WASHINGTON — Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday that he was appointing David Weiss as special counsel for the Hunter Biden probe, giving the U.S. attorney increased authority in his investigation.
Weiss, who was already overseeing the probe, requested on Tuesday that he be given the special counsel title, Garland said.
"This appointment confirms my commitment to provide Mr. Weiss all the resources he requests," Garland said. "It also reaffirms that Mr. Weiss has the authority he needs to conduct a thorough investigation and to continue to take the steps he deems appropriate independently, based only on the facts and the law."
Weiss was nominated by then-President Donald Trump in 2017 and started his post as U.S. attorney in Delaware in 2018. The position followed stints as the acting and interim U.S. attorney there, along with first assistant U.S. attorney, according to his Department of Justice biography.
Weiss is one of the few U.S. attorneys who stayed in place when President Joe Biden took office. He will continue in that position as he takes on the additional special counsel role, Garland said. U.S. attorneys are the head federal prosecutors for their area.
Despite being nominated by Trump, Weiss has not been exempt from the former president's ire.
"If this special counsel is truly independent — even though he failed to bring proper charges after a four year investigation and he appears to be trying to move the case to a more Democrat-friendly venue — he will quickly conclude that Joe Biden, his troubled son Hunter, and their enablers, including the media, which colluded with the 51 intelligence officials who knowingly misled the public about Hunter’s laptop, should face the required consequences," a Trump spokesperson said in a statement.
Weiss started his career in 1984 clerking for Justice Andrew D. Christie on the Delaware Supreme Court, according to his biography on the Justice Department's website. He has also spent time in the private sector at the firms Duane Morris and The Siegfried Group.
Weiss is the third special counsel appointed by Garland, following Robert Hur in January 2023 — who is looking into Biden's handling of classified documents after he left office as vice president — and Jack Smith in November 2022 — who is investigating Trump's handling of classified documents and his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election.
“The appointment of Mr. Weiss reinforces for the American people the department’s commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters,” Garland said during his remarks. “I am confident that Mr. Weiss will carry out his responsibility in an even handed and urgent manner and in accordance with the highest traditions of this department.”
