BREAKING: Merrick Garland appoints US Attorney for Delaware as special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden

Merrick Garland held a surprise press conference on Friday afternoon, during which the Attorney General appointed a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden and the lack of DOJ action on allegations against him.

He appointed the very US Attorney for Delaware who has come under fire for not properly investigating Hunter Biden, or for allowing others to do that work. Weiss, Garland said, asked to be appointed to this position.

"I'm here today to announce the appointment of David Weiss as a special counsel, consistent with the Department of Justice regulations governing such matters," Garland said. "In keeping with those regulations, I have today notified the designated members of each house of Congress of the appointment.

"In February 2018, after being nominated by the former President and confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Weiss was sworn in as the United States Attorney for the District of Delaware. Mr. Weiss had been a career prosecutor, having served previously in the office for more than a decade.  Beginning in 2019, Mr. Weiss in his capacity as US attorney and along with federal law enforcement partners, began investigating allegations of certain criminal conduct by, among others, Robert Hunter Biden.

"That investigation has been recently referenced in federal criminal proceedings in the district of Delaware. And as noted in those proceedings, and other public statements by Mr. Weiss's office, that investigation remains ongoing.

"In February 2021, US Attorney Weiss was asked to remain as US Attorney for the District of Delaware and in that capacity to continue to lead the investigation. As I said before Mr. Weiss would be permitted to continue his investigation, take any investigative steps he wanted and make the decision whether to prosecute in any district.

"Mr. Weiss has told Congress that he has been granted ultimate authority over this matter, including the responsibility for deciding where, when and whether to file charges and for making decisions necessary to preserve the integrity of any prosecution, consistent with federal law, the principles of federal prosecution and departmental policies.

"And in July 2023 letter to Congress, Mr. Weiss said that he had not to that point, requested Special Counsel designation I'm Tuesday of this week. Mr. Weiss advised me that in his judgment, his investigation had reached the stage at which he could and should continue his work as a special counsel. And he asked to be so appointed 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. This appointment confirms my commitment to provide Mr. Weiss all the resources he requests. It also reaffirms that Mr. Weiss has the authority he needs to conduct a thorough investigation and to continue to take the steps he deems appropriate independently, based only on the facts and the law.

"Mr. Weiss will also continue to serve as US Attorney for the District of Delaware. As special counsel he will continue to have the authority and responsibility that he has previously exercised to oversee the investigation and decide where when and whether to file charges.

"The special counsel will not be subject to the day to day supervision of any official of the department but he must comply with the regulations, procedures and policies of the department. Consistent with the Special Counsel regulations at the conclusion of Mr. Weiss's work, he will provide me with a report explaining the prosecution or declination decisions reached by him as with each special counsel who has served since I've taken office, I am committed to making as much of his report public as possible, consistent with legal requirements and department policy.

"Today's announcement affords the prosecutors, agents and analysts working on this matter the ability to proceed with our work expeditiously and to make decisions indisputably guided only by the facts and the law. The men and women undertaking this investigation are public servants who have dedicated their careers to protecting the citizens of this country. The appointment of Mr. Weiss reinforces for the American people.

"The department's committed meant to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters. I am confident that Mr. Weiss will carry out his responsibility in an even handed and urgent manner and in accordance with the highest traditions of this department."

Weiss was mentioned by IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley during his testimony before the House in June, saying that Weiss told him directly that, as US Attorney for Delaware, he was "not the deciding official on whether charges are filed" in the Hunter Biden tax fraud case in 2022. Shapley said that DC Attorney Matthew Graves also declined to bring charges against Hunter Biden in his district.

Weiss said that in 2022, "he subsequently asked for special counsel authority from Main DOJ at that time and was denied that authority." 

"All of our years of effort getting to the bottom of the massive amounts of foreign money Hunter Biden received from Burisma and others during that period would be for nothing," Shapley told Congress. There was no district that would prosecute the case despite the mounting evidence of criminal activity by Hunter Biden, and implications against his father.

In Shapley's testimony, Weiss is mentioned more than 30 times in relation to investigations into Hunter Biden. In November 2020, when Shapley and other IRA agents intended to take the case against Hunter Biden public, they were told by Weiss, per House testimony, that they could not do that because the presidential campaign was being contested.
 

"United States Attorney Weiss stated on November 10th, 2020, that he had to delay the day of action because it was a contested election. He also stated that because there was no leak in the investigation to date, therefore not public at the time, that the primary focus was to protect the integrity of the investigation, which meant to keep it concealed from the public," Shapley testified.

In December of that year, Weiss, per Shapley, "jubilantly congratulated the investigative team for keeping the investigation a 'secret'" during a 12-hour meeting in Weiss' Delaware office. Weiss was "in and out" of that meeting, during with US Attorney Leslie Wolf directed Shapley away from investigating the Biden's and asking questions.

Weiss did agree, per Shapley's testimony, to allow a search warrant to be executed on a storage unit belonging to Hunter Biden, but, Shapley alleged, Wolf tipped Hunter off.

In April 2022, Garland testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee. During that hearing, Senator Bill Hagerty "asked him how the American people could be confident that the administration was conducting a serious investigation into the President's own son."

"Because we put the investigation in the hands of a Trump appointee from the previous administration, who is the United States Attorney for the District of Delaware, and because you have me as the Attorney General, who is committed to the independence of the Justice Department from any influence from the White House in criminal matters," Garland said. That attorney was Weiss.

"The Hunter Biden investigation is being run by and supervised by the United States Attorney for the District of Delaware. He is in charge of that investigation. There will not be interference of any political or improper kind," Garland said.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.