Hunter Biden probe heats up as 30 GOP senators call for prosecutor to have special counsel authority

Fearing potential interference in their investigation of Hunter Biden, 30 Senate Republicans have penned a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and requested that he give the investigating prosecutor, attorney David C. Weiss, “special counsel protections and authorities to conduct the Hunter Biden investigation.”

Led by Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the lawmakers called out Garland for “chilling” whistleblower activity surrounding the investigation.

“As detailed by Senator Grassley, ‘highly credible’ whistleblower have come forward to detail a ‘widespread effort within the FBI to downplay or discredit negative information about’ Hunter Biden,” the letter reads, according to Fox News. “Instead of encouraging FBI and DOJ whistleblower to report crimes and promote government transparency, you took the inexplicable step of chilling lawful whistleblower activity.”

“Indeed,” it continues, “on August 30, 2022… you issued a memorandum prohibiting DOJ and FBI employees from communicating with ‘Senators, Representatives, congressional committees, or congressional staff without advance coordination, consultation and approval by OLA.'”

Weiss was appointed by former President Donald Trump, but he was kept on by the Biden administration to avoid accusations of political interference. According to the GOP Senators, the gesture does not go far enough as the Justice Department has been politicized under Merrick’s watch.

“Given the politicization of the DOJ under your watch and the importance of avoiding any appearance of impropriety, the undersigned request that you provide U.S. Attorney Weiss the full protections and authorities of a special counsel,” the letter reads. “This is one important action that you can take that will go a long way to restoring faith in our governmental institutions.”

The letter, which is expected to be sent on Monday, comes a day after President Joe Biden claimed on CBS’s “60 Minutes” that he knows of nothing regarding his scandal-ridden son that is of concern.

“There’s not a single thing that I’ve observed at all that would affect me or the United States relative to my son Hunter,” he stated definitively.

It also follows a claim from a Fox News source in July who stated that the investigation into Hunter Biden has reached a “critical stage.” Charges for, among other possible things, tax violations and foreign lobbying violations are being discussed.

Testifying before the Senate earlier this year, Garland praised Weiss but declined to weigh in on the possibility of a special counsel.

Responding to Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Garland stated, “The investigation is being run and supervised by the United States attorney in Delaware who is an appointee of the previous administration, and continues on as the United States attorney.”

“The question of whether to have a special counsel is one that’s internal decision-making in the department so I don’t want to make any judgments one way or another,” he continued. “But I’m quite comfortable with the United States attorney for that district continuing in the role he’s playing.”

Melissa Fine

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