House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer Friday accused David Weiss' appointment as the special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden as being part of the continuing efforts by the Department of Justice to cover up the Biden family's actions.
Several other key Republicans followed suit with concerns that the appointment is a ploy to hinder the ongoing congressional investigation into the matter.
"This move by AG [Merrick] Garland is part of the Justice Department's efforts to attempt a Biden family coverup in light of @GOPoversight's mounting evidence of President [Joe] Biden's role in his family's schemes selling 'the brand' for millions of dollars to foreign nationals," Comer, who has been spearheading the investigation into the Bidens, posted on social media site X (formerly Twitter) shortly after the announcement was made.
Weiss already has come under fire for a plea agreement he presented for Hunter Biden that would have had him pleading guilty to just two misdemeanor tax charges.
However, on Friday, just before Weiss was announced as the special counsel, the plea agreement Republicans slammed as being a "sweetheart deal" fell apart, leaving the president's son to face a trial.
Weiss has been Delaware's U.S. attorney after his 2018 appointment by then-President Donald Trump. When he was confirmed by the Senate in 2018, he was one of nine candidates Trump said shared his "vision for 'Making America Safe Again.'"
Weiss' probe of Hunter Biden began as early as 2018, with the investigation centering on Hunter Biden's financial and business activities in foreign countries, dating back to when Joe Biden was the vice president, reports CBS News.
Weiss met in April with Hunter Biden's attorneys, who had requested a status update on the investigation into him, his activities, and his laptop.
A plea agreement was reached in June, in which Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to just two tax misdemeanors in order to resolve a felony gun charge, but Weiss said Friday that the plea talks between his team and Biden had broken down in recent weeks after a Delaware judge said she could not accept the original arrangement.
The attorney general said the decision to appoint Weiss as special counsel was made after the attorney told him earlier this week that "in his judgment, his investigation has reached a stage at which he should continue his work as a special counsel, and he asked to be appointed."
But after Garland's announcement came Comer's statement, along with those of other key Republicans, questioning whether Weiss could be trusted, particularly after the deal critics have called a "sweetheart" plea was presented.
"This action by Biden's DOJ cannot be used to obstruct congressional investigations or whitewash the Biden family corruption," House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said on X. "If Weiss negotiated the sweetheart deal that couldn't get approved, how can he be trusted as a Special Counsel? House Republicans will continue to pursue the facts for the American people."
Comer said in his statement that the DOJ's "misconduct and politicization in the Biden criminal investigation already allowed the statute of limitations to run with respect to egregious felonies committed by Hunter Biden."
He also accused the DOJ of refusing to follow evidence that could lead to the president, tipping off the Biden transition team and Hunter Biden's lawyers about planned interviews and searches, and attempting to "sneakily place Hunter Biden on the path to a sweetheart plea deal."
The move to appoint Weiss, Comer added, is about how "the Biden Justice Department is trying to stonewall congressional oversight as we have presented evidence to the American people about the Biden family's corruption."
He added that the Oversight Committee will continue to follow the Biden family's money trail and interview witnesses "to determine whether foreign actors targeted the Bidens, President Biden is compromised and corrupt, and our national security is threatened."
Earlier Friday, before Garland made his announcement, Comer posted another message, saying that the Oversight Committee "has uncovered an overwhelming amount of evidence related to the Biden family's influence peddling schemes," including bank records, texts, suspicious activity reports, and "20 fake Biden companies."
And, Comer said, "Joe Biden was involved."
The super PAC backing President Donald Trump's campaign also weighed in on the appointment, with Karoline Leavitt, the spokeswoman for Make America Great Again Inc., commenting that "the fix is in."
"David Weiss cut Hunter Biden an unprecedented plea deal that attempted to give Joe Biden's corrupt son blanket immunity," she said. "Now Merrick Garland expects us to trust Weiss to be the special counsel that finally brings Hunter Biden to justice. Biden's Justice Department will do whatever it takes to cover up the Biden crime family's misdeeds."
The House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, also on Friday posted a response on social media, insisting that Weiss "can't be trusted" and that assigning him as special counsel "is just a new way to whitewash the Biden family’s corruption."
"Weiss has already signed off on a sweetheart plea deal that was so awful and unfair that a federal judge rejected it," the committee also posted. "We will continue to pursue facts brought to light by brave whistleblowers as well as Weiss's inconsistent statements to Congress."
Meanwhile, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., slammed Weiss as a "sham special counsel" and said the development "is an even better deal for Hunter since charges may never come."
Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., meanwhile, appeared on Fox News shortly after the announcement and said that he doesn't trust Weiss to "fairly investigate" the Bidens and said that the DOJ is "trying to make it harder" for Congress to investigate by appointing a special counsel, reports NBC News.
"What they tried to do is give Hunter Biden a deal that no other American would get. The judge asked hard questions; the plea agreement blew up," Graham said. "To think that the very guy who wrote the plea agreement is seriously going to continue to investigate the Bidens is laughable."
He added that nobody "in their right mind" would believe that changing Weiss' title "solves all the problems associated with Mr. Weiss."
Graham also said that even though Weiss is now the special counsel, his appointment doesn't absolve him from having to answer questions from Congress.
"You're not off the hook here," Graham said. "This Friday afternoon gambit is not going to work. We're going to continue to ask questions about the biggest sweetheart deal in the history of America. We're not going away in Congress."