Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) led a letter signed by every Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee sent to Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) asking him to call Attorney General Merrick Garland and U.S. Attorney David Weiss to testify in light of recent events related to the Hunter Biden tax investigation.
The group’s letter was in response to a recent letter from Weiss (pictured above, left) to Senator Lindsey Graham, which failed to clarify Weiss’ authority over the investigation. In addition, the Republican senators note that recent whistleblowers’ testimonies in the U.S. House of Representatives have also contradicted both Weiss’ assertions and Attorney General Garland’s public statements.
“Ranking Member Graham wrote to both Attorney General Garland and U.S. Attorney Weiss recently for clarification about testimony from two IRS whistleblowers who worked directly on the investigation into potential tax violations by the President’s son, Hunter Biden. The 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,” Senator Blackburn and her colleagues wrote on July 27.
The senators raised concerns about Weiss’ authority to charge individuals in a district outside his own if that proved necessary, citing one whistleblower who claimed that Weiss told investigators that he did not have authority to charge in districts outside the District of Delaware.
“[Weiss’] statements do not fit at all with credible, corroborated whistleblower testimony,” the senators added. “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.”
“The seriousness of these developments cannot be overstated. The American people deserve the truth, and we have a responsibility to exercise our oversight authority to uncover the truth…For the sake of ensuring transparency in the DOJ, we request that you promptly schedule a hearing with Attorney General Garland and U.S. Attorney Weiss,” the senators said.
Hunter Biden’s plea deal fell apart during his first court appearance on July 26. The younger Biden pleaded “not guilty” to two tax misdemeanors because Judge Maryellen Noreika refused to accept the president’s son’s expected plea agreement.
– – –
Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
