(Washington) The United States Department of Justice denied on Friday that its services exerted pressure to slow down the investigation against the son of President Joe Biden, after the publication of disturbing testimony from two “whistleblowers”.
Prosecuted by federal justice, Hunter Biden, 53, admitted this week to minor tax fraud and admitted to having acquired a firearm despite his drug addiction.
The youngest of the Democratic president will appear on July 26 before a judge to ratify this agreement which will save him from an embarrassing trial in the midst of his father’s re-election campaign.
Joe Biden, who has never let go of his son and continues to say he is “proud” of him despite his escapades, hoped to close a delicate page.
But, two agents of the tax services assured, in testimony to Congress made public Thursday, that Hunter Biden had received “preferential treatment”.
One of them, Gary Shapley claims that the Department of Justice has “slowed the investigation” and prevented the IRS investigators from obtaining certain information. According to him, the department also restrained the federal prosecutor responsible for the file, David Weiss.
Merrick Garland retorted Friday that David Weiss, who had been appointed by ex-president Donald Trump, had had “full latitude” in this file.
“I do not see how it would have been possible for anyone to prevent him from carrying out the proceedings” as he intended, added the secretary to the press.
In his testimony, Gary Shapley also reported a text message exchange between Hunter Biden and one of his business relations. “I am sitting with my father and I would like to understand why you have not respected your commitments”, he wrote in 2017 to a Chinese businessman.
The White House, however, repeated on Friday that “the president was not involved in his son’s affairs” and “that the Justice Department makes its decisions in criminal investigations independently”.
The escapades of Hunter Biden’s son, who has long battled drug and alcohol addictions, have regularly hit the headlines and he is one of the Republican opposition’s favorite targets.
The elected conservatives accuse him of having done dubious business in Ukraine and China while Joe Biden was vice-president of Barack Obama (2009-2017), capitalizing on the networks and the name of his father.