Trump Rails Against David Weiss, Who He Appointed: ‘Would Not Have Been Picked by Me’
Kyle Mazza/NurPhoto via AP
Former President Donald Trump railed against David Weiss and attempted to shed responsibility for previously nominating him Delaware’s US attorney after Weiss was appointed Department of Justice special counsel in the Hunter Biden investigation on Friday.
“David Weiss was picked by the two Democrat Senators from Delaware under ‘Blue Slip.’ He would not have been picked by me,” wrote Trump in a Truth Social post on Friday evening. “But I have a great idea. Why don’t they use Deranged Jack Smith.”
He continued, “Weiss has been investigating Hunter for 4 years, giving him the ‘sweetheart’ deal of all sweetheart deals. But a brilliant Judge in Delaware saw through it all. Now, I read, the Department of Injustice wants a new Judge and Jurisdiction. But so do I, with far stronger reasons than Hunter & Crooked Joe. MAGA!!!”
Trump nominated Weiss for United States Attorney for the District of Delaware following his 2016 presidential election victory and Weiss was sworn in on February 22, 2018.
Republicans, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, criticized Attorney General Merrick Garland’s decision to appoint Weiss — who has been heading the Hunter Biden investigation — as special counsel on Friday, arguing that Weiss could not be trusted due to his role in negotiating the controversial Hunter Biden plea deal.
“If Weiss negotiated the sweetheart deal that couldn’t get approved, how can he be trusted as a Special Counsel?” questioned McCarthy.
In his own statement, Comer protested, “This move by Attorney General Garland is part of the Justice Department’s efforts to attempt a Biden family coverup in light of the House Oversight Committee’s mounting evidence of President Joe Biden’s role in his family’s schemes selling ‘the brand’ for millions of dollar to foreign nationals.”
Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell, meanwhile, told CNN that Weiss’ appointment “doesn’t make any difference to us.”
“His title became ‘special counsel’ today. His powers were the same yesterday. So what’s different? It doesn’t make any difference to us given what we understood to be the case,” he said.
