The prosecutor who led the Justice Department’s investigation into Hunter Biden’s financial records, U.S. Attorney David Weiss, on Monday offered to testify before the House Judiciary Committee amid Republican criticism of the lenient plea deal he offered Biden.
The Justice Department said in a letter to House Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan (R., Ohio) that Weiss would testify after Congress's August recess. Jordan and other House Republicans have been pushing for Weiss to answer for his plea deal with Hunter and his response to whistleblowers' allegations that the DOJ undermined the investigation into Biden. The Justice Department asked in the letter for Weiss to testify publicly, but Republicans have asked for a closed-door hearing.
The offer comes about a month after Weiss charged President Joe Biden's son with two misdemeanor tax charges and a felony gun charge. The U.S. Attorney’s Office offered a plea deal on the tax charges and a diversion agreement on the felony gun charge, likely meaning Hunter Biden will dodge any prison time. Hunter Biden is due to appear in court Wednesday and is expected to accept the prosecutor's plea and diversion offer, which Republicans have criticized as a sweetheart deal.
Two IRS whistleblowers have alleged the Justice Department was "slow-walking investigative steps" and that Weiss told investigators he did not have the final say in bringing charges against Hunter Biden. IRS supervisory criminal investigator Gary Shapley and IRS special agent Joseph Ziegler testified to the House Oversight Committee last week that top Justice Department officials blocked agents from asking about Joe Biden while questioning witnesses, tipped off the Biden presidential transition team about the investigators’ next steps, and delayed search warrants.
Weiss has denied that supervisors at the Justice Department blocked him from bringing charges against Hunter Biden "in any jurisdiction."
An email released last month, however, corroborates whistleblower claims that the Justice Department interfered in Weiss's investigation. In the email, Shapley's supervisor confirms that "Weiss stated that he is not the deciding person on whether charges are filed," signaling some higher official at the Justice Department, not Weiss, had the final say.