Three key House committees have launched an investigation into Special Counsel David Weiss and his “unprecedented plea deal” for Hunter Biden. This could fuel more calls for Attorney General Garland’s impeachment ahead of his much-anticipated September 20 testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, while also providing fodder for an impeachment of President Biden himself. 

A letter was sent to Mr. Garland by the chairmen of the House committees on Oversight, the Judiciary, and Ways and Means — Congressmen James Comer, Jim Jordan, and Jason Smith, respectively. The three have been working in tandem to investigate the younger Mr. Biden and his foreign business dealings.  

“On August 11, 2023, after the Department’s apparently unprecedented plea deal with Mr. Biden fell apart under scrutiny from a federal judge, you appointed U.S. Attorney David Weiss as Special Counsel over this matter,” the letter states. “Your appointment raises numerous concerns considering earlier statements from you and Mr. Weiss that Mr. Weiss already had ‘ultimate’ authority—free of any political pressure—to pursue the investigation where, when, and how he sought fit.” 

“Now, recently reported information raises additional concerns about the Department’s unusual actions in this matter, and suggests that the Department under your leadership has been attempting to circumvent the rule of law in favor of Hunter Biden, President Biden, and the Biden family,” it continues.

The chairmen accuse Mr. Garland of appointing Mr. Weiss — who has investigated the first son from his perch as Delaware’s United States attorney for five years — in order to shield the younger Mr. Biden from congressional oversight. The July collapse of Mr. Biden’s “sweetheart plea deal,” as Speaker McCarthy called it, led the GOP to call for a more “impartial” investigation into the younger Mr. Biden. 

“Mr. Weiss’s conduct in this matter — overseeing an investigation that deviated from normal procedures and approving an unusual plea deal that disintegrated under judicial scrutiny — calls into question his decision making,” the chairmen wrote. “In addition, recent news reports indicate that Mr. Weiss had a close and personal relationship with Mr. Biden’s deceased brother, Beau.”

The letter points to seemingly contradictory public statements that Messrs. Garland and Weiss had made both in testimony before Congress and in letters sent to certain committee chairmen. In March, Mr. Garland told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Mr. Weiss had “ultimate authority” over charging decisions in the case against Mr. Biden, which Mr. Weiss agreed with in a letter sent to Mr. Jordan.

Just weeks later, Mr. Weiss revised his statement, saying he had been “geographically” limited from bringing charges against the first son in the jurisdictions where he lived, including the District of Columbia and the Central District of California. 

“You have appointed as special counsel an individual who oversaw all the investigation’s irregularities, who spent the past two months claiming that he did not need special counsel status, and who was responsible for the plea agreement that collapsed in court and is widely viewed as an embarrassment for the Department,” the chairmen wrote. 

The committees are seeking all documents and communications related to the deliberations surrounding Mr. Weiss’s appointment as special counsel, as well as all “memoranda, directives, or instructions” sent to him by the DOJ with respect to Mr. Biden. The committee has set a September 11 deadline for the DOJ to turn over those documents.

Mr. Garland is set to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on September 20, where he will almost certainly be asked about the investigation into Mr. Biden and the appointment of Mr. Weiss as special counsel. 

Earlier this summer, when Messrs. Garland and Weiss had issued their seemingly contradictory statements, numerous Republicans in the House called for a wide-ranging impeachment inquiry into the attorney general, which Mr. McCarthy suggested he could support.

“What he is saying and what David Weiss is saying are two different things,” Mr. McCarthy told Fox News on June 26. “If it comes true what the IRS whistleblower is saying, we’re going to start impeachment inquiries on the attorney general.” 
The president himself is also facing the increasing likelihood of an impeachment inquiry soon being opened, which will almost certainly ensnare his son.