AG Merrick Garland Denies Accusations of Meddling in Hunter Biden Probe
June 23 2023, Published 7:35 p.m. ET
Attorney General Merrick Garland denied accusations that the Department of Justice interfered in the Hunter Biden probe, RadarOnline.com has learned.
As Garland denied the rumors, the White House was also pressured into addressing accusations against President Joe Biden from conservative critics and Republican lawmakers, who accused the Democrat of being involved in his son's alleged criminal deals.
Aside from public statements that he supported his only surviving son, President Biden has attempted to maintain a safe distance from the Justice Department's investigation, especially given the degree of scrutiny his administration faced from the GOP.
On Thursday, congressional testimony was released to the public, which included claims from two IRS whistleblowers who alleged Hunter was given preferential treatment.
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Additionally, the whistleblowers claimed that the IRS recommended more serious charges against the first son than what he was ultimately charged with.
The shocking testimony further alleged that US Attorney David Weiss was barred from bringing charges against Hunter in states outside of Delaware, where he served in the US Federal District Court.
Garland was accused of denying Weiss' request to be named special counsel in the probe, which he directly addressed at a press conference on Friday.
According to CNN, Garland claimed Weiss was "permitted to continue his investigation and to make a decision to prosecute any way in which he wanted to and in any district in which he wanted to."
"I don’t know how it would be possible for anybody to block him from bringing a prosecution, given that he has this authority," Garland continued, as he noted on the subject of special counsel that, "Mr. Weiss never made that request to me."
"Mr. Weiss had, in fact, more authority than a special counsel would have," Garland added. "He had and has complete authority, as I said, to bring a case anywhere he wants in his discretion."
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Following the explosive release of the whistleblower's testimony, Hunter agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges. The whistleblowers alleged that the IRS' initial recommendation was two felony counts of tax evasion and filing a false tax return for 2014, 2018, and 2019. Nonetheless, Hunter's attorney Chris Clark denied allegations that his client was given a so-called "sweetheart plea deal."
"Any suggestion the investigation was not thorough, or cut corners, or cut my client any slack, is preposterous and deeply irresponsible," Clark said.
