Special counsel David Weiss, who is investigating Hunter Biden, once partnered in 2010 with the late Beau Biden, then the Delaware attorney general.
Beau Biden was Hunter's older brother and is President Joe Biden's late son, but the ties between prosecutor and Biden family further adds to the allegations of Weiss' conflicts of interest in being assigned to look into Hunter Biden's improprieties, The Washington Post reported.
"We will continue to aggressively pursue all types of fraud in order to protect the public," Weiss once wrote in a joint statement with Beau Biden on a fraud case.
Weiss might have been appointed by former President Donald Trump's administration to oversee a Hunter Biden investigation — as Democrats frequently are quick to point out — but Weiss served two years as an acting U.S. attorney under President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden and remained a top deputy through their administration, the Post reported.
Weiss has come under scrutiny for his so-called "sweetheart" plea deal with Hunter Biden, which ran out the statute of limitations on some serious tax crimes, recommended a diversion program for a gun possession felony, and potentially gave Hunter Biden immunity to future prosecutions — all in exchange for a guilty plea on two tax misdemeanors.
U.S. Judge Maryellen Noreika snuffed out the plea deal as Hunter Biden's lawyers suggested in open court they believed it brought future immunity from prosecutions, a claim U.S. prosecutors under Weiss were forced to deny after the public revelation of IRS and FBI whistleblowers.
After that plea deal backfired and myriad whistleblowers alleged the Biden Justice Department has been "slow-walking" if not outright obstructing justice, Weiss was granted special counsel authority by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
"Weiss has been compromised," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., once supportive of Weiss' independence in the investigations, said in a recent TV interview.
A spokesman for House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said Weiss "can't be trusted."
Amid the scrutiny, Hunter Biden's lawyers alleged the government "reneged" on the apparent immunity portion of the plea deal, a claim Weiss has rejected.
None of those involved — Weiss, the White House, or Hunter Biden's lawyers — has responded to the Post's requests for comment.
But critics note Delaware is a state that is too much like a small town where everyone knows everyone, making conflicts of interest unavoidable.
"The state is a small town, and everybody knows each other," said attorney Henry Klingeman, who once defended a client being prosecuted by Weiss.
Joe Biden "has been the most consequential figure since 1972, and I'm sure he and Weiss crossed paths," Klingeman added.