{"id":11417,"date":"2023-11-10T01:50:38","date_gmt":"2023-11-10T01:50:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2023\/11\/10\/weiss-says-he-wasnt-granted-special-attorney-authority-in-hunter-biden-probe-despite-request-transcript\/"},"modified":"2023-11-10T01:50:38","modified_gmt":"2023-11-10T01:50:38","slug":"weiss-says-he-wasnt-granted-special-attorney-authority-in-hunter-biden-probe-despite-request-transcript","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2023\/11\/10\/weiss-says-he-wasnt-granted-special-attorney-authority-in-hunter-biden-probe-despite-request-transcript\/","title":{"rendered":"Weiss says he \u2018wasn\u2019t granted\u2019 special attorney authority in Hunter Biden probe despite request: Transcript"},"content":{"rendered":"

FIRST ON FOX<\/strong>: Special Counsel David Weiss admitted he \u2018wasn\u2019t granted\u2019 special attorney authority in his Hunter Biden investigation by the Justice Department despite requesting that status, but he told investigators he did not interpret that decision as a \u2018denial in any way, shape or form,\u2019 a transcript of his testimony reviewed by Fox News Digital revealed.<\/p>\n

Weiss, who served as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware before being appointed as special counsel in August, has been investigating Hunter Biden since 2018. A special attorney has expanded powers \u2014 though less investigative and charging power than a special counsel \u2014 that would allow a prosecutor to bring charges in jurisdictions beyond their own.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the time of Weiss\u2019 request, Weiss was serving as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware. Weiss was considering bringing possible charges against Hunter Biden in the District of Columbia and in the Central District of California.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Weiss participated in a voluntary transcribed interview before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His testimony came after IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler alleged that politics affected prosecutorial decisions throughout the probe with regard to search warrants, decisions about lines of questioning during interviews of specific people, and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shapley also alleged that Weiss did not have \u2018ultimate authority\u2019 to pursue charges against the president\u2019s son and instead needed approval from the Justice Department \u2013 something that DOJ officials confirmed in their voluntary transcribed interviews before the committee.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fox News Digital reviewed a copy of Weiss\u2019 testimony transcript.<\/p>\n

Weiss followed steps requested by DOJ, asking U.S. attorneys in those districts if they would like to partner with him in the prosecution. Both U.S. Attorney for D.C. Matthew Graves and U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Martin Estrada testified during their voluntary transcribed interviews before the House Judiciary Committee that they declined to partner with Weiss.<\/p>\n

Weiss testified that he \u2018raised the idea of 515 authority\u2019 because he \u2018had been handling the investigation for some period of time.\u2019<\/p>\n

U.S. Code 515 grants authority for special attorneys.<\/p>\n

\u2018They suggested let\u2019s go through the typical process and reach out to D.C. and see if D.C. would be interested in joining or otherwise participating in the investigation,\u2019 Weiss said.<\/p>\n

Later in his interview, Weiss was asked directly if he asked for \u2018515 Special Attorney authority.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I did ask for 515 Special Attorney authority,\u2019 Weiss said, noting he did so \u2018in the spring of 2022.\u2019<\/p>\n

When asked if he was granted that authority, Weiss said: \u2018I asked for it, and then in\u2014I think i\u2019ve described it in or around February, March of 2022, and at the conclusion of the process in D.C\u2026.I was informed by the Principal Deputy Attorney General that if I decided to proceed in the District of Columbia, I had the authority to proceed and the authority to move forward with whatever charges I deemed appropriate.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

Weiss said \u2018the first step was just to contact the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office to see if they wanted to join in the prosecution.\u2019<\/p>\n

Weiss testified that he had to follow a number of DOJ steps, including contacting U.S. attorney offices in the districts in question\u2014District of Columbia and Central District of California\u2014to determine if those attorneys wanted to partner with him.<\/p>\n

Weiss said he was directed to \u2018proceed as we would in the normal process\u2019 and move forward in \u2018a typical fashion.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018As you know, ultimately, this didn\u2019t happen in this conversation, but down the road, I was given the authority to proceed if I chose to do so,\u2019 Weiss said.<\/p>\n

Later in his interview, Weiss was pressed: \u2018But [515 authority] wasn\u2019t granted, right?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Yes. We have been over this,\u2019 he said. \u2018It wasn\u2019t granted.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018They said follow the process,\u2019 he continued. \u2018I followed the process.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

Weiss added: \u2018I asked for something, and in that conversation, they didn\u2019t give it to me.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018When you ask for something and they didn\u2019t give it to you, what is that?\u2019 Weiss was asked.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m not\u2014you want me to say it\u2019s a denial, but it\u2019s not,\u2019 Weiss said. \u2018Not when I know that, weeks later, I was specifically told, \u2018you can proceed.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Weiss stressed that he was asked to \u2018proceed with this process. We\u2019re asking you to go through this process.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018From my mind, it\u2019s a sequencing event,\u2019 Weiss said. \u2018It\u2019s not a denial in any way, shape or form.\u2019<\/p>\n

He added: \u2018That\u2019s the way I interpreted it.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Weiss was asked about more of Shapley\u2019s allegations, including when he claimed that Weiss himself stated that he was \u2018not the deciding person on whether charges are filed.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

When asked for his reaction to Shapley\u2019s recollection, Weiss stated: \u2018It\u2019s not what I said, nor is it what I believed, as I\u2019ve told you guys repeatedly today.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whistleblowers also alleged Weiss allowed the statute of limitations to expire for tax charges against Hunter Biden from 2014 and 2015 in D.C.<\/p>\n

Weiss testified that the statute of limitations did, in fact, expire, but he said he could not comment as it \u2018pertains to the ongoing litigation and our outstanding investigation.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m just not at liberty to comment at this time, but there will come a time,\u2019 Weiss said, adding that he would explain in his eventual report why the statute of limitations was allowed to lapse.<\/p>\n

\u2018But even though the statute of limitations has lapsed and even though charges won\u2019t be filed, if there were to be an outstanding tax prosecution, there is no reason to believe that evidence pertaining to prior years, or witnesses involved in prior years, wouldn\u2019t be part of that litigation,\u2019 Weiss said.<\/p>\n

Weiss was also asked about the FBI\u2019s FD-1023 form, which details allegations of a criminal bribery scheme involving President Biden, Hunter Biden and the head of Burisma Holdings.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m not going to comment on that. I appreciate your question, but it concerns a matter that is subject to an outstanding investigation,\u2019 Weiss said. \u2018It\u2019s something that I absolutely cannot comment on either way.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Weiss said he is continuing to \u2018work on building the team\u2019 in the special counsel\u2019s office but said he was \u2018not going to get into the particulars.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

Weiss\u2019 special counsel team is located in Delaware, but is separate from the U.S. Attorney\u2019s office in Delaware.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As for the status and timeline of his investigation, Weiss told investigators he was \u2018not going to put a time frame on it.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018We plan to move as efficiently as possible,\u2019 he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Brooke Singman is a Fox News Digital politics reporter. You can reach her at Brooke.Singman@Fox.com or @BrookeSingman on Twitter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FIRST ON FOX: Special Counsel David Weiss admitted he \u2018wasn\u2019t granted\u2019 special attorney authority in his Hunter Biden investigation by the Justice Department despite requesting that status, but he told investigators he did not interpret that decision as a \u2018denial in any way, shape or form,\u2019 a transcript of his testimony reviewed by Fox News <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":11418,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11417","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}