White House not commenting on Hunter Biden special counsel news
Christian Datoc
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The White House declined to comment Friday on the Justice Department’s decision to appoint David Weiss to serve as special counsel overseeing the federal investigation into Hunter Biden, the president’s son.
President Joe Biden returned to Washington, D.C., on Friday following a weeklong tour of western states. He spent the first week of August vacationing at his family home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
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The White House has not held a press briefing since July, though press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre did gaggle with reporters flying with the president this past week. Administration officials declined to comment Friday on Weiss’s appointment.
Though Biden was in Washington, D.C., on Friday, the White House did not have a briefing scheduled on the daily guidance, but senior Justice Department officials said the White House was not given a heads-up regarding Weiss.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced his decision to elevate Weiss, who had been serving as the lead prosecutor in Hunter Biden’s tax and firearms case, Friday afternoon.
“Upon considering his request, as well as the extraordinary circumstances relating to this matter, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint him as special counsel,” he said in a statement.
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The president’s son had previously entered into a plea agreement regarding his tax and gun charges, but that arrangement was thrown out at his plea hearing in July when sides could not agree on terms for future immunity. Prosecutors informed the judge that day that the younger Biden was still the subject of an investigation, possibly for violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Weiss confirmed in an additional filing on Friday that the federal government and Biden’s defense team “are at an impasse and are not in agreement on either a plea agreement or a diversion agreement.”