Special counsel David Weiss said in an interview with House lawmakers Tuesday that he had full authority over his investigation of Hunter Biden and then refused to answer other questions about the ongoing probe.
In his opening statements to the House Judiciary Committee in a closed-door interview, Mr. Weiss said that he has been calling shots in the politically charged Hunter Biden case.
“I am, and have been, the decision-maker on this case. I do not, however, make these decisions in a vacuum,” he said. “I am bound by federal law, the principles of federal prosecution and DOJ guidelines.”
He said he was “prepared to address misunderstandings about the scope of my authority to decide where, when, and whether to bring charges in this matter,” but he won’t answer any questions that “could jeopardize the ongoing litigation, our investigations, or the rights of defendants or other individuals involved in these matters.”
Mr. Weiss gave few if any answers after that for the House’s probe into allegations Hunter Biden was shielded from prosecution for tax and gun crimes, according to lawmakers in the room.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan told reporters outside the interview room that Mr. Weiss “won’t answer a lot of questions.”
“He will only talk about his authority,” said Mr. Jordan, Ohio Republican. He said that one “key takeaway” was that Mr. Weiss had requested “special attorney authority” in spring of 2022 and was not given it, instead being told to “follow the process” by the Justice Department.
“This whole deposition was about, this interview was about, the changing story we got from DOJ regarding the authority that he had,” he said.
The probe also dovetails with the House impeachment inquiry into President Biden and his role in hugely profitable foreign business deals hatched by his son and other family members.
Rep. Matt Gaetz said, “Mr. Weiss was here incarnate, but not particularly in spirit.” The Florida Republican said Mr. Weiss was being “evasive” and had provided the committee with “almost nothing.”
This is the first time a Justice Department special counsel has answered questions from Congress before the end of a probe. Mr. Weiss’ spokesperson, Wyn Hornbuckle, said in a statement that the special counsel is “prepared to take this unprecedented step of testifying before the conclusion of his investigation to make clear that he’s had and continues to have full authority over his investigation and to bring charges in any jurisdiction.”
Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, Pennsylvania Democrat, told reporters that the proceeding has been “an absolute waste of time [and] a farce.”
Rep. Daniel Goldman, New York Democrat, said that he wanted “all of this to be public.”
Republicans “want to cherry-pick a very few things, pull them out of context and mislead the American public because they know that they are going down a rabbit hole where there’s no merit to it. And that is exactly the case,” he said. “They’re trying to make a case that somehow, some way, there was interference from the Biden administration in this investigation.”
The transcribed interview Tuesday focused on testimony from an Internal Revenue Service whistleblower who claimed that the investigation into Hunter Biden was “slow-walked” and mishandled under Mr. Weiss. He has denied the allegation.
House Republicans are investigating Hunter Biden for his foreign business dealings that date back to President Biden’s time as vice president.
Mr. Gaetz criticized Mr. Weiss’ silence when questioned about U.S. Attorneys Martin Estrada of California and Matthew Graves of Washington who previously testified that they didn’t stop Mr. Weiss from filing charges in their districts, but they did not want to partner with him on it.
“Anytime we had any questions about any communication regarding the Department of Justice or Mr. Graves, he would demure and say that it was just part of his deliberative process,” Mr. Gaetz said. “Well, the reason Congress has questions is because that deliberative process has resulted in some pretty bizarre outcomes.”
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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