Republicans accuse Garland of 'coverup' in selecting Weiss as Hunter Biden special prosecutor

The chairman of the powerful House Judiciary Committee on Friday opposed Attorney General Merrick's Garland's selection of Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss to be the special counsel in the Biden family investigation, saying the prosecutor couldn't be trusted after offering a now-scuttled "sweetheart deal" to Hunter Biden a month ago.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, also signaled in a statement from his spokesman that he plans to proceed with a hearing requiring Weiss to testify why Hunter Biden was going to be spared prison for tax evasion and gun charges and whether he had been blocked by DOJ to bring more serious charges,

"David Weiss can’t be trusted and this is just a new way to whitewash the Biden family’s corruption," Jordan spokesman Russell Dye said. "Weiss has already signed off on a sweetheart plea deal that was so awful and unfair that a federal judge rejected it.

"We will continue to pursue facts brought to light by brave whistleblowers as well as Weiss’s inconsistent statements to Congress," he added.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Kentucky, wrote in a statement on X, the platform previously called Twitter, that this move by the Justice Department is occurring to stonewall evidence against the Biden family brought forward by the committee. 

"Let's be clear on what today's move is really about," Comer wrote. "The Biden Justice Department is trying to stonewall congressional oversight as we have presented evidence to the American people about the Biden family's corruption."

The House Oversight Committee put out a statement on social media, alleging that the DOJ is attempting a cover-up for the first family.

"The Justice Department’s misconduct and politicization in the Biden criminal investigation already allowed the statute of limitations to run with respect to egregious felonies committed by Hunter Biden," the statement reads. 

"Justice Department officials refused to follow evidence that could have led to Joe Biden, tipped off the Biden transition team and Hunter Biden’s lawyers about planned interviews and searches, and attempted to sneakily place Hunter Biden on the path to a sweetheart plea deal," the statement continued.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy also put out a statement in which he criticized Weiss. 

"This action by Biden’s DOJ cannot be used to obstruct congressional investigations or whitewash the Biden family corruption," he wrote on X. "If Weiss negotiated the sweetheart deal that couldn’t get approved, how can he be trusted as a Special Counsel? House Republicans will continue to pursue the facts for the American people."

Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley said that Weiss was the incorrect person for the job. 

"Since at least 2019, the FBI and Justice Department have possessed glaring evidence of criminality involving the Biden family’s business ventures," Grassley said in a press release. "Despite repeated assurances that U.S. Attorney Weiss had full authority and independence to pursue all the facts, whistleblowers and a botched sweetheart plea deal told a much different story. Given the underhanded plea deal negotiated by the U.S. Attorney from President Biden’s home state, it’s clear Mr. Weiss isn’t the right person for the job."