Friday’s news dump featured an announcement by Attorney General Merrick Garland that he had named Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss as special counsel to continue the investigation into Hunter Biden “as well as any matters that arose from that investigation or may arise from the Special Counsel’s investigation.”
While the official appointment order barely filled a page and the attorney general’s accompanying comments provided little additional texture, the news is hugely significant. Here’s how.
1. Why Now?
When news broke that Garland had named Weiss as special counsel, Republicans jumped on the appointment as further proof of a cover-up to protect the Biden family. After all, the House had finally succeeded in uncovering and exposing massive evidence of corruption reaching all the way to the Big Guy, and whistleblowers continue to provide Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson further material, including evidence that implicates the Department of Justice in obstructing the investigation.
However, court filings in United States v. Biden from Friday indicate the collapse of Weiss’s plea deal with Hunter Biden spurred the request for special counsel status. The president’s son had appeared before Judge Maryellen Noreika on July 26, 2023, ready to enter a guilty plea on two misdemeanor tax counts. But after questioning by the federal judge on the interaction between the plea agreement and a separate pretrial diversion agreement the parties entered on a gun offense, Hunter Biden pled not guilty and the court continued the hearing, ordering the parties to provide supplemental briefing. Noreika
