IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley’s boss, Special Agent in Charge Darrell Waldon, confirmed U.S. Prosecutor David Weiss did not have authority to charge Hunter Biden, emails obtained by House Republicans show.
Although Weiss maintains he did have authority to charge Hunter Biden, Waldon confirmed via email that Shapley’s notes were correct from an October 7, 2022, meeting between Waldon, Shapley, and Weiss, among others. “Darrell asked me to shoot an update from today’s meeting. Darrell — feel free to comment if I miss anything,” the top line of the email read.
In point two of the email to Waldon, Shapley recapped that “Weiss stated he is not the deciding person of whether charges are filed,” he said. “I believe this is a huge problem — inconsistent with DOJ public position and Merrick Garland testimony.”
Waldon replied to Shapley, “Thanks, Gary. You covered it all”:
Shapley’s email noted Attorney General Merrick Garland’s March testimony to Congress. During the testimony, Garland said he would personally have to authorize any potential charges against the president’s son — including in a separate “jurisdiction.”
Shapley, along with his IRS whistleblower subordinate, contends the DOJ twice prevented Weiss from bringing stronger charges against Hunter Biden, including in separate jurisdictions, and that Garland refused to name a special counsel in the tax investigation, which could have provided a degree of separation between Joe Biden and his DOJ.
Weiss disputed both contentions in a Monday letter to Sen. Lesley Graham (R-SC), saying, “[I’ve] never been denied the authority to bring charges in any jurisdiction.”
“To clarify an apparent misperception and to avoid future confusion … I have not requested Special Counsel designation pursuant to 28 CFR § 600 et seq,” Weiss wrote. “Rather, I had discussions with Departmental officials regarding potential appointment under 28 U.S.C. § 515, which would have allowed me to file charges in a district outside my own without the partnership of the local U.S. Attorney.”
Shapley’s attorneys responded to Weiss’s claims and accused the U.S. attorney of changing his story.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
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