Criminal charges against Hunter Biden “were the culmination of thorough, impartial investigations, not partisan politics,” his prosecutor said in a final report that criticized President Biden for maligning the Justice Department when he pardoned his son. “Other presidents have pardoned family members, but in doing so, none have taken the occasion as an opportunity to malign the public servants at the Department of Justice based solely on false accusations,” said special counsel David Weiss, who filed gun and tax charges against the younger Biden that resulted in felony convictions, the Associated Press reports. The report culminates a years-long investigations that predated Attorney General Merrick Garland and became among the most politically explosive inquiries of his tenure..
The document is notable for its steadfast defense of the team’s work and its criticism of the president over a statement he issued when pardoning his son last month. The president said the action was warranted because of a “miscarriage of justice” and a selective prosecution. He said he believed his son had been treated “differently” on account of his last name and that “raw politics” had infected DOJ's decision making. "Hunter was singled out only because he is my son — and that is wrong,” Biden said. Weiss, who served as U.S. attorney for Delaware during the Trump administration, said, “The president’s characterizations are incorrect based on the facts in this case, and, on a more fundamental level, they are wrong." He said the president's statement "erodes public confidence in an institution that is essential to preserving the rule of law.” Hunter Biden’s lawyer criticized the report, saying Weiss failed to explain why prosecutors “pursued wild — and debunked — conspiracies” about the president’s son that prolonged the investigation.
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