The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“Hunter Biden (Executive Session)” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the in the Senate section section on page S3192 on July 11.
The Department is one of the oldest in the US, focused primarily on law enforcement and the federal prison system. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, detailed wasteful expenses such as $16 muffins at conferences and board meetings.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
Hunter Biden
Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, on May 9 of this year, Senator Johnson and I wrote to David Weiss, the U.S. attorney for the District of Delaware. Now, he happens to be in charge of the Hunter Biden criminal case. In that letter, we asked Mr. Weiss a series of threshold questions that Attorney General Garland has repeatedly failed to answer.
First, we asked whether Nicholas McQuaid is recused from the Hunter Biden case. As we have said publicly many times, McQuaid is conflicted because he worked with Hunter Biden's criminal attorney before he was hired as a top position in President Biden's Justice Department.
Second, we asked Mr. Weiss whether he or any of his employees have had any communications with McQuaid.
Third, we asked Mr. Weiss whether any of his employees, not just Mr. McQuaid, are recused from the Hunter Biden case.
We asked these questions because the Biden family is from Delaware and has extensive political connections. Notably, Hunter Biden told his business partners:
I'll bring suit in the Chancery Court in Delaware--which as you know is my home state and I'm privileged to have worked with and know every judge in the Chancery Court.
Does the Biden family have connections to anyone in Mr. Weiss's office? That seems to be a very fair question.
With respect to those three questions, Mr. Weiss didn't even try to answer. In fact, the Attorney General jumped in and answered on behalf of U.S. Attorney Weiss. But calling the Attorney General's letter an answer is an overstatement. It was another nonanswer--essentially just words on a piece of paper that didn't say anything worthwhile.
So Senator Johnson and I also asked Mr. Weiss if he has received sufficient resources and support from the Justice Department to properly handle the Hunter Biden case.
Again, no answers.
One would think that the Department, and specifically Mr. Weiss, would want to tell Congress and the American public that the answer to that question is yes. The failure of Mr. Weiss to answer that very important question adds to the growing concern and public concern that the Justice Department is pulling the punches on the Hunter Biden case.
We also asked Mr. Weiss whether he has discussed the need for a special counsel or an independent counsel to properly investigate the Hunter Biden case.
Again, no answer.
The last question is more relevant today than when it was asked because the other week a voicemail was released reportedly from Joe Biden to Hunter Biden. In it, Joe Biden repeatedly left a message about a New York Times article that involved Hunter Biden's dealings with Ye Jianming. That business associate is closely connected to the communist Chinese regime.
Joe Biden told his son: ``I think you're clear.''
Well, that message appears to show that Joe Biden was aware of Hunter Biden's business deals and relationships. So the White House strategy for the President to continue to deny knowledge of these business relationships falls very flat.
On July 30, 2021, and on June 28, 2022, Senator Johnson and I wrote to the White House counsel. We wrote about then-Vice President Biden's use of nongovernment email to transmit government information to Hunter Biden. The White House counsel's office refuses to answer whether President Biden still communicates government business to Hunter Biden, among other questions that we posed.
So what do we get? More stonewalling.
Most recently, on July 7, this year, Senator Johnson and I wrote to the Attorney General, FBI Director, and U.S. Attorney Weiss. In our letter, we asked again about recusals of Hunter Biden's case. We also noted that recent reporting on Hunter Biden showed more connections between him and foreign nationals--this time, Russians and Ukrainians. Those additional links further support my and Senator Johnson's conclusion in our September 2020 Biden report that Hunter Biden's activity causes criminal, counterintelligence, and extortion concerns.
At the time, our findings were ignored or falsely labeled Russian disinformation by Democrats and by liberal media. We gave floor speeches on March 28, this year, March 29, this year, April 5, that introduced bank records connecting Hunter and James Biden to the communist Chinese regime. The same connections that we made in our 2020 report. Those bank records have proven to be authentic and, hence, aren't Russian disinformation.
For years, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle levied complaints against the Trump administration's Justice Department for the lack of transparency. Now, why aren't those same Democrat colleagues raising this concern about this administration not showing the proper transparency?
Congress has a constitutional responsibility to ensure the proper execution of, and compliance with, conflicts of interest laws and regulations. The failure of the Justice Department to comply with these rules will cause political infection to run rampant. And, of course, that will rot the core of the Justice Department and cast a cloud over everything that the Department of Justice does.
As I have said before, the Justice Department's failure to be transparent with the Hunter Biden criminal case and recusals related to it has cast a cloud over that investigation. So I ask: What is the Justice Department trying to hide?
The American people's concern about how the case has been managed, these concerns are very legitimate.
To Attorney General Garland, to Wray, and to Mr. Weiss, I strongly urge you to clear the cloud sooner rather than later.
