Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty
After spending a half-decade investigating Hunter Biden, the U.S. Department of Justice has now decided that it needs a special counsel to finish the job. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday that he would name David Weiss, the U.S. Attorney for Delaware, as the special counsel for the prosecution of President Biden’s only surviving son after Weiss requested the appointment and in light of what Garland termed to be the “extraordinary circumstances” of the case which made such an appointment to be in the public interest.
Weiss–originally appointed by former President Trump—first opened the investigation in 2019 and was allowed by the Biden administration to continue on in his position as U.S. Attorney. It is unclear why Weiss and Garland found it necessary after five years to make Weiss special counsel.
Earlier this month, Weiss came tantalizingly close to wrapping up the case with a plea bargain but suffered a spectacular collapse in court when the federal judge overseeing the case refused to approve the deal. Amidst recriminations from both prosecution and defense the case now appears to be headed for a trial after Weiss moved to dismiss the current case in order to bring charges in Washington D.C. or California.