House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has raised the idea of possibly opening an impeachment inquiry into U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland as a new email contradicts Garland’s testimony regarding the Hunter Biden investigation.
U.S. Attorney David Weiss recently brought several tax charges against Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son, resulting in the younger Biden admitting guilt.
However, IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley has alleged in testimony to Congress that Weiss told top officials during a meeting in 2022 that he wasn’t the person deciding whether charges would be filed and that requests for charges to be brought in Washington and California had been rejected.
The allegations were made public on June 22.
Garland, who appointed Weiss, told reporters afterward that the allegations weren’t true.
Weiss was “permitted to … make a decision to prosecute any way in which he wanted to and in any district in which he wanted to,” according to Garland.
“He was given complete authority to make all decisions on his own,” Garland said.
But an email shows that Shapley’s testimony was corroborated by IRS official Darrell Waldon. Waldon, who also was in the 2022 meeting, in the email responds to a summary of the meeting by Shapley.
Shapley wrote that Weiss said he wasn’t the ultimate authority on charging decisions, that Weiss said his request for charges to be brought in Washington was rejected, and that Weiss said his request to be appointed special counsel was denied by Department of Justice leadership.
“You covered it all,” Waldon wrote.
