The Justice Department prosecutor leading the criminal investigation into Hunter Biden must be given special counsel powers and protections, dozens of Republican senators have demanded.
Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney David Weiss is leading the criminal inquiry into the president’s son, and the GOP now wants to make sure he can carry out the investigation without interference.
“Given that the investigation involves the President’s son, we believe it is important to provide U.S. Attorney Weiss with special counsel authorities and protections to allow him to investigate an appropriate scope of potentially criminal conduct, avoid the appearance of impropriety, and provide additional assurances to the American people that the Hunter Biden investigation is free from political influence,” the letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland said.
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The letter was organized by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), and was signed by at least 33 Senate Republicans, including Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the Republican minority leader, and Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Johnson (R-WI), who have long led investigations into Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings.
The Republicans argued that “given the politicization of DOJ under your watch and the importance of avoiding any appearance of impropriety,” granting Weiss special counsel powers “is one important action that you can take that will go a long way in restoring faith to our governmental institutions.”
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Hunter Biden revealed he was under federal investigation for his taxes shortly after the 2020 election, and he is reportedly also being scrutinized for potential money laundering, as well as for possible foreign lobbying violations under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
It comes as dozens of House Republicans have also called upon Garland to appoint a special counsel for the investigation.
“He is supervising the investigation,” Garland said of Weiss in April during a Senate hearing. “There will not be interference of any political or improper kind.”
Garland said, “I’m quite comfortable with the United States attorney for that district continuing in the role that he is playing,” when asked if a special counsel is needed.
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The attorney general announced new bans on political involvement from DOJ officials, including not being allowed to attend any partisan events, in the wake of the widespread accusations of bias being directed toward the department last month.
