President Joe Biden on Friday deferred to the Justice Department concerning the probe into his son's financial dealings.
"I have no comment on any investigation that's going on. That's up to the Justice Department, and that's all I have to say," Biden said at a joint press conference with the leaders of South Korea and Japan.
His statement was the first he's made publicly since Attorney General Merrick Garland on Aug. 11 appointed a special counsel in the probe, a surprise move that intensifies the investigation into the president's son ahead of the 2024 election.
Garland noted the "extraordinary circumstances" of the matter as he named David Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware who had already been probing Hunter Biden's financial dealings, as special counsel after plea deal talks in the case broke down.
The sudden turn of events raises fresh questions about the case against Hunter Biden on tax evasion and a gun charge, deepening an investigation that was close to resolution just weeks ago. Weiss had asked to be named special counsel in order to gain broad authority to investigate and report out his findings.
Last month, Hunter Biden's plea deal over tax evasion and a gun charge collapsed after U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika, who was appointed by Trump, raised multiple concerns about the specifics.
House Republicans had derided that agreement as a "sweetheart" deal as they pushed their own probe into Hunter Biden's business dealings.