Some Republican members of Congress are being singled out for being hypocritical after Attorney General Merrick Garland named a special counsel to oversee the Hunter Biden investigation that the Department of Justice is conducting.
Many GOP members of Congress have called for a special counsel to be appointed in this case for a while now, especially after what was perceived to be a “sweetheart” plea deal that was given to President Joe Biden’s son.
After that plea deal seemingly fell apart in court, Garland appointed a special counsel to oversee the case, but Republicans are not happy about who was appointed.
The man who will serve in that role is David Weiss, a U.S. attorney for Delaware who was actually appointed to his position by former President Donald Trump. He was formerly in charge of the investigation, but now has extra legal jurisdiction in this new role.
Earlier this summer, Weiss had charged Hunter Biden with possessing a gun illegally and failing to pay federal income taxes. That, though, led to the plea deal that would’ve seen Hunter Biden avoid all jail time in exchange for pleading guilty.
When that deal came before the judge who was in charge of the official sentencing, though, it fell apart over questions of immunity that were entered as part of the agreement. When the judge couldn’t guarantee that the deal would give Biden immunity over future prosecutions, he withdrew from the deal and pleaded not guilty.
That led Garland to appoint Weiss as special counsel over the matter.
While that seemingly would’ve appeased Republicans who were calling for a special counsel all along, some were displeased.
For instance, GOP Senator Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee posted on X, the site formerly known as Twitter:
“Merrick Garland appointed David Weiss as special counsel because he knows Weiss will protect Hunter.”
But, Blackburn was immediately called out following that post. Some X users pointed out that she was one of more than 30 GOP senators who signed off on a letter in September of 2022 that called for Weiss to be appointed as a special counsel in the case.
That letter wrote that Weiss would be able to “provide additional assurances to the American people that the Hunter Biden investigation is free from political influence.”
Blackburn hasn’t commented as to why she’s now criticizing the appointment of Weiss as the special counsel.
Other Republican senators who signed that letter but who are now critical of Weiss’ appointment include Iowa’s Chuck Grassley and South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham.
While making an appearance with NewsNation recently, Graham said:
“This is a political decision by the Biden administration to fix their political problem. I think they poured gasoline on a political fire. Mr. Weiss’ team needs to be replaced with a new set of eyes.”
Grassley spoke with Fox News about the situation, acknowledging that he indeed signed that letter, but adding that he now has “some questions about Weiss doing it.”
