politics @lemmy.world jeffw @lemmy.world 1y ago

US attorney leading Hunter Biden probe is now a special counsel, Garland announces

www.cnn.com US attorney leading Hunter Biden probe is now a special counsel, Garland announces | CNN Politics

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday that the Trump-appointed US attorney who is investigating Hunter Biden has been given “special counsel” status.

This gives the senior prosecutor, David Weiss, more powers than a typical US attorney and puts the nation in uncharted territory – with three special counsels at the Justice Department currently investigating matters related to the sitting president, his son, and the previous president.

Garland’s order appointing Weiss said he is authorized to “conduct the ongoing investigation … as well as any matters that arose from that investigation or may arise” as the probe continues.

A senior Justice Department official said Weiss will write a report, which the attorney general is expected to publicly release when the probe is over. This has been the common practice of special counsels in recent years, like Robert Mueller and John Durham.

Weiss made a request to be elevated to a special counsel on Tuesday.

19 comments

As someone who voted for Biden in 2020, and will do so again in 2024, this is a good thing. Elevating this Hunter business to the level of a special counsel investigation takes away the R’s nonsense “weaponization of government” argument. I’m confident that the investigation will show this whole thing is a nothingburger.

Edit:
- Eh, they’ll still call it weaponization and say it was biased no matter what. It’s good for history books, but won’t stop GOP talking points
  
  I know you’re right. I just hope that the verdict from the Court of Public Opinion doesn’t align with GOP talking points.
- You could have Trump himself leading the investigation, and conservatives would still say it's rigged and biased
- I'd like to share your enthusiasm, but anything short of a full conviction with jail time will mean maga idiots will start screaming "two tier justice!"
  
  Damn right there's two tiers. Some idiot leaks shit on Discord and is in cuffs within a week, rich boy runs off with a truckload to sell and is perfectly free for over 2 years.
  
  I expect the best we'll get is him having a heart attack during one of his temper tantrums from all of the court cases. Which will somehow be blamed on the deep state.
- The Republicans know you can appoint a SP who's in the tank. That's what they do, why shouldn't Garland?
Let's see if I'm prescient. The special council report will conclude that Hunter did some stuff, but he's already been prosecuted for it and it had no connection to the office of the president outside of Hunter falsely claiming he could arrange meetings with Joe. Republicans will probably try to spin the report as evidence of something nebulous without a single shred of evidence. Their base will of course eat this up. They'll rumble about impeaching Joe, Democrats will push back and ask on what grounds, and Republicans will vaguely gesture in the direction of the report as if that means something. Nothing will ultimately come of it except it will be the latest version of "but her emails" that Fox will pull out when they need a distraction from whatever damning thing Republicans have done this week.
- Yo hit me up with them lotto numbers for next week
Gosh, now I'm not sure if I will ever vote for HUNTER BIDEN.
This is the best summary I could come up with:

A senior Justice Department official said Weiss will write a report, which the attorney general is expected to publicly release when the probe is over.

In a two-pronged agreement, Hunter Biden would plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors, and prosecutors would agree to drop a separate felony gun charge in two years if he stayed out of legal trouble and passed drug test.

But at a stunning three-hour court hearing last month, the deal nearly collapsed under scrutiny from the federal judge overseeing the case.

District Judge Maryellen Noreika said the intertwined deals to resolve the tax and gun charges were “confusing,” “not straightforward,” “atypical” and “unprecedented.” At the end of that hearing, she ordered the Justice Department and Hunter Biden’s lawyers to file additional legal briefs defending the constitutionality of the deal.

Calls for a special counsel have intensified in recent months, with leading Republicans claiming Hunter Biden got a “sweetheart deal,” and IRS whistleblowers alleging that the Justice Department gave him preferential treatment in a plea deal earlier this summer.

Federal prosecutors have spent five years investigating Hunter Biden for potential felony tax evasion, illegal foreign lobbying, money laundering, and other possible crimes.

I'm a bot and I'm open source!
- Good bot!
- By "IRS whistleblowers", I think AutoTL;DR actually meant to say "Chinese spies."
They misspelled Jared Kushner
I'm sure this gives Republicans a big hate boner today.
- It's probably pissed off the Oversight Committee because it basically takes over the investigation and renders them moot.
  
  I'm OK with that because it was a sham investigation anyway
Can I be a special counsel next?

19 comments