Attorney General Merrick Garland maintains that the U.S. attorney handling the criminal investigation into Hunter Biden’s business dealings will be able to bring potential charges against Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, outside of Delaware if needed.
In February 2021, President Biden asked for the resignations of all Senate-confirmed U.S. attorneys except U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who was to stay on throughout the investigation of Hunter Biden. The younger Biden is under federal investigation for his taxes and is also being investigated for potential money laundering as well as possible foreign lobbying violations under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
GOP Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa continues to press Garland about Weiss. Still, the attorney general insisted, “If it’s in another district, he would have to bring the case in another district. But as I said, I promise to ensure that he’s able to carry out his investigation and that he’d be able to run it. And if he needs to bring it in another jurisdiction, he will have full authority to do that.”
Grassley replied that a referral outside of Delaware would mean that a Biden-appointed federal prosecutor would have to conduct the criminal case somewhere outside Delaware. Grassley suggested that charges against Hunter Biden may also need to be brought in California or Washington, D.C. because he lived and worked in both locations for years.
“If Weiss, the U.S. attorney here in Delaware, must seek permission from a Biden-approved U.S. attorney to bring charges, then the Hunter Biden criminal investigation isn’t insulted from political interference as you have publicly proclaimed,” argued Grassley.
Republican Representative James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, has said former business associates of Hunter Biden are continuing to cooperate with the investigation; however, it is not known what will be gleaned from their testimony.
Hunter Biden’s past business dealings remain the center of the investigation
Hunter Biden held a controversial position on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy giant, while his father served as vice president. He also pursued business deals with China during and after his father’s tenure. Some Chinese businessmen he worked with were tied to Chinese intelligence.
“If the Justice Department received information that foreign persons had evidence of improper or unlawful financial payments paid to elected officials and other politically exposed persons, and those payments may have influenced policy decisions, would that pose a national security concern and demand a full investigation?” asked Grassley of Garland.
Garland replied, “If it’s an agent of a foreign government asking someone and paying someone to do things to support that foreign government in secret, yes, I definitely think that would be a national security problem.”
Grassley has said that “protected disclosures” by whistleblowers revealed that “the FBI has within its possession significant, impactful, and voluminous evidence with respect to potential criminal conduct” by James Biden and Hunter Biden.
