“A Drought”: Weiss Unloads on Lack of Support from Justice Department on Investigation of Hunter Biden

As Hunter Biden continues to unleash profanity-laden attacks on Democrats, George Clooney, and others, it appears that former special counsel David Weiss is doing his own unloading. In a recent closed-door interview, Weiss said that he faced obstacles in his effort to prosecute the former President’s son, including a virtual boycott from DOJ attorneys in joining his team.

Weiss told the House Judiciary Committee staff that he struggled to staff his effort. He noted that he received no support from former Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, who many viewed as the practical head of the department as opposed to former Attorney General Merrick Garland. Notably, Weiss says that he thought that Monaco might have recused herself because he received no support or even interaction with her.

Weiss’s speculation on Monaco’s staff is curious. Usually, recusals are made known to other attorneys to create a wall of separation over any potential conflicts of interest. It is bizarre if Weiss still does not know if such a recusal had occurred.

In the meantime, Weiss said that he found himself an effective persona non grata within the department as he sought staff support. When he went to the director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, he was told that they had received just one resume from an attorney willing to investigate the president’s son.

As opposed to investigating Trump, it appears that DOJ attorneys did not relish or support such efforts directed against the Bidens.

For his testimony, the Trump DOJ gave Weiss permission in a letter to talk to Congress about Hunter Biden’s cases. The department noted, however, that it could not authorize Weiss to talk about the former first son’s confidential tax information.

Weiss was asked about his failure to charge Hunter Biden under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Some of us wrote extensively about the strong basis for such a charge as an unregistered foreign agent given past charges brought against Trump figures and others.

Yet, as reported by Fox, Weiss “told the committee his team had no serious discussions about charging Hunter Biden under a foreign lobby law called the Foreign Agents Registration Act.”

That is bizarre and highly suspicious. Weiss showed a pronounced lack of aggression in the Hunter Biden case, including seeking a sweetheart deal that was widely denounced.

I have previously testified on the Foreign Agents Registration Act and have previously written about the disturbing disconnect in the treatment of the President’s son as opposed to figures like Paul Manafort.

The charge was always one of the greatest fears of the White House. If Hunter Biden were a foreign agent, it would magnify the influence-peddling scandal and further link his conduct to the work of his father as vice president and later president.

What was previously known about millions received from China, Russia, and other countries made such a charge obvious. In the past, the Justice Department has frequently used the charge in high-profile cases to pressure defendants and encourage cooperation or plea agreements. During the Trump Administration, an official could not visit Epcot without incurring a FARA charge from the DOJ.

This charge has been a favorite of the DOJ before the President’s son was implicated in a massive influence peddling scheme with foreign figures.

According to reports, Weiss seemed to shrug off the FARA question.

Weiss declined to answer many questions, suggesting that he was still limited in doing so. The Trump Administration should be able to remove all such barriers. Weiss has much to answer for in his tenure as special counsel. This is an important start, but should not be the end of the inquiry.