Spectator: Investigate Biden Special Counsel

Special counsel David Weiss, who is leading the Hunter Biden probe, should be investigated himself for "slow walking" the five-year federal investigation into President Joe Biden's son, Spectator contributing writer Charles Lipson said in a column published Friday.

"Weiss' own office needs investigating. It has slow-walked the criminal investigation for years, allowed the statute of limitations to expire on key charges, let Hunter Biden escape from taxes he owed on foreign income, proposed to give him an unprecedented sweetheart deal, and told IRS investigators they would not pursue any leads, however credible, that might lead to 'the Big Guy' Joe Biden," wrote Lipson, a Peter B. Ritzma professor of political science emeritus at the University of Chicago, where he founded the Program on International Politics, Economics, and Security. "True to their word, they have not pursued those leads."

Lipson pointed out that the appointment of Weiss, a U.S. attorney in Delaware, where the Bidens reside, by Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday may give the federal prosecutor a bit more power to bring cases in other jurisdictions and help keep the probe on track by not having to bring someone new "up to speed" on the case.

But he also said in the column that since Garland didn't make the appointment two years ago, when he took the post as part of the Biden administration, his doing so now could be to block attempts by congressional Republicans to get information for their own investigation into the Biden family because of the "active" probe.

"It gives the Department of Justice an additional tool to block investigations by House Republicans, who are conducting several serious inquiries into Biden family corruption," Lipson wrote. "Whenever the House committees ask for information, the DOJ can simply reply, 'We've handed our investigation over to the special counsel and cannot turn over documents during an ongoing investigation by his office.'"

That scenario would force the House committee to open an impeachment inquiry to get the documents it needs to pursue the case.

Garland's appointment also comes on the day Weiss and Hunter Biden's legal team reached an impasse on a plea agreement relating to two misdemeanor federal tax charges and a gun possession violation.

Meanwhile, the House Oversight Committee under Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., has released a trove of financial documents, an FBI report, and testimony from IRS whistleblowers and Hunter Biden's business associates, laying out a case of influence peddling at the same time Joe Biden was vice president, funneling millions through Hunter Biden and several family-owned shell companies.

"Weiss' own office inexplicably allowed the statute of limitations to expire on millions of dollars in foreign income allegedly received by Hunter, on which taxes were never paid," Lipson wrote. "The U.S. attorney has never explained why. Nor did his office pursue the obvious charges that Hunter should have registered as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act."