Either Weiss lied about his investigation or Weiss and Garland cheated Congress. It’s a fact.

In a letter obtained by The Federalist dated June 7, 2023 from Delaware U.S. attorney David Weiss, he told the House Judiciary Committee that he “had been granted ultimate authority” to make prosecutorial decisions regarding the criminal investigation of Hunter Biden. Weiss’s statement to Congress and Merrick Garland’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which stated that Weiss has “full authority” in charging Hunter Biden, are directly at odds with the statements Weiss gave to senior members of his team.

Either Weiss lied about his investigation or Weiss and Garland cheated Congress. It’s a fact.

There’s Something Wrong with the Addition

Last week, the House Ways and Means Committee released IRS Criminal Supervisory Specialist Agent Gary Shapley’s testimony and exhibits. This created a serious controversy.

Shapley, an IRS whistleblower, who had come forward with allegations of political bias and protocol breaches in a high profile investigation earlier this year, testified to the House Ways and Means Committee on May 26, 2023, during a session behind closed doors. The House released the transcript of Shapley’s testimony, which was the first confirmation of Hunter Biden being the subject of an investigation.

Shapley testified for hours to congressional investigators, stating that the meeting on October 7, 2022 with Weiss, senior managers from IRS, FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office was his “red line” meeting. The whistleblower said that Weiss attended the meeting, and he surprised the team when he told them, “I’m not the person who decides whether charges are brought.”

Shapley stated that Weiss explained to him that Matthew Graves (the Biden-appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia) would not allow Weiss file charges against Hunter Biden within the D.C. District, because certain crimes needed to filed in D.C. based on Hunter Biden’s residence during the relevant period. Shapley stated, “Weiss said that he later asked for special council authority from Main DOJ and was denied this authority.”

Shapley explained that without the cooperation of Biden’s appointed U.S. Attorneys, Weiss was clear that he couldn’t bring charges outside the Delaware District. The statute of limitations for felony tax allegations against the son of the president for the tax years 2014 and 2015 expired.

The IRS whistleblower shared an email thread Shapley had started following the meeting with Weiss with the House Committee. Shapley summarized what happened in his email of Oct. 7, 2022: “Weiss said that he does not decide whether charges are brought” (bold original). Shapley then commented that he “believe[s] this to be a huge problem–inconsistent with DOJ public position and Merrick Garland testimony.”

Weiss claimed he requested Special Counsel authority in D.C. when the email was sent, but that the “Main DOJ ” denied his request.

Darrell J. Waldon (special agent in charge, FBI D.C. Field Office), who was present at the meeting on Oct. 7, responded to the summary email by saying: “Thanks Gary.” You covered everything.”

Merrick Garland Denies the Denial

Garland, at a press conference on Friday, contradicted Shapley’s testimony. He said: “As i stated from the beginning, Mr. Weiss, who was appointed as U.S. attorney in Delaware by President Trump and assigned to this case during the previous administration, would be allowed to continue his investigations and make a decision about whether to prosecute in the district he chose and any other way he wished.

This statement is consistent with Garland’s previous unequivocal testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee in March 2023 when Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley sought clarification as to whether Weiss was authorized by law enforcement authorities outside of the Delaware District.

The attorney general responded that Weiss had full authority to file cases in other jurisdictions, if that was what he felt necessary. He also stressed that he would make sure that Weiss could do so.

Garland repeated this point when Grassley asked if Weiss was “independently charged with certain criminal allegations made against the President’s Son outside of the District of Delaware.”

Garland responded, “He’d have to bring the matter in another district.” But he added, “But, as I said, it was my promise to him that I would ensure that he could carry out his own investigation, that he run it, and that, if necessary, he can bring it to another jurisdiction.”

Garland’s testimony on March 1, 2022, directly contradicted what Weiss told investigators in the Oct. 7, 2020 meeting. Shapley’s email sent following the meeting shows that Shapley also believed that Weiss’s statement that he did not have the authority to bring charges against Hunter Biden within another district was in conflict with what Garland told Congress.

Bill Hagerty, a Tennessee senator, had asked Garland, during an April 26th, 2022, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science, if Garland was briefed on Hunter Biden’s investigation. The attorney general responded that “Hunter Biden’s investigation is being conducted and supervised” by the United States Attorney for the District of Delaware.

Garland added, “He supervises the investigation” and “he is responsible for that investigation”, stressing there would be no interference from any political or inappropriate sources.

Shapley’s testimony to the House Ways and Means Committee contradicts Garland’s claim that there wouldn’t be any improper or political interference. The whistleblower’s statement and the email he sent to the House are incompatible with Garland’s clarification testimony given on March 1, 2023. Garland stated during that hearing that the “U.S. Attorney in Delaware was advised that he had full authority to bring cases elsewhere if that’s what he felt it needed.”

The Weiss Letter

It is not just the veracity or otherwise of Garland’s Senate testimony which is being questioned. Weiss sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee on June 7, 2023.