DES MOINES — Iowa U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said on Friday he welcomes the appointment of a special counsel in an investigation into Hunter Biden, but said he has reservations about the person selected for the post.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Friday he had appointed U.S. Attorney David Weiss as a special counsel as part of an ongoing investigation into President Joe Biden’s son. The appointment comes after congressional Republicans have waged several of their own investigations into Hunter Biden’s business dealings while his father was vice president.
“It’s about time” for a special counsel, Grassley told reporters at the Iowa State Fair, but he said he has concerns about political bias in the Justice Department and the appointment of Weiss to the position.
Weiss, a U.S. attorney appointed by former President Donald Trump, was already leading an investigation into Hunter Biden over unpaid federal taxes and an alleged gun possession crime. A plea deal between the prosecution and Biden’s attorneys fell apart last month when a judge rejected the deal.
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“I have some questions about Weiss doing it, because (Sen. Ron) Johnson and I sent all of this material we had … in regard to the payments that were made to Hunter Biden, and we don't know what they did with them," Grassley said.
Grassley has been critical of Hunter Biden as Republicans have launched wide-ranging investigations against him.
In September of 2022, Grassley called for Weiss to be appointed special counsel, and in 2022 he and U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, sent prosecutors a trove of bank records to Weiss asking they be included in his investigation.
The appointment will give Weiss an extra layer of independence from the U.S. Justice Department and requires that he provide a report to the attorney general after the investigation is completed. Garland said Friday he intends to make much of that report public.
“This appointment confirms my commitment to provide Mr. Weiss all the resources he requests,” Garland said when he announced the appointment. “It also reaffirms that Mr. Weiss has the authority he needs to conduct a thorough investigation and to continue to take the steps he deems appropriate independently, based only on the facts and the law.”
Prosecutors in the case said Friday plea deal talks in Hunter Biden’s tax case have broken down, and it will likely go to trial. Grassley said he hopes the appointment as special counsel does not delay the trial.
“Is a special counsel set up to interfere with going to a trial right away, or is there some other reason for doing it?” he said. “And since this administration has exemplified so much political bias in the FBI and the Department of Justice, I think there’s a reason to raise questions.”