On Sunday, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) suggested that Congress could pursue an impeachment inquiry into Attorney General Merrick Garland for abuse of power.
As reported by the New York Post, McCarthy hinted at such a course of action in a tweet, saying that “we need to get to the facts, and that includes reconciling these clear disparities. U.S. Attorney David Weiss must provide answers to the House Judiciary Committee.”
Weiss is the U.S. Attorney who was assigned to investigate allegations of tax fraud by Hunter Biden, whose legal team recently announced that he would be pleading guilty to two tax-related charges, as well as a firearm charge, in exchange for a reduced sentence.
Two whistleblowers within the IRS have since claimed that Garland used his power to ensure that the Department of Justice (DOJ) would interfere with the tax case and guarantee a favorable outcome for Biden. Garland had previously testified under oath before Congress that his DOJ did not interfere in the investigation.
“If the whistleblowers’ allegations are true, this will be a significant part of a larger impeachment inquiry into Merrick Garland’s weaponization of DOJ,” McCarthy continued.
The whistleblowers’ testimony was made public on Thursday, with one of them being IRS supervisory agent Gary Shapley and the other one remaining unnamed. They allege that Weiss previously wanted to bring charges against Hunter Biden in both California and Washington, D.C. last year. But Biden-appointed U.S. attorneys Martin Estrada and Matthew Graves both refused to press charges.
“In an October 7, 2022, meeting at the Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office, U.S. Attorney David Weiss told six witnesses he did not have authority to charge in other districts and had thus requested special counsel status,” said Shapley’s legal team in a statement. Garland had claimed in his testimony that Weiss already “had full authority” in his case.
Garland’s alleged interference, as well as Hunter Biden’s unusually light plea deal, have sparked accusations of clear political bias from federal law enforcement in favor of the president’s son. These developments come even after the DOJ, the FBI, and other top law enforcement agencies pursue overtly political charges against former President Donald J. Trump, raiding his Florida estate and indicting him on multiple federal charge related to allegedly classified documents, even as he remains the frontrunner for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination in 2024.