House Oversight Chair Comer unloads on Hunter Biden special counsel appointment: 'This is a joke'
Republican says Merrick Garland's appointment of David Weiss validates claims the Justice Department is 'weaponized'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Attorney General Merrick Garland's recent decision to appoint the federal prosecutor investigating Hunter Biden as special counsel in the ongoing probe has come under sharp criticism from prominent Republican figures, notably House Oversight Chairman James Comer.
On "Sunday Night in America," host Trey Gowdy and Comer shared in criticizing the appointment, referencing David Weiss' past decision involving Hunter Biden.
"David Weiss, same person, different title. It took a long time to get the special counsel, but it's also the same guy, you correct me if I'm wrong, that was going to let Hunter Biden plead to two misdemeanors and put a felony gun charge in a diversion program," Gowdy said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}U.S. Attorney David Charles Weiss (Department of Justice)
Last month, it was anticipated that Hunter Biden would plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax as part of a plea deal with the Justice Department in order to avoid jail time on a felony gun charge. However, that plea deal fell apart during his first court appearance after Judge Maryellen Noreika questioned its constitutionality.
Comer voiced his reservations about the appointment.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Well, this is a joke," he said, adding, "All that Merrick Garland did was validate the point that many Republicans have been making: that the Department of Justice was weaponized."
While there have been calls for the appointment of a special counsel in the case against Hunter Biden, Comer shared how he has maintained a different position.
"The one reason I would give for not wanting a special counsel was what we've seen. The fact that I have no confidence that Merrick Garland would appoint anyone credible. I never dreamed he would do as bad as he did with Weiss."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}REPUBLICANS BLAST ‘COVERUP’ OF HUNTER BIDEN SPECIAL COUNSEL APPOINTMENT: ‘SOMETHING’S NOT RIGHT'
President Joe Biden (L) and Hunter Biden (R) (Fox News)
"Not only did Weiss drag his feet for five years and tried to negotiate a sweetheart plea deal with the president's son, he also let the statute of limitations run out," Comer continued. "That was one of the biggest complaints from the IRS whistleblowers when they testified before the Oversight Committee, was their frustration that they knew they were coming up on a hard stop as far as trying to prosecute the president's son for obvious crimes of tax evasion and violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, but Weiss intentionally let the statute of limitations run out."
Comer was referring to the IRS whistleblower agents who testified on Capitol Hill on their experience as part of the investigation into alleged Biden corruption – supervisor Gary Shapley and lead investigator Joseph Ziegler.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We also learned in that testimony, Trey, that the IRS whistleblowers never knew about the 1023 form from the FBI that Bill Barr handed over to Weiss, that alleged both Hunter Biden and Joe Biden were involved in a bribery scheme in Ukraine."
Comer expressed his lack of confidence in both Weiss and Garland, but assured Americans Republicans would remain determined to seek the truth.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"This will not deter our investigation," he said. "We're going to continue to move forward and try to present the American people with the truth about this family."
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Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.