David Weiss ‘not the deciding person’ on Hunter Biden case: notes

WASHINGTON — Contemporaneous notes handwritten by IRS supervisory special agent Gary Shapley during an Oct. 7, 2022, meeting about the tax fraud investigation of first son Hunter Biden indicate Delaware US Attorney David Weiss said he was “not the deciding person” in bringing criminal charges.

The notes were released Wednesday by Shapley’s lawyers following a transcribed Sept. 7 House Judiciary Committee interview of Baltimore FBI Special Agent in Charge Tom Sobocinski, who attended the meeting and told the panel that he couldn’t recall the exchange.

“Weiss stated — He is not the deciding person,” the handwritten notes from Shapley say.

The document was released one day after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) launched an impeachment inquiry into President Biden’s alleged role in his son Hunter and brother James Biden’s foreign business dealings.

“Mr. Sobocinski was one of seven attendees in the October 7, 2022 meeting,” wrote Shapley’s lawyers Tristan Leavitt and Mark Lytle in a letter accompanying the release of the handwritten notes, which contained redactions made by the tax-focused House Ways and Means Committee.

“The meeting was documented that same day by our client … in an email to his chain of command that has since been made public by the House Ways and Means Committee,” Leavitt and Lytle added.

“Mr. Sobocinski apparently acknowledged that he took no notes in the meeting, nor did he document it in any contemporaneous fashion afterwards. By contrast, SSA Shapley took notes during the meeting. These notes, combined with his fresh memory of the meeting, formed the basis for the email he sent later that day and corroborate his current recollection.”

The House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed three other participants in the Oct. 7 meeting — DC IRS Special Agent in Charge Darrell Waldon, IRS Director of Field Operations Michael Batdorf and Baltimore Assistant Special Agent in Charge Ryeshia Holley.

Waldon, Shapley’s superior, received an emailed copy of Shapley’s notes days after the meeting and purportedly emailed Shapley to confirm that that he had “covered it all.”

Weiss’ remark about lacking independent charging authority is one of the major revelations by Shapley, whose other factual assertions involving an alleged coverup in the case were backed up by IRS case agent Joseph Ziegler and an FBI supervisory agent who partnered with Shapley on some of the case.

The whistleblower claims are expected to feature prominently in the impeachment inquiry.

Weiss’ alleged remarks at the Oct. 7 meeting prompted perjury allegations against Attorney General Merrick Garland, who testified twice under oath to Congress that Weiss was able to bring charges against Hunter Biden outside of Delaware and that “if he needs to bring it in another jurisdiction, he will have full authority to do that.”

Weiss and Garland have given the impression in public statements that they deny Shapley’s claims, though neither has testified under oath about the matter.

Jason Foster, founder of the pro-whistleblowing group Empower Oversight, which provides representation to Shapley, tweeted Tuesday in response to Sobocinski’s statement, “The only question is how close to perjury others are willing to dance to tow the Garland/Weiss company line—while DOJ-minders watch them testify. ‘Don’t recall’ feels safe when folks are trying to keep their jobs.”

Garland in August elevated Weiss to the rank of special counsel Aug. 11 after the collapse of a probation-only plea deal in Delaware — a move seen by Republicans as affirmation of the accuracy of Shapley’s claims.