Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Weissmann on Friday criticized Attorney General Merrick Garland for granting David Weiss special counsel status in the Hunter Biden probe.
"A special counsel is supposed to be from outside the govt (sec 600.3(a)), so how is this consistent with the Special Counsel regulations?" Weissmann asked in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"Weiss already messed up the Hunter plea greenest to a fate the well — now this," he added.
Garland noted the "extraordinary circumstances" of the matter as he named Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware who had already been probing the financial dealings of President Joe Biden's son, as special counsel after plea talks in the case broke down.
It comes as the Justice Department has taken the unprecedented step of indicting former President Donald Trump, who is Joe Biden's chief rival in next year's election, in two separate cases. It also puts questions about Biden's family at the forefront of the 2024 presidential election.
Garland said that Weiss, who was appointed by Trump as U.S. attorney, asked to be appointed to the position.
"Upon considering his request, as well as the extraordinary circumstances relating to this matter, I have concluded it is in the public interest to appoint him as special counsel," Garland said.
The announcement of a special counsel is a significant development from the typically cautious Garland and provides Weiss with independence, authority, and budget to pursue the investigation.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.