U.S. Attorney David Weiss allegedly told a group of law enforcement officials investigating Hunter Biden he did not have ultimate authority to charge the president’s son, according to an email IRS Agent Gary Shapley sent in October 2022.
Biden, who has been under investigation since 2018, is expected to plead guilty to two tax-related misdemeanors. Shapley and another whistleblower testified to the House Ways and Means Committee that Weiss, the U.S. Attorney who has been investigating Biden since the Trump administration, was denied the power to charge him in California and Washington, D.C. Weiss and Attorney General Merrick Garland have both said Weiss had ultimate charging authority on the case.
“Weiss stated that he is not the deciding person on whether charges are filed,” Shapley wrote in an email released by his attorneys with Empower Oversight to IRS Criminal Investigation division chief Michael Batdorf and Washington, DC, field office Special Agent in Charge Darrell Waldon. (RELATED: DOJ Prosecutors Who Allegedly Refused To Charge Hunter Biden Donated To Joe Biden And Kamala Harris, Records Show)
“I believe this to be a huge problem—inconsistent with DOJ public position and Merrick Garland testimony,” Shapley wrote. He went on to note the Department of Justice (DOJ) tax division would have “discretion” over the case, and that Weiss knew he would not have a case in Delaware as early as June 2021. After Joe Biden-appointed U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves refused to charge Hunter Biden in DC, Shapley went on, “Weiss requested Special counsel authority.”
“Main DOJ denied his request and told him to follow the process,” Shapley concluded.
EXHIBIT 10: IRS WB Shapley email October 7, 2022 “Weiss stated that he is not the deciding person on whether charges are filed. I believe this to be a huge problem – inconsistent with DOJ public position and Merrick Garland testimony.” @EMPOWR_us pic.twitter.com/fQDCgxSBpN
— Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) July 10, 2023
The email appears to contradict a letter Weiss sent to Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham earlier Monday. In that message, Weiss wrote he has “not requested Special Counsel designation pursuant to 28 CFR § 600 et seq. Rather, I had discussions with Departmental officials regarding potential appointment under 28 U.S.C. § 515, which would have allowed me to file charges in a district outside my own without the partnership of the local U.S. Attorney.”
Special counsels like Jack Smith, Robert Mueller and John Durham have been appointed under 28 CFR § 600, which allows the Attorney General to grant specially-appointed prosecutors broad powers to investigate criminal allegations. 28 U.S.C. § 515, which is more limited in scope, simply allows already-appointed prosecutors to bring charges in any jurisdiction.
Shapley and the other whistleblower made disclosures to Ways and Means in early June. They testified Weiss sought to bring charges against Hunter Biden for conduct committed in Washington, DC, in 2014 and 2015, but that U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves declined to do so. The statute of limitations for Biden’s conduct in DC has since expired.
They also testified Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf stymied the Delaware-based investigation into Hunter Biden by repeatedly warning his attorneys of law enforcement officials’ interest in both a storage locker he rented and Joe Biden’s home in Wilmington.
Garland and IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel both testified under oath there would not be interference into the Hunter Biden investigation.