Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday that the federal prosecutor who is investigating Hunter Biden, President Biden’s son, will be appointed as special counsel, giving increased authority for the probe.
David Weiss, the U.S. Attorney for Delaware, requested the designation on Tuesday, Garland said.
“Upon considering his request, as well as the extraordinary circumstances relating to this matter, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint him as special counsel,” Garland said.
Weiss was nominated to be the state’s federal prosecutor by former President Trump in 2017, and was confirmed by a unanimous Senate vote in January 2018.
He previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney for Delaware in the late 1980s, and the First Assistant U.S. attorney from 2007 until his promotion in 2018.
Between his stints with the federal prosecutor’s office, he worked as a commercial lawyer and finance executive.
Weiss began the Hunter Biden investigation into alleged tax crimes in 2018 and was not asked to resign when Biden became president in 2021, like other federal prosecutors, because of the potential conflict. It is standard procedure for a president to nominate their own federal prosecutors when they reach office.
Hunter Biden was charged with misdemeanor tax and firearms crimes in June.
The Justice Department and Hunter Biden came to an agreed plea deal this summer, but that deal fell through over questions about its leniency and immunity for conduct. Weiss said Friday after his appointment that the case will likely go to trial.
“The Government now believes that the case will not resolve short of a trial,” he said.
A special counsel designation allows Weiss to charge Hunter Biden with crimes outside of Delaware, should he decide to do so.
“This appointment confirms my commitment to provide Mr. Weiss all the resources he requests,” Garland said. “It also reaffirms that Mr. Weiss has the authority he needs to conduct a thorough investigation and to continue to take the steps he deems appropriate independently based only on the facts and the law.”
“As special counsel he will continue to have the authority and responsibility that he has previously exercised to oversee the investigation and decide where, when, and whether to file charges,” he added.
Weiss is Garland’s third special counsel, after Robert Hur in January who investigated classified documents at Biden’s home and office and Jack Smith last year who has now indicted former President Trump twice in separate investigations.
Republicans have already doubted if Weiss can be trusted to prosecute the Hunter Biden case. House Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) criticized the appointment and has floated the possibility of impeaching Biden over investigations into his family.
“If Weiss negotiated the sweetheart deal that couldn’t get approved, how can he be trusted as a Special Counsel? House Republicans will continue to pursue the facts for the American people,” McCarthy said on X, formerly Twitter.