Special Counsel in Hunter Biden Case Stands by Findings, Reproaches Pardon
Several weeks after President Joe Biden pardoned his son, dating back to 2014, David C. Weiss rejected Biden’s claim that ‘raw politics’ influenced his prosecution.
The special counsel responsible for investigating Hunter Biden defended his efforts and criticized President Joe Biden’s pardon for his son in a concluding report released just days before the president is expected to exit office.
David C. Weiss contest the president’s assertions that political motives had tainted the investigation. Weiss stated that the charges levied against Hunter Biden stemmed from “thorough, impartial investigations, not partisan agendas,” emphasizing that numerous judges’ decisions supported this conclusion.
Weiss remarked that the claims “unjustly tarnish the integrity not only of the Department of Justice personnel, but of all public servants making these challenging decisions in good faith.”
“These unfounded accusations carry no weight, and propagating them jeopardizes the integrity of the entire justice system,” Weiss wrote.
Appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2023, Weiss stepped in after a plea deal involving the younger Biden collapsed.
Weiss, a Republican, was appointed U.S. attorney for the District of Delaware by President-elect Donald Trump in 2017. His initial investigation into Hunter Biden coincided with the 2020 presidential election. Weiss did not reveal the inquiry during the election. In December 2020, Hunter Biden announced he was under investigation.
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Weiss’s critique in the report, released on January 13, concentrated on assertions made by the outgoing president in the full, unconditional pardon he granted his son for felony tax and firearm offenses on December 1, 2024. This pardon encompassed crimes that the younger Biden committed, or allegedly committed, dating back to January 1, 2014.
At the time of the pardon, the president’s son was nearing sentencing.
Special counsel David Weiss walks out of the closed-door testimony before the House Judiciary Committee in Washington on Nov. 7, 2023.Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times
“In attempting to target Hunter, they’ve attempted to target me—and there’s no reason to assume it will cease after this. Enough is enough,” Biden added, later alleging that “raw politics” had led to an unjust result.
Weiss’s report emphasizes that the president had previously pledged not to pardon his son.
“Only after Mr. Biden’s guilt had been fully and fairly assessed did the President assert that this prosecution was the outcome of ‘raw politics,’” the report notes.
“Politicians who criticize career prosecutors’ decisions as politically driven when they disagree with a case’s result undermine public trust in our criminal justice system.”
The Epoch Times has sought a response from the White House.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
