WASHINGTON — Special counsel David Weiss, who is overseeing the investigation into Hunter Biden, told the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that he was not thwarted from advancing charges against the president's son.
“At no time was I blocked, or otherwise prevented from pursuing charges or taking the steps necessary in the investigation by other United States Attorneys, the Tax Division or anyone else at the Department of Justice,” Weiss said in his closed-door testimony, according to prepared remarks obtained by NBC News.
Weiss also said he doesn’t make decisions in the case in a “vacuum” and must obey federal laws, the principles of federal prosecution and Justice Department guidelines.
“As a result, there are processes that I must adhere to in making investigative and charging decisions,” he told the committee. “These processes did not interfere with my decision-making authority.”
The special prosecutor’s interview came months after a plea deal Biden struck with the government unraveled when the judge in the case raised concerns about the agreement. Weiss, a Trump appointee who was kept on after the 2020 election to oversee the case, is leading an indictment of Biden on gun charges. He had requested and was granted special counsel status after the earlier plea deal fell through.
Weiss' testimony on Tuesday left no room for interpretation regarding what the U.S. attorney for Delaware was and was not able to do in terms of bringing charges.
A source familiar with Weiss' testimony told NBC News that Weiss testified to the Republican-led panel that he hasn't had direct communication with Attorney General Merrick Garland outside of the August letter he sent to Garland requesting special counsel status that Garland granted.
Weiss also testified that he had interactions with then Attorney General William Barr regarding the probe.
Weiss' testimony marks the first time a special counsel has answered questions from congressional investigators before concluding a probe. His appearance comes as Republicans seek to ramp up their impeachment inquiry into the president over his family’s business dealings.
Weiss had volunteered to appear before Congress to clarify inconsistencies between his public statements on the probe and the public testimony of two IRS investigators, who claimed Weiss was blocked from bringing charges against Biden.
According to his prepared remarks, Weiss said he would provide details only about his authority to bring charges and to “address misunderstandings about the scope of my authority to decide where, when, and whether to bring charges in this matter," but declined to delve into the specifics of the investigation, citing concerns about jeopardizing the ongoing probe.
A source familiar with the investigation confirmed that Weiss had inquired about bringing charges in other districts and shortly after reached out to the U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C., to begin that process.
Weiss also made clear Tuesday that his investigation is not over and that he would be able to share more information in a report after his probe concluded.
In a statement Monday, special counsel spokesperson Wyn Hornbuckle noted that Weiss’ appearance before the panel was intended “to make clear that he’s had and continues to have full authority over his investigation and to bring charges in any jurisdiction.”
Democratic Reps. Daniel Goldman, of New York, and Mary Gay Scanlon, of Pennsylvania, told reporters outside the meeting room that the questions Republicans were asking Weiss were misleading and repetitive.
Weiss told them that he always had the authority to bring charges in the probe and reiterated he was granted special counsel status soon after he asked for it, Goldman said.
“Mr. Weiss just confirmed the fact that he had ultimate, independent authority to charge whatever charges he deemed to be appropriate,” he said.
Scanlon called the proceeding “a farce” and “an absolute waste of time” before leaving the building.
New York Democrat Jerry Nadler echoed her on his way out, calling the meeting a “waste of time" and saying he has “other things to do."
Weiss was a "very credible witness," Nadler said. "He stated multiple times that he made all the charging decisions on his own. No one gave him any instructions or suggestions as to charging decisions. The Republicans just keep going over and over the same theme and getting the same answers."
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., went further by saying Republicans had wasted the special counsel’s time.
“So this entire interview process is stupid. I don’t know what we’re doing here," Lieu said. "We’re not gonna learn anything new because he kept up on specific the case he had full discretion to do what he needed to do. No one ever stopped him from doing what he needed to do."
Florida Republican Matt Gaetz, meanwhile, told reporters, “Mr. Weiss was here incarnate, but not particularly in spirit,” adding that the questioners got “almost nothing” from him.
Whenever Republicans had a question about communications related to the Justice Department or one of the IRS agents, "he would demure and say that it was just part of his deliberative process," Gaetz said. "Well, the reason Congress has questions is because that deliberative process has resulted in some pretty bizarre outcomes that we can’t explain to our constituents. And we think that Mr. Weiss has been pretty evasive and just deeming everything deliberative."
Gaetz said Weiss was "evasive" and “opaque” with his answers.
“I mean, to the point that if we even asked Mr. Weiss how his correspondence and communications with the Department of Justice worked, he wouldn’t even tell us whether or not they were or weren’t by email,” he said. “So even it wasn’t just that Mr. Weiss wasn’t answering questions about the substance of his discussions with other prosecutors and people at DOJ, he wouldn’t even address the medium of this discussions, which I think shows how opaque he’s truly being.”
The committee chairman, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told reporters a key takeaway was that Weiss said he requested “special attorney status” in the spring of 2022 and was not granted it. Jordan said Weiss said the Justice Department told him to “follow the process.”
Biden pleaded not guilty last month to three charges related to his possession of a firearm while using illegal drugs. He has said he will seek to have the federal indictment against him dismissed.
The three federal gun charges in the September indictment include two counts accusing him of falsely indicating he was not using illegal drugs on a form for a gun purchase in 2018 and a third count alleging he possessed a firearm while using a narcotic.
Multiple people connected to the investigation and the central question of Weiss’ authority have appeared before the House Judiciary Committee.
Matthew Graves, the U.S. Attorney from Washington, D.C., told the committee last month that he never stood in the way of Weiss bringing charges, according to a transcript of his testimony reviewed by NBC News. Martin Estrada, the U.S. Attorney for Central California, also appeared before the committee in October and denied that his office stood in the way of any potential prosecution of Biden, according to a similar transcript reviewed by NBC News.
House Republicans are probing whether the Justice Department granted the president’s son favorable treatment because of his father, alleging he should have been charged for some of his business dealings as well.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has signaled that his panel is preparing to issue subpoenas focused on the Biden family’s business dealings. Hunter Biden and the president’s brother James Biden are among those expected to be subpoenaed by the panel as soon as the middle of this week, two sources connected to the investigation told NBC News.
Ryan Nobles reported from Washington, Summer Concepcion from New York.
