A final report on the investigation into Hunter Biden, before his father President Joe Biden pardoned him last month, blasts the commander-in-chief for “maligning public servants at the Department of Justice based solely on false accusations,” according to special counsel David Weiss. File Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI | License Photo
Special counsel David Weiss, who spent six years investigating Hunter Biden before his father pardoned him last month, blasted President Joe Biden in his final report, which the Justice Department delivered Monday evening to Congress.
In the 280-page report, which includes hundreds of pages of public filings, Weiss defended his investigation as “impartial” and accused the president of wiping out two separate criminal convictions against Hunter Biden on gun charges and federal tax crimes, which President Biden has called a “miscarriage of justice.” Advertisement
“No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son — and that is wrong,” Biden wrote in his pardon on Dec. 1.
Biden and some Democrats accused Weiss of caving to President-elect Donald Trump’s demands to indict Hunter Biden. But Republicans accused Weiss of going soft on the president’s son. Advertisement
Ultimately, Hunter Biden was found guilty of three felony firearm offenses in Weiss’ investigations. He also pleaded guilty to federal tax crimes for failure to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes.
Biden pardoned his son after November’s election and two weeks before he was scheduled to be sentenced for charges that could have carried up to 17 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines.
“Other presidents have pardoned family members, but in doing so, none have taken the occasion as an opportunity to malign the public servants at the Department of Justice based solely on false accusations,” Weiss said in the report.
“These prosecutions were the culmination of thorough, impartial investigations, not partisan politics. Eight judges across numerous courts have rejected claims that they were the result of selective or vindictive motives,” Weiss added. “The president’s characterizations are incorrect based on the facts in this case, and, on a more fundamental level, they are wrong.”
In the report, Weiss quoted Judge Mark Scarsi, who said: “The Constitution provides the president with broad authority to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, but nowhere does the Constitution give the president the authority to rewrite history.” Advertisement
Before President Biden launched his bid for the White House, federal investigators had begun looking into Hunter Biden’s taxes as early as 2018. The investigation broadened into scrutiny of his overseas business dealings in China and Ukraine.
In 2023, two IRS whistleblowers testified at a House Oversight Committee hearing that they believed the federal tax investigation into Hunter Biden warranted more serious criminal charges.
“It appeared to me, based on what I experienced, that the U.S. attorney in Delaware in our investigation was constantly hamstrung, limited and marginalized by DOJ officials as well as other U.S. attorneys,” IRS Special Agent Joseph Ziegler testified on July 19.
Hunter Biden’s legal team had not responded Monday evening, saying they were not given an opportunity to read Weiss’ report before it was released.
Weiss revealed President Biden’s pardon of his son has prevented him from pursuing other cases, saying “it would thus be inappropriate to discuss whether additional charges are warranted.”
