'Shoeless Joe' Weiss and the fixing of the Hunter Biden game
Category: News & Politics
Via: vic-eldred • last year • 52 commentsBy: Jonathan Turley, Opinion Contributor (The Hill)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Tierney L. Cross Attorney General Merrick Garland announces the appointment of David C. Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware, as Special Counsel in Hunter Biden Inquiry at the Justice Department in Washington D.C., on August 11, 2023.
Roughly 100 years ago, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson admitted that, as a player for the Chicago White Sox, he and seven other teammates had intentionally lost the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds in 1919. When a kid stopped him outside of the grand jury room and asked "It ain't true, is it, Joe?" Jackson responded "Yes, kid, I'm afraid it is."
This is not a case of history repeating itself. After being confronted by allegations of a fixed investigation, Attorney General Merrick Garland just sent Shoeless Joe back into the game.
The appointment of Delaware David Weiss as the new special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden left many with the same disbelief as that kid in Chicago. This is, after all, the same Weiss who headed an investigation that was trashed by whistleblowers, who alleged that his investigation had been fixed from the outset.
It is the same Weiss who ran an investigation in which agents were allegedly prevented from asking about Joe Biden, obstructed in their efforts to pursue questions and compromised by tip offs to the Biden team on planned searches.
It was also the same Weiss who reportedly allowed the statute of limitations to run out on Hunter's major tax offenses, even though he had the option to extend it.
It was the same Weiss who did not indict on major tax felonies and cut a plea deal that brushed aside a felony gun charge.
It was the same Weiss who inked a widely panned "sweetheart" deal that caused a federal judge to balk and trash a sweeping immunity grant — language that even the prosecutor admitted he had never previously seen in a plea deal.
That is why many asked Garland to "say it ain't so."
The Weiss appointment definitively established Garland as a failure as attorney general. As someone who initially praised Garland's appointment, I now see that he has repeatedly shown he lacks the strength and leadership to rise to these moments.
This is why the Justice Department is now less trusted by the public than it was under his predecessor, Bill Barr. During Barr's tenure, Pew found that 54 percent of the public viewed the department favorably, and 70 percent had a favorable view of the FBI. Under Garland, the department's favorability had declined to 49 percent as of March, before many of the recent failures. The FBI's favorability has fallen by 18 points to just 52 percent.
Garland's failure of leadership has undermined key cases. A Harvard-Harris poll this summer showed that 55 percent of the public view the Trump indictment as "politically motivated," and 56 percent believe that it constitutes election interference.
Garland continues to do little to reverse that public perception, other than repeatedly refer to the motto of the Department. He offered the same mantra for years as some of us called for a special counsel appointment to investigate Biden corruption. The case for such an appointment has long been unassailable, but Garland refused to make the appointment, allowing years to pass with underlying crimes.
The immediate effect of this belated appointment will be to insulate Weiss and the Department from Congress as it prepares to interview Weiss and members of his team.
Yet if that was truly his purpose in doing this, Garland might have been too clever by half. First, since Garland did not appoint someone from outside of the Department (as envisioned under Section 600.3 of the statute).
Of course, Garland could insist that, although this appointment from inside the Justice Department violates the statute, Special Counsel John Durham was also selected from the department's ranks. Yet that does not excuse the appointment of a prosecutor who has been accused of conflicts of interest and false statements — the very antithesis of a special counsel who is supposed to have "a reputation for integrity and impartial decision-making."
Second, there is the failure to expand Weiss's mandate. Garland described that mandate as focusing again on Hunter Biden, and the Justice Department refused to respond to questions on the possible inclusion of his father in the investigation.
This was another opportunity to recognize the widespread distrust over the department and expressly allow the special counsel to include the corruption allegations involving both Hunter and the president. That would have supported calls for the House to delay further investigations.
As it stands, Garland has virtually ensured that Congress will pursue an impeachment inquiry as the only body seriously investigating the scandal.
The use of impeachment authority is the only effective way to overcome the roadblocks that the Justice Department is likely to throw up after this new appointment. Impeachment can work as constitutional Kryptonite. No court could seriously question the right and duty of Congress to get to the bottom of corruption allegations against the president without delay. Although Weiss can refuse to answer questions, Congress can use its impeachment authority to demand answers from fact witnesses, including Biden family members.
None of this means that Hunter Biden will be protected by Weiss from additional charges. He will likely pursue long dormant charges, such as Hunter's being an unregistered foreign agent. He could also purpose felonies on the crimes detailed in the now-defunct plea bargain. In other words, he could show all of the aggression that was lacking in his prior work.
The public, however, doesn't seem to be buying the special counsel spin. The result is reinforcing rather than resolving the lack of trust in the Justice Department.
It could not be worse for the Justice Department as an institution. "Shoeless Joe" Weiss is back in the game, long after the public has left in disgust.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University.
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The more they try to hide it, the more obvious the coverup becomes.
The more that the far right wing attacks Joe Biden with unfounded rumors, the more that they expose the only thing they have going for them. Innuendo and lies upon lies upon lies upon lies upon lies.
And the far right wing ignorant sycophant's just keep swallowing the tainted cum.
Joe Biden has already been caught in lies about Hunter.
When it comes to lies the right will never outdo the left. Russian collusion hoax, two faux impeachments, and of course the Jan 6th committee- where they destroyed the evidence so it couldn't be used by Trump at trial.
Leftist lemmings will find out either the laws apply to everyone; or no one.
Don't come crying to us when that happens.
Said fix has been in for quite a while.
When, if ever, will politicians learn that the cover up is usually what brings them down?
And this one stinks from here to California.
Weiss was appointed by Trump so it's good to know that Trump appointed a stealth Democrat who is an incompetent, lying POS. Perfect and par for the course for Trump.
Weiss has proved that one cannot serve two masters. He has chosen to serve the one who is his current boss.
... and purposely left in place by biden to continue his 5 year hunter investigation, then promoted to special counsel by garland in the DOJ. imagine the high pitched squealing if he was an obama appointee, or if he'd been replaced by another appointee during his investigation by biden. let the republicans dig their pits of hypocrisy deeper while the storm clouds build on the 2024 horizon. the party is a pathetic shadow of what it was before the radical right wing took over.
Weiss allowed the statute of limitations to run out while he sat on the case.
End of story.
Indefensible unless you are completely deluded.
They don't want to judge him by his actions. It's always about talking points.
The inmates are running their asylum.
Every Great Civilization has that final decline.
Yup but one hopes not
sure leave a dumbass who tried to give Hunter a sweetheart deal in charge of "investigating".
lol
Good to know you are aware of what happened.
And that was the rest of the comment and as Trump has stated on many occasions, ''he only appoints the best''.
Badda Bing.
Is who appointed him more important than his job performance?
And if he is so bad, why has he been allowed to keep his job so long?
And if he is so bad, why did Garland choose him for this job?
You don't think he has been compromised in any way because of the sweetheart deal they were giving Hunter?
Shoeless Joe ….. excellent!
It's not excellent. It's an extremely tortured analogy that lacks any relevant commonality between the two subjects.
The Black Sox team lost on purpose.
Weiss is winning. He actually charged Hunter Biden with multiple crimes. To analogize this with a baseball game, he would have had to win the game, but just not by as many runs as you might like.
Not to worry, though. The game isn't over. This "player" is ready to run back out on the field and see if he can score even more runs by coming up with even more things to charge against Hunter Biden. How anyone sees that as throwing the game is just effing bizarre.
Opinions do vary.
Despite letting the statute of limitations running out on the most serious of charges. Despite dropping the gun charge that many have received prison sentences for. Despite giving Hunter a sweetheart deal that would have prevented him from being charge with anything else regarding money laundering and tax evasion.
Weiss is definitely winning the Garland/Brandon sweepstakes for rapid promotion up the cesspool food chain. Weiss is winning; and the American justice system is losing.
Not by his own doing. If it wasn't for a judge that actually read the plea deal, Hunter would have walked with less than a slap on the wrist. Speaks volumes that you are siding with the corrupt POS Weiss and Garland.
Oh calm down. It doesn’t speak volumes and the only think I’m siding with is a little common sense. I’m not partisan like so many of of you are. I couldn’t give two shits about Hunter Biden, his father, or any rando prosecutor.
When the only argument for him is "he was appointed by Trump", then no defense actually exists. Just a silly logical fallacy designed to deflect from his conduct. If logical fallacies is the name of the game, the fact that Biden fired every Trump appointed prosecutor except two, including Weiss, is enough to indicate Weiss's unfitness. Not to mention his original appointment was championed by Delaware's two democratic Senators. But Weiss's critics don't have to play that game. They have actual substance on their side. The whistleblowers' testimony, the attempt at an unprecedented sweetheart plea deal, the inexplicable decision to let the Statute of Limitations lapse on a tax charge, the inexplicable decision to avoid following department policy and charging Biden with the most serious crime (ignoring a felony, the lie on his gun application that Biden has no defense for) etc all demonstrate Weiss's unfitness to act independently.
. But when you can't defend how Weiss has handled the case, "But Trump" is the best you can do, I guess.
Be honest. If he had been appointed by Biden, Obama, or any other Democrat, you would object to him on those grounds.
Biden fired 91 of 93 District Attorneys. He chose this man to prosecute the case. You believe that's somehow different than formally nominating him?
Not gonna respond to what I said, are you.
Weiss is a POS regardless of who appointed him. Satisfied?
This is insane. Unless Hunter Biden and his father both are raised up on crucifixes and tortured until they die, the GOP will not be satisfied.
The prosecutor the GOP is whining about didn't have to bring any charges at all. He has discretion in that regard. He was free to investigate and then declare that there was nothing there for him to prosecute.
But he did bring charges. Then, like every prosecutor does in most cases, he offered a deal to the defendant if he would plead guilty to something. That deal didn't work out.
So in response, this prosecutor could have just gone to trial on the existing charges. But instead, he has volunteered to be a special counsel, which opens up even more avenues of investigation, and very likely, new charges against Hunter Biden, and also against - as commonly happens with special prosecutors - other people connected to him.
Against all of this context, the GOP has convinced itself that this prosecutor is engaged in a cover up. That is so insane that if you wrote it as fiction, it would be mocked for being implausible.
Immunity from future prosecution? Really?...
Hmmmmm?...
I'll say it again in all caps. HE DIDN'T HAVE TO BRING ANY CHARGES. NOT ONE.
DOESN'T SOUND LIKE MUCH OF A PROSECUTOR THEN, DOES HE?...
At least try to follow along. He did bring charges. He's looking for more.
Yes, he did bring some charges, that he offered a plea deal on that even he said he had never seen the likes of before. And dragged his feet on other charges. And then...
Why didn't he go to trial on the existing charges?...Looking for more? That's funny.. I think I'm following along just fine, thanks.
That's an amazing defense. Really.
He ignored DOJ protocol to charge the most serious provable offence. He intentionally let SOL's run out to avoid charging him. He tried to enter into a sweetheart plea agreement that his own team had to admit was unprecedented.
But your argument is he can't be be criticized no matter what he does, because he doesn't HAVE to (despite his oath) charge anyone. I guess not everyone considers prosecutors as infallible as you.
That is not my argument. My argument is that it makes no sense to accuse him of trying to cover up Biden’s crimes when he’s charging him with crimes and investigating him for more. Criticize him all you want - on valid grounds. But the conspiracy theory is unsupported.
Your argument is that Weiss wasn't doing Hunter/Garland/Brandon a gigantic favor.
They are the only parties besides Weiss that made out in the deal.
Talk to you in 2027 when Weiss gets through dragging his feet as Special Counsel. Maybe the plea deal he works out next time will contain an apology to Hunter/Brandon- and an offer of compensation from the US tax payer for their suffering.
Why do people feel it necessary to try to restate my argument for me when I have both made the argument myself, and then clarified it, as well?
My theory is that my argument is actually just fine on its own, but to be angry, you have to restate it as something worse. You waste your time.
They'd still complain that the nails weren't rusty enough. Without a grievance, they have nothing to run on.
Ohh the irony... makes my belly hurt!
one would think after the last 7 years they'd know better than to go there!
Um.... I use he/him. You can use they/them for yourself if you want.
Lol … you’re too old to be buying into that horseshit.
Last time I counted there was only 1 of me.
I’m sorry, as One is the Loneliest Number:
You can say the same about Trump. and democrats..
but you won't
Why do you reply with irrelevant attacks? Why would I say anything about Trump when the seed is not about him? If you want to talk about Trump, try seeding a story about him.
impressive Tacos
As any that are here with any consistency can attest, Tacos is not known as some staunch Dem carrying the water, as he is more attuned to say Trumps daughter
Cause like she by her insistence, has chose to keep herself a good distance, away from Trump asz The Emperors clothes, begin to appear to diss appear , he is seeing and calling it, as it is. Possibly some more might wish to give it a try, cause both sides have bias, but give US A break.
If there is obvious wrong doing by anyone, by all means, investigate and then bring charges, but this constant accusatory accumulation of mere hallucinatory hallucination, shows they cannot be satisfied by which was derived, from a TRUMP APPOINTED INVESTIGATIVE Weiss, who REMAINED ON THE JOB, as Biden could have fired him and closed said to investigation, cause we all know Trump sure as hell would have.
Wake up people
If you can’t see, it’s because you have chosen not to
Agreed. I read the transcript of Judge Noreika.
It was Weiss’s prosecutor who told Judge Noreika that they were running an ongoing investigation in which Hunter Biden could still be charged. Hunter’s lawyer was disabused of this notion of broad immunity and agreed that the deal only applied to the two tax charges and gun charge.
The reason the deal failed is because Hunter’s lawyer attempted to protect Hunter from the inevitable continuous resultless ’investigations’ for which Republican bozos are famous. Republicans bleat about the ‘weaponization’ of the justice system, but this is projection. They are the masters of wasting resources on indictmentless investigations (see Benghazi, Her emails, or even their abuse of power in screwing with Clinton over consensual sex with another adult).
What Hunter’s lawyer tried was putting in a gatekeeper such that any attempt to investigate the plead offenses would have to be presented to a federal judge who would decide whether or not there was sufficient grounds to investigate. This would stop Republican bozos cold. Noreika said this is likely unconstitutional.
Since Hunter had paid all back taxes with interest and penalties, the government had been made whole there. The IRS would not pursue a law suit in this case because juries would see the problem as resolved. They would ask how much he owes, the answer would be nothing, then the jury would say "why are we here?" Hunter obviously has significant earning potential and effectively sending him to debtor’s prison would be stupid and counterproductive.
WRT the illegal gun purchase, Hunter owned the gun for 11 days and no crime was committed with it. The Diversion Agreement permanently revoked Hunter’s right to ever own a gun or ammunition. From postings on the site, I would say this would be nearly fatal to conservatives.
Finally, Joe Biden has nothing to do any of these charges, so any attempt to involve him would be pure political nonsense.
Patience, sir, patience.
The investigations are ongoing.
Doubtful--extremely doubtful--that a special prosecutor was appointed at this time if nothing was there.
Joe Biden has already been caught lying about his involvement.