Special counsel David Weiss sought Justice Department authority in February 2022 to give him the power to prosecute Hunter Biden outside his jurisdiction, but DOJ officials were unwilling to do so right away, the Washington Examiner reported.
Word of Weiss' request came in a transcript of the now-special counsels' closed-door testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.
According to the transcript, Weiss was told by DOJ officials he had to follow "a typical process" that lasted weeks. Weiss did not act on his request until the following year.
Some committee members challenged him on the issue of his authority regarding the case.
Weiss insisted the DOJ's response to his request that he follow a "process" did not mean officials were denying him the authority he was seeking, according to the Examiner.
"You want me to say it's a denial, but it's not," Weiss said. "Not when I know that, weeks later, I was specifically told, 'You can proceed.'"
Characterizing DOJ officials as cooperative, Weiss maintained they told him in May 2022, after he followed their process, that he could have the authority he needed. But Weiss said he "never executed on that assurance that [he] would have the authority."
Weiss noted that he asked the DOJ officials specifically for "515 Special Attorney authority" in February 2022.
Weiss, who was the U.S. attorney in Delaware at the time, under that federal law would have had the authority to prosecute Hunter Biden in jurisdictions outside of his own, the Examiner said.
Weiss' prosecutors and IRS investigators were at that point weighing charges against Hunter Biden for alleged tax offenses that reportedly took place in California and Washington, D.C.
Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., told Newsmax on Tuesday that time was wasted between the time Weiss asked the Department of Justice for special counsel status to the time he was granted that authority.
Fry said that not much new was revealed during Weiss' testimony except that Weiss asked for special counsel status in the spring of 2022 but was denied until Attorney General Merrick Garland promoted him in August 2023.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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