Attorney General Merrick Garland appoints special counsel in Hunter Biden probe

Washington, The Gulf Observer: Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday he has appointed a special counsel in the Hunter Biden probe, deepening the investigation of the president’s son ahead of the 2024 election.

Garland said he was naming David Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware who has been probing the financial and business dealings of President Joe Biden’s son, as the special counsel. It comes as plea deal talks in Hunter Biden’s case hit an impasse.

The attorney general noted the “extraordinary circumstances” of the matter in making the announcement at the Justice Department.

Garland said that Weiss asked to be appointed to the position and told him that “in his judgment, his investigation has reached a stage at which he should continue his work as a special counsel.”

“Upon considering his request, as well as the extraordinary circumstances relating to this matter, I have concluded it is in the public interest to appoint him as special counsel,” Garland said.

Hunter Biden’s attorney did not immediately return messages seeking comment on Friday.

The announcement of a special counsel is a momentous development from the typically cautious Garland and comes amid a pair of sweeping Justice Department probes into former President Donald Trump, who’s Joe Biden’s chief rival in next year’s election.

It also comes as House Republicans are mounting their own investigation into Hunter Biden’s business dealings. The Republicans are struggling to connect the son’s work to his father, and so far they have not been able to produce evidence to show any wrongdoing.

By being named special counsel Weiss will have broader authority to conduct a more sweeping investigation across various areas.

Weiss was nominated by Trump to serve as Delaware U.S. attorney in 2017 and was retained after Biden took over so he could continue to oversee the Hunter Biden investigation. He had been a prosecutor for years before, handling both violent crimes and white-collar offenses, and worked in private practice between stints in the federal prosecutor’s office.