Republicans Furious After DOJ Gave Them What They Wanted

Several Republicans in Congress have been called out for slamming the appointment of a special counsel in the Hunter Biden investigation, despite them previously advocating for the same appointment.

On Friday, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed David Weiss as a special counsel overseeing the long-term investigation into the alleged criminal conduct of Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden. Weiss, a U.S. attorney for Delaware appointed by former President Donald Trump, was previously overseeing the probe, which began in 2018, but will now have extended legal jurisdiction in his new role.

In June, Weiss—who was retained by the Biden administration, reportedly to avoid the appearance of interference—charged the president's son with failure to pay federal income taxes and illegally possessing a firearm, leading to a negotiated "sweetheart deal," as referred to by Republicans, between Hunter Biden's lawyers and federal prosecutors. That plea agreement never came to fruition, however, as both sides reached a legal impasse in late July when the question of sweeping immunity entered the conversation during a hearing in a Delaware courtroom.

In response to Friday's appointment, several Republicans came forward to criticize the decision. Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, in a post to X, formerly known as Twitter, decried the move on Saturday, alleging that "Garland appointed David Weiss as special counsel because he knows Weiss will protect Hunter."

However, Blackburn's post went viral, receiving over 2 million views as of Sunday morning, among political circles on X, after a community note was added noting that she was among the over 30 Republican senators to sign off on a letter last September, calling for Weiss to be appointed as a special counsel. The letter said that Weiss would be able to "provide additional assurances to the American people that the Hunter Biden investigation is free from political influence."

Newsweek reached out to Blackburn's office via email for comment.

Among the other senators now criticizing Weiss's appointment despite signing the letter are Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Chuck Grassley of Iowa.

"This is a political decision by the Biden administration to fix their political problem. I think they poured gasoline on a political fire," Graham said during an appearance on NewsNation. "Mr. Weiss' team needs to be replaced with a new set of eyes."

Speaking with Fox News, Grassley acknowledged that he had signed the letter, while also saying that he now has "some questions about Weiss doing it."

A similar letter calling for a special counsel in the Hunter Biden case was also signed off on by a number of House Republicans in April 2022. However, that letter did not specifically call for Weiss in the role. In a post to his official X account, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy specifically mentioned the recent plea deal brokered by Weiss as evidence for why he should not be the special counsel.

"If Weiss negotiated the sweetheart deal that couldn't get approved, how can he be trusted as a Special Counsel?" McCarthy asked.

The initial plea deal brokered by Weiss's team would have seen Hunter Biden plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges for his past failures to pay income taxes on time and would have avoided prosecution for a felony gun charge due to his history of substance abuse issues. Republicans widely disparaged the deal, suggesting that the president's son should have received heavier charges.

The deal fell through when U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, who is presiding over the case in Wilmington, Delaware, asked if the deal offered the president's son blanket immunity from prosecution in his plea dealings or only for his tax offenses. Both sides offered different interpretations of the plea, leading to a "null and void" agreement.