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As the investigation into Hunter Biden’s financial dealings continues to heat up, over 30 Senate Republicans are demanding that Attorney General Merrick Garland appoint a special counsel to oversee the probe.
Led by Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the group of senators – which includes Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell – says that appointing a special counsel is necessary to avoid any possible political interference in the investigation.
“The American people deserve to know that this investigation will be conducted without fear or favor, and we believe that appointing a Special Counsel is the best way to ensure that,” the senators wrote in a letter to Garland.
The investigation into Hunter Biden – which is being conducted by Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss – has already uncovered several potential bombshells, including evidence that Hunter may have used his father’s influence to score lucrative business deals in China and Ukraine.
Appointing a special counsel would be a major step forward in ensuring that the investigation is allowed to proceed without political interference. It’s time for Attorney General Garland to do the right thing and appoint a special counsel in this case.
The Senators filed a joint statement: “We the undersigned write to request that United States Attorney David C. Weiss be extended special counsel protections and authorities to conduct the Hunter Eiden investigation.
“During your confirmation hearing, you promised to keep politics out of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”).
“This promise has not been kept.
“On October 4, 2021, you unleashed DOJ’s National Security Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), among other criminal components, on millions of concerned parents across the country, who were exercising their First Amendment rights to be involved in decisions about their children’s education, including mask mandates, school closures, and the inclusion of critical race theory in school curricula.
“We have received hundreds of pieces of correspondence detailing how your memorandum chilled constitutionally protected speech.
“To date, you have failed to rescind this memorandum even though it was primarily based on a false predicate: the now disavowed National School Board Association Letter.
“You have also taken numerous other steps that have shown the unfortunate politicization of the DOJ under your charge, including targeting conservative states and legislatures for common-sense ballot integrity measures.
“As detailed by Senator Grassley, ‘highly credible’ whistleblowers have come forward to detail a ‘widespread effort within the FBI to downplay or discredit negative information about’ Hunter Biden.
“Instead of encouraging FBI and DOJ whistleblowers to report crimes and promote government transparency, you took the inexplicable step of chilling lawful whistleblower activity.
“Indeed, on August 30, 2022, you issued a memorandum prohibiting DOJ and FBI employees from communicating with ‘Senators, Representatives, congressional committees, or congressional staff without advance coordination, consultation and approval by OLA.’”
The senators argued that Weiss’ investigation “has the potential to implicate important political figures” and that appointing a special counsel would “avoid any appearance of impropriety or political influence.”
The senators also said that Weiss, a former member of the Obama administration, has “close ties” to Biden and his family.
“In light of these facts, we believe it is vital that you appoint a special counsel with no prior relationship to the Bidens to oversee this investigation,” the senators wrote.
The letter comes as Weiss is reportedly close to wrapping up his investigation into Hunter Biden’s taxes.
Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, is under investigation for allegedly failing to pay taxes on income he earned from his work with a Ukrainian energy company.
He has also been accused of using his father’s influence to help the company, Burisma, avoid investigation.
The president has denied any wrongdoing on his son’s part and has accused the GOP of going after Hunter Biden to damage him politically.
Garland has not yet commented on the letter from the GOP senators.
