Senate Republicans Seek Garland Hearing to ‘Clarify’ Hunter Biden Prosecutorial Authority

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) arrives for a meeting at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 10, 2019. Alex Wong/Getty Images

Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans, led by ranking Republican member Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), are seeking a hearing so U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss can “clarify” their previous statements about Mr. Weiss’s authority in the Hunter Biden tax-evasion case.

Mr. Graham, joined by Sens. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), told Judiciary Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) in an Aug. 4 letter that Mr. Garland and Mr. Weiss must “clarify previous statements in light of recent events related to the Hunter Biden tax investigation.”

The letter was prompted by the failures of Mr. Garland and Mr. Weiss to respond fully to Mr. Graham’s previous request for answers regarding whether Mr. Weiss could bring any charges in any federal court without prior clearance from Mr. Garland.

Mr. Weiss told Mr. Graham in a July 10 response that he has “never been denied the authority to bring charges in any jurisdiction,” a claim that Mr. Garland has also made in public statements, including during testimony he gave under oath before the judiciary panel in March.

But IRS Special Agent Gary Shapley, in testimony on July 19 before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, said Mr. Weiss told him and other investigators and attorneys involved in the tax investigation of Mr. Biden that he had to get prior permission before filing charges in any federal court outside of Delaware and that he had requested special counsel authorities but was denied.

Whistleblower Gary Shapley, an IRS supervisory special agent, testifies before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability at a hearing in Washington on July 19, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

“[Mr. Shapley’s] testimony credibly alleges that the Biden Administration’s IRS, FBI, and DOJ mishandled the Hunter Biden tax investigation, by engaging in a ‘delay, divulge, and deny’ campaign. Ranking Member Graham also sought information about a FD-1023 that contained allegations of Biden family corruption. U.S. Attorney Weiss and his team had been briefed on this document and told that the allegations did not initially appear to be foreign disinformation,” the Republican senators said in the letter.

The letter’s reference to an FD-1023 pertains to a memorandum received by the FBI in 2015 from a trusted confidential source describing conversations between Hunter Biden; his then-vice-president father, Joe Biden; and certain key executives with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. Hunter Biden served on the Burisma board, as did his then-business partner Devon Archer.

The memorandum claimed that both Bidens were given $5 million by the Ukrainian company in return for the vice president’s assistance in opening the United States and other energy markets and in dealing with corruption charges then being investigated by a Ukrainian prosecutor.

“Agent Shapley’s testimony is directly relevant to this committee’s oversight authority and has been corroborated by other witnesses to the October 7th meeting. Baltimore FBI Special Agent in Charge Tom Sobocinski, Baltimore FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Ryeshia Holley, and IRS Special Agent in Charge Darrell Waldon were all witnesses to U.S. Attorney Weiss’s statements in the October 7th meeting,” the letter reads.

“In fact, Agent Waldon had asked Agent Shapley to summarize the October 7th meeting in an e-mail to another member of the team. As requested, Agent Shapley sent an e-mail on the evening of October 7, 2022. In that email, he stated in bold, underlined typeface that ‘Weiss stated that he is not the deciding person on whether charges are filed.’

“Agent Shapley also wrote in his e-mail that Weiss told the members of the meeting that (1) the U.S. Attorney for the District of D.C. (D.D.C.) said that Weiss could not charge in D.D.C., (2) Weiss requested special counsel authority, and (3) ‘Main DOJ denied his request.’ Agent Shapley copied Agent Waldon on the e-mail and asked Agent Waldon to ‘comment if [Shapley] [missed] something.’ Agent Waldon responded that Agent Shapley ‘covered it all,’ directly corroborating Agent Shapley’s version of events.

“In light of the foregoing discrepancies, both Attorney General Garland and U.S. Attorney Weiss must come before our Committee to clarify their statements regarding Mr. Weiss’s authority to charge in districts outside the District of Delaware. They must also explain what happened to the allegations that were provided to them in the FD-1023.”

A spokesman for Mr. Durbin couldn’t be reached for comment.