U.S. Attorney Smacks Down GOP “Whistleblower” Claims on Hunter Biden

The federal prosecutor investigating Hunter Biden’s taxes hit back at Republican claims that the Justice Department had blocked the probe.

The president’s much-embattled son agreed to a plea deal in June that will see him plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges of tax evasion and participate in a pretrial program for a gun offense. Hunter will avoid jail time under the deal, which was negotiated with Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss and has infuriated Republicans.

Shortly before the deal was struck, an IRS agent accused Weiss—a Trump appointee—and Justice Department officials of dragging their feet on investigating Hunter Biden. In particular, the agent, Gary Shapley, alleged Weiss said in October that Weiss did not have final say on whether charges would be filed.

Shapley also claims Weiss said he had been blocked from pursuing charges in D.C.—where Hunter supposedly committed his most serious crimes—and that the Justice Department would not grant him special counsel status, which would have let him bring charges outside his jurisdiction. Republicans have jumped on Shapley’s claims as proof that the Hunter Biden investigation did not go far enough.

Weiss hit back at those claims Monday evening in a letter to Senator Lindsey Graham. “To clarify an apparent misperception and to avoid future confusion, I wish to make one point clear: in this case, I have not requested Special Counsel designation,” Weiss wrote.

He explained that he would have been granted that status “if it proved necessary,” although he did not say who ultimately decided that it did not. Weiss also said he had “never been denied the authority to bring charges in any jurisdiction.”

Weiss had previously smacked down Shapley’s claims in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan. Republicans have seized on Shapley’s accusations as part of their sprawling and evidence-less investigations into the Biden family’s alleged corruption.

Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson understands that 9/11 was not great, and that it’s not awesome that Saudi Arabia killed an American resident and journalist.… But dang it, he just loves golf too much to not give Saudi Arabia at least a little slack!

“Well listen, I have the deepest sympathy for 9/11 families, I understand the issue of sportswashing, I don’t think there’s any—there’s not enough billions of dollars for the Saudis to wash away the stain of the brutal Khashoggi murder,” Johnson began. “But the reality is we all buy oil, we use—we drive cars, we are the ones that are filling up the coffers of the Public Investment Fund,” he added, referring to the Saudi government-controlled wealth fund that backs LIV Golf.

“I would rather have the Saudis invest their oil wealth in the U.S. as opposed to China or Russia—that’s just a reality of the world,” he continued. “And again, I’m a lover of the game of golf. I love watching golf. I want to see the best golfers in the world compete against each other and not be split into different leagues and pretty well destroy the competition at the highest level.”

According to Johnson, it is a bigger shame that some of the best golfers in the world might not be in the same league, than, you know ... everything else.

Johnson’s comments come while the Saudi-backed LIV Golf League—which last month reached an agreement to merge with the North American PGA Tour—is under heightened scrutiny.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Permanent Investigations is hosting a hearing on the merger Tuesday; the hearing comes just one day after the league announced that it will host its $50 million championship at Donald Trump’s National Doral Golf Club for the second year in a row.

That kind of money is top of mind for Johnson, who wonders what we would want Saudi Arabia to do with all that cash instead, if not buying out teams and leagues left and right in a massive sportswashing campaign:

A key informant in the Republican investigation into the Biden family has been charged with acting as a foreign agent for China.

Gal Luft, the co-head of an energy think tank, has repeatedly accused President Joe Biden and his family of accepting millions of dollars in bribes from China. FBI agents interviewed Luft, who holds U.S. and Israeli citizenship, in Brussels in 2019 over his claims. The bureau decided not to pursue the investigation further after speaking with him, but Republicans have latched onto his accusations nonetheless.

Luft—who again, has repeatedly charged the Biden family of Chinese corruption—was charged Monday night with brokering deals for China, Iran, and even Libya. The U.S Attorney for the southern district of New York released a statement alleging that in 2016, Luft paid a former Trump advisor on behalf of Chinese principals, without registering as a foreign agent, to push policies favorable to China.

The attorney’s office accused Luft of setting up meetings between Iranian officials and a Chinese energy company for potential oil deals, in violation of U.S. sanctions on Iran. Luft also allegedly worked as an illicit arms dealer, attempting to broker the sale of weapons to China, Libya, Kenya, and the United Arab Emirates.

Luft is not currently in U.S. custody. He was arrested in Cyprus in February, but fled when he was released on bail to await extradition. He has repeatedly insisted that the Biden administration is trying to silence him—a claim on which Republicans have gladly seized.

“He’s literally fleeing for his life right now. He’s on the run,” Senator Ron Johnson said of Luft Sunday.

Speaking to Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo, Johnson said Luft is “an important witness. He needs to be granted immunity to be able to testify and tell his story.”

House Republicans have accused the Bidens of accepting bribes and influence peddling, but their months-long investigation has yet to produce any actual proof. Things took an odd turn in May when House Oversight Chair James Comer, who is spearheading the investigation, admitted that one of his key informants had gone missing. That informant was later revealed to be Luft.

Comer actually bragged just last week about what a good source Luft is. “He’s very credible, and the people on MSNBC who made fun of me when I said we had an informant that was missing, they should feel like fools right now,” he told Newsmax on Thursday. “This is their worst nightmare.”

“We feel that this is a very credible witness. We feel that this is someone that we need to talk to in our investigation,” Comer said.

Except, that investigation is careening off the rails. The charges against Luft are just the latest spanner in the works. Multiple Republicans have admitted they don’t know if key evidence even exists, while Comer has said he doesn’t know if that evidence is “legit.”

Other members of the GOP are begging more informants to come forward, while Senator Chuck Grassley accidentally revealed that the investigation isn’t really about turning up the truth.

Donald Trump is working overtime to avoid jail time before the 2024 election.

Late Monday night, Trump’s lawyers submitted a court filing asking for a lengthy delay for his trial on charges surrounding his seizing and mishandling of top secret government and military documents, arguing that it’s impossible to try the case in the lead-up to the 2024 election.

“Proceeding to trial during the pendency of a Presidential election cycle wherein opposing candidates are effectively (if not literally) directly adverse to one another in this action will create extraordinary challenges in the jury selection process and limit the Defendants’ ability to secure a fair and impartial adjudication,” attorneys for Trump and his aide and co-defendant, Walt Nauta wrote.

Trump currently faces 37 criminal counts for his alleged mishandling of secret government documents, making the twice-impeached, criminally indicted, and liable for sexual abuse former president the first ever to also be federally indicted.

Meanwhile, Trump is still under investigation for his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. A grand jury is in fact being seated Tuesday to consider charging Trump and various other allies and conspirators in those efforts.

Trump’s body man, Nauta, is charged with six federal offenses, including conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding and corruptly concealing documents, and making false statements.

Throughout the process, despite Trump’s bombastic demeanor and insistent (and often absurd) denial of guilt, the former president is reportedly “scared shitless” of being held accountable, according to former Trump aides and allies.

Former Trump ally and repeat opponent Chris Christie did not mince his perception of the former president’s true emotional state:

The U.S. Marine Corps is officially leaderless, due to Republicans holding up military promotions in objection to the Defense Department’s abortion policy, a move that experts warn hurts national security.

General David Berger stepped down Monday from his position as commandant of the Marine Corps. The current assistant commandant, Eric Smith, will serve as acting commandant until a new one is officially appointed—but there is no confirmed replacement for Berger at this time. The White House has nominated Smith to officially take over, but Senator Tommy Tuberville has blocked hundreds of military promotions since March.

Speaking at Berger’s farewell ceremony, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin noted it has been more than 100 years since the Marines have operated without a confirmed commandant. “Smooth and timely transitions of confirmed leadership are central to the defense of the United States, and to the full strength of the most powerful fighting force in history,” he said.

Berger urged the Senate to get a move on, saying, “We need the Senate to do their job so that we can have a sitting commandant” who is “appointed and confirmed.”

Tuberville has blocked nearly 200 military promotions since March over his objection to the Defense Department’s abortion policy. Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the Pentagon unveiled a new policy that allows service members to take up to three weeks of administrative leave for reproductive health care treatments, including abortion and fertility procedures. The policy also reimburses them for travel expenses.

Tuberville insists the policy is illegal, and that his blocking military promotions in protest has “no effect on readiness” of the military. Austin has debunked both of these claims.

Not only is the policy perfectly legal, but Tuberville is actually putting the nation at risk. Austin warned in a letter to Senator Elizabeth Warren in May that Tuberville’s delay “harms America’s national security” and poses a “clear risk” to the military’s readiness.