August 28, 2023
The Honorable Merrick B. Garland
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530
Dear Attorney General Garland:
The Committees on the Judiciary, Ways and Means, and Oversight and Accountability
are continuing their oversight of the Department of Justice’s (Department or DOJ) commitment
to impartial justice and the veracity of statements made in response to congressional inquiries
related to the investigation of Hunter Biden. On August 11, 2023, after the Department’s
apparently unprecedented plea deal with Mr. Biden fell apart under scrutiny from a federal judge,
you appointed U.S. Attorney David Weiss as Special Counsel over this matter.
1
Your
appointment raises numerous concerns considering earlier statements from you and Mr. Weiss
that Mr. Weiss already had “ultimate” authority—free of any political pressure—to pursue the
investigation where, when, and how he sought fit. Now, recently reported information raises
additional concerns about the Department’s unusual actions in this matter, and suggests that the
Department under your leadership has been attempting to circumvent the rule of law in favor of
Hunter Biden, President Biden, and the Biden family. Given the extremely serious nature of
these issues, the Committees expect unfettered cooperation with our oversight from both you and
the Department.
The Department Deviated Substantially from Standard Investigative Practice During its
Investigation of Hunter Biden’s Criminal Conduct
Since the early days of its investigation concerning Hunter Biden, DOJ has deviated from
its standard investigative procedure and afforded Hunter Biden special privileges not afforded to
other Americans. For instance, according to whistleblowers, the Department tipped off Hunter
Biden’s counsel that investigators would search a storage unit Hunter Biden owned before
investigators could conduct the search.
2
In another instance, the Department allowed the statute
of limitations to lapse on charges for the 2014 and 2015 tax years, including felony charges of
1
OFF. OF THE ATT’Y GEN., ORDER NO. 5730-2023, APPOINTMENT OF DAVID C. WEISS AS SPECIAL COUNSEL (2023).
2
Transcribed Interview of Gary A. Shapley, Jr., Supervisory Special Agent, Internal Revenue Serv., at 116 (May 26,
2023) [hereinafter Shapley Interview]; Transcribed Interview of Joseph Ziegler, Special Agent, Internal Revenue
Serv., at 28 (June 1, 2023) [hereinafter Ziegler Interview].
The Honorable Merrick B. Garland
August 28, 2023
Page 2
tax evasion and filing a false or fraudulent tax return for the 2014 tax year, despite defense
counsel’s willingness to consent to an extension.
3
These deviations took place while Mr. Weiss,
with the full support and backing of the Department, oversaw the Hunter Biden investigation as
U.S. Attorney—prior to receiving special counsel status. Whistleblowers who actively worked
on the Hunter Biden investigation with Mr. Weiss have identified several other deviations from
standard procedure, including:
• Attorneys from the Department’s Tax Division suggested removing Hunter Biden’s name
from documents, including subpoenas.
4
• FBI headquarters curtailed attempts to interview Hunter Biden by giving the presidential
transition team and Secret Service a heads-up the night before the agents’ planned day of
action on December 8, 2020, preventing them from ever actually interviewing Hunter
Biden.
5
• Prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) in Delaware prohibited IRS and FBI
investigators from asking about or referring to “the big guy” or “dad” in witness
interviews.
6
• Prosecutors at the Delaware USAO limited the number and substance of interviews
investigators were allowed to conduct.
7
• IRS investigators were excluded from meetings with defense counsel.
8
• Prosecutors withheld a Tax Division charging memorandum regarding Hunter Biden’s
tax crimes from the IRS investigative team.
9
• Delaware USAO and Tax Division prosecutors slow walked search warrants to obtain
and preserve records.
10
• Delaware USAO and Tax Division prosecutors instituted unnecessary approval processes
for investigative actions.
11
3
Shapley Interview at 26.
4
Shapley Interview at 10; Ziegler Interview at 25.
5
Shapley Interview at 18-19; Ziegler Interview at 119.
6
Shapley Interview at 18.
7
Ziegler Interview at 29.
8
Shapley Interview at 64; Ziegler Interview at 94.
9
Shapley Interview at 64-65.
10
Ziegler Interview at 27.
11
Ziegler Interview at 29.
The Honorable Merrick B. Garland
August 28, 2023
Page 3
• Prosecutors refused investigators’ requests to follow up on seemingly incriminating
WhatsApp messages between Hunter Biden and representatives of a Chinese
corporation.
12
All of these, and numerous other, deviations were the result of actions by Department employees
and occurred when Mr. Weiss, per your own admission, “supervised” the investigation in his role
as U.S. Attorney.
13
The Department Brokered an Apparently Unprecedented Plea Deal for Hunter Biden
In May 2023, around the time that the whistleblowers first testified to Congress about
irregularities in the Department’s investigation and shortly after a meeting between Hunter
Biden’s former lawyer Chris Clark, Mr. Weiss, and Associate Deputy Attorney General Bradley
Weinsheimer,
14
DOJ began formally negotiating with Hunter Biden’s lawyers about potential
plea and pretrial diversion agreements.
15
The negotiations culminated in an agreement publicly
announced on June 20, 2023.
16
However, according to recent public reporting, Mr. Clark began pressuring the
Department to settle in the spring of 2022.
17
Mr. Clark threatened investigators that they faced
career “suicide” if they pursued the investigation,
18
he asked for meetings “with people at the
highest levels of the [] Department,”
19
and he threatened to call President Biden to testify as a
fact witness for the defense.
20
Mr. Clark even went so far as to tell prosecutors that they would
be creating a “Constitutional crisis” by pitting the President against the Department he runs.
21
12
Hearing with IRS Whistleblowers About the Biden Criminal Investigation Before the H. Comm. on Oversight &
Accountability, 118th Cong. (2023) (statement of Gary Shapley, Supervisory Special Agent, Internal Revenue Serv.)
(describing this as “one of the major deviations in this case.”).
13
Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2023 Funding Request for the U.S. Department of Justice: Hearing Before
the Subcomm. on Com., Just., Sci., & Related Agencies of the S. Comm. on Appropriations, 117th Cong. (2022).
(statement of Merrick Garland, Att’y Gen., U.S. Dep’t of Just.). See also Oversight of the Department of Justice:
Hearing Before the S. Comm. on the Judiciary, 118th Cong. (2023) (statement of Merrick Garland, Att’y Gen., U.S.
Dep’t of Just.).
14
See Betsy Woodruff Swan, In talks with prosecutors, Hunter Biden’s lawyers vowed to put the president on the
stand, POLITICO (Aug. 19, 2023) (reporting that Clark, Weiss, and Weinsheimer met on April 26, 2023 to discuss the
charges, but noting that it is “not clear what happened in the meeting, which came at a sensitive moment for the
probe”).
15
Defendant’s Response to the U.S. Motion to Vacate the Court’s Briefing Order, U.S. v. Robert Hunter Biden, No.
23-mj-274-MN, No. 23-cr-61-MN (D. Del. Aug. 13, 2023). See also Jessica Lynch, Hunter Biden began negotiating
plea deal with DOJ right after IRS whistleblower first came forward, court docs show, DAILY CALLER (Aug. 14,
2023).
16
Betsy Woodruff Swan, In talks with prosecutors, Hunter Biden’s lawyers vowed to put the president on the stand,
POLITICO (Aug. 19, 2023).
17
Id.
18
See Shapley Interview at 27 (stating that Mr. Clark told prosecutors that they would be committing “career
suicide” if they filed criminal charges against Hunter Biden); Ziegler Interview at 122 (same).
19
Betsy Woodruff Swan, In talks with prosecutors, Hunter Biden’s lawyers vowed to put the president on the stand,
POLITICO (Aug. 19, 2023).
20
Id.
21
Id.
The Honorable Merrick B. Garland
August 28, 2023
Page 4
The deal reached by Mr. Weiss’s team and Hunter Biden’s lawyers would have had
Hunter Biden plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges, plus an agreement to dismiss a
felony gun charge if Hunter Biden completed a two-year period of probation.
22
The
unconventional agreement shifted a broad immunity provision from the plea agreement to the
pretrial diversion agreement, benefiting Hunter Biden with the aim of preventing the District
Court from being able to scrutinize and reject that immunity provision.
23
It also gave the District
Court the sole power to determine whether Hunter Biden breached the pretrial diversion
agreement—a prerequisite for the Department to file the diverted charges against him in the
future and a provision benefitting Hunter Biden for which prosecutors could cite no precedent.
24
On July 20, 2023, under scrutiny from a federal judge, it became apparent that parties did
not agree as to whether the agreement would shield Mr. Biden from prosecution for other
unrelated conduct.
25
At the conclusion of the hearing, the judge expressed discomfort with the
structure of the plea and pretrial diversion agreements and the constitutionality of the provision
that would prevent prosecutors from filing future charges against Hunter Biden without judicial
approval.
26
The judge ultimately concluded that she could not accept the plea agreement and
postponed the proceedings.
27
The Department later dismissed these proceedings before
announcing Mr. Weiss’s special counsel appointment.
28
The Appointment of David Weiss as Special Counsel is Further Evidence of Concern
It is not clear why you have only now, after the investigation has been going on for five
years, opted to appoint Mr. Weiss as special counsel, especially after you and the Department
represented that Mr. Weiss already had “ultimate” authority over the case.
29
Indeed, the only
explanation you have offered is that “extraordinary circumstances” require the appointment.
30
22
Josh Gerstein et al., Hunter Biden reaches plea deal with feds to resolve tax issues, gun charge, POLITICO (June
20, 2023).
23
See Letter from Chairmen Jim Jordan, Jason Smith, and James Comer, to Merrick B. Garland, Att’y Gen., U.S.
Dep’t of Just. (July 31, 2023). See also Transcript of Record at 46-47, 107, U.S. v. Robert Hunter Biden, No. 23-mj-
274-MN, No. 23-cr-61-MN (D. Del. July 26, 2023).
24
Transcript of Record at 95, U.S. v. Robert Hunter Biden, No. 23-mj-274-MN, No. 23-cr-61-MN (D. Del. July, 26,
2023).
25
Transcript of Record at 54-55, U.S. v. Robert Hunter Biden, No. 23-mj-274-MN, No. 23-cr-61-MN (D. Del. July
26, 2023).
26
Transcript of Record at 95-98, U.S. v. Robert Hunter Biden, No. 23-mj-274-MN, No. 23-cr-61-MN (D. Del. July
26, 2023).
27
Id.; see also, Transcript of Record at 54-55, U.S. v. Robert Hunter Biden, No. 23-mj-274-MN, No. 23-cr-61-MN
(D. Del. July 26, 2023).
28
U.S. Motion to Voluntarily Dismiss Criminal Tax Information Without Prejudice so that Tax Charges Can Be
Brought in a District Where Venue Lies, U.S. v. Robert Hunter Biden, No. 23-mj-274-MN, No. 23-cr-61-MN (D.
Del. Aug. 11, 2023).
29
See Ziegler Interview at 17 (stating the investigation began in November of 2018).
30
Letter from Merrick B. Garland, Att’y Gen., U.S. Dep’t of Just., to House and Senate Judiciary Committees (Aug.
11, 2023).
The Honorable Merrick B. Garland
August 28, 2023
Page 5
The order appointing Mr. Weiss as special counsel is similarly lacking in any meaningful
explanation.
31
The relevant Department regulations require that you appoint a special counsel “with a
reputation for integrity and impartial decision making, with appropriate experience to ensure . . .
that the investigation will be conducted ably, expeditiously and thoroughly . . . .”
32
Mr. Weiss’s
conduct in this matter—overseeing an investigation that deviated from normal procedures and
approving an unusual plea deal that disintegrated under judicial scrutiny—call into question his
decision making. In addition, recent news reports indicate that Mr. Weiss had a close and
personal relationship with Mr. Biden’s deceased brother, Beau, further undermining his
impartiality.
33
Additionally, your appointment of Mr. Weiss as special counsel suggests that previous
statements made by you and Mr. Weiss about Mr. Weiss’s authority were misleading and/or
untruthful. On March 1, 2023, you told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Mr. Weiss “has full
authority . . . to bring cases in other jurisdictions if he feels it’s necessary.”
34
If that were truly
the case, then there would be no reason to now appoint Mr. Weiss as a special counsel and
authorize him to “prosecute federal crimes in any federal judicial district arising from the
investigation of these matters.”
35
Mr. Weiss has also changed his story several times. On June 7,
2023, Mr. Weiss wrote to the Judiciary Committee, “I have been granted ultimate authority over
this matter, including responsibility for deciding where, when, and whether to file charges . . .
.”
36
On June 30, Mr. Weiss changed his tune, claiming “my charging authority is geographically
limited to my home district. If venue for a case lies elsewhere, common Departmental practice is
to contact the United States Attorney’s Office for the district in question and determine whether
it wants to partner on the case. If not, I may request Special Attorney status from the Attorney
General pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 515.”
37
* * *
The Department pulled punches in this investigation, handicapping veteran investigators
and preventing them from freely pursuing the facts. The Department agreed to an apparently
unprecedented plea deal with Hunter Biden after his attorneys threatened to call his father,
President Biden, as a witness in the case. Now you have appointed as special counsel an
individual who oversaw all the investigation’s irregularities, who spent the past two months
31
See OFF. OF THE ATT’Y GEN., ORDER NO. 5730-2023, APPOINTMENT OF DAVID C. WEISS AS SPECIAL COUNSEL
(2023).
32
28 C.F.R. § 600.3(a).
33
See Michael Kranish, Before investigating Hunter Biden, prosecutor worked with brother Beau, WASH. POST
(Aug. 20, 2023).
34
Oversight of the Department of Justice: Hearing Before the S. Comm. on the Judiciary, 118th Cong. (2023)
(statement of Merrick Garland, Att’y Gen., U.S. Dep’t of Just.).
35
OFF. OF THE ATT’Y GEN., ORDER NO. 5730-2023, APPOINTMENT OF DAVID C. WEISS AS SPECIAL COUNSEL (2023).
36
Letter from David C. Weiss, U.S. Att’y, Dist. of Del., to Rep. Jim Jordan, Chairman, H. Comm. on the Judiciary
(June 7, 2023).
37
Letter from David C. Weiss, U.S. Att’y, Dist. of Del., to Rep. Jim Jordan, Chairman, H. Comm. on the Judiciary
(June 30, 2023).
The Honorable Merrick B. Garland
August 28, 2023
Page 6
claiming that he did not need special counsel status, and who was responsible for the plea
agreement that collapsed in court and is widely viewed as an embarrassment for the Department.
In light of Mr. Weiss’s record leading this investigation, we have concerns with his appointment
as special counsel. To advance our oversight and inform potential legislative reforms, please
provide the Committees with the following documents for the period January 20, 2021, to the
present:
1. All documents and communications referring or relating to U.S. Attorney David Weiss’s
appointment as special counsel; and
2. Any additional scope memoranda, directives, or instructions from the Office of the
Attorney General referring or relating to U.S. Attorney David Weiss’s appointment as
special counsel.
Please provide the information and documents responsive to the requests listed above as
soon as possible, but not later than 5:00 p.m., on September 11, 2023.
The Supreme Court has recognized that Congress has a “broad and indispensable” power
to conduct oversight, which “encompasses inquiries into the administration of existing laws,
studies of proposed laws, and surveys in our social, economic or political system for the purpose
of enabling Congress to remedy them.”
38
Pursuant to Rule X of the Rules of the House of
Representatives, the Committee on the Judiciary has jurisdiction over criminal justice matters in
the United States.
39
The Committee on Ways and Means is authorized to conduct oversight of the
Internal Revenue Service and the administration of the Internal Revenue Code. The Committee
on Oversight and Accountability may examine “any matter” at any time.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Jim Jordan Jason Smith
Chairman Chairman
Committee on the Judiciary Committee on Ways and Means
James Comer
Chairman
Committee on Oversight and Accountability
cc: The Honorable Jerrold L. Nadler, Ranking Member
38
Trump v. Mazars LLP, 140 S. Ct. 2019, 2031 (2020) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted).
39
Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives, R. X (2023).
The Honorable Merrick B. Garland
August 28, 2023
Page 7
Committee on the Judiciary
The Honorable Richard E. Neal, Ranking Member
Committee on Ways and Means
The Honorable Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member
Committee on Oversight and Accountability
