David Weiss, the federal prosecutor tasked with investigating Hunter Biden’s tax returns, denied retaliating against an IRS whistleblower who claimed Weiss could not file charges outside his home district.
The whistleblower, Gary Shapley, told the House Ways and Means Committee in May that Attorney General Merrick Garland was not telling Congress the truth when he claimed in earlier testimony that Weiss, who lives in Delaware, had authority to file charges outside your home. district, including in California and Washington, D.C.
Weiss, in a letter Sent Friday to the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said the Justice Department did not retaliate against any IRS official “for making protected disclosures to Congress,” and that he believes he could file charges outside his home district if the investigation leads in that direction.
In the letter, Weiss did not directly address claims that he was barred from filing charges outside of his home district, but insisted that he has been given “ultimate authority” over the Hunter Biden investigation, “including the responsibility to decide where when”. and whether to press charges.”
Weiss also said that he “has been assured” that he could be granted the necessary special authority to bring charges “in the District of Columbia, the Central District of California, or any other district where charges may be brought in this matter.”
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Weiss’s letter served as a response to a letter Jordan sent him the week before accusing Weiss of refusing to cooperate with the committee and calling his justification for doing so “lame.”
Weiss, in his letter, disputed Jordan’s allegations, saying he cannot provide documentation or answer specific questions about Hunter Biden because the investigation is still ongoing.
Jordan’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware declined to comment.
Weiss also left open the possibility that he could provide some type of testimony to the committee.
“At the appropriate time, I appreciate the opportunity to discuss these issues with the Committee in more detail and answer questions regarding whistleblower reports in accordance with the law and Department policy,” Weiss wrote.
