the only explanation you have offered is that ‘extraordinary circumstances’ require the appointment,” the three GOP chairmen added.

The lawmakers also questioned Mr. Weiss’ leadership of the tax probe, particularly for a laundry list of deviations from standard investigative procedures that the trio said “afforded Hunter Biden special privileges not afforded to other Americans.”

Some of those deviations, according to whistleblower testimony, included tipping off Hunter Biden’s lawyers that investigators were planning to search a storage unit that he owned, and allowing the statute of limitations to run out on tax charges in 2014 and 2015.

“Now you have appointed as special counsel an individual who oversaw all the investigation’s irregularities, who spent the past two months claiming that he did not need special counsel status, and who was responsible for the plea agreement that collapsed in court and is widely viewed as an embarrassment for the Department,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter.