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TYB

EXCLUSIVE: FOIA Turns Up Zilch On The ‘Full Authority’ Garland Claims He Gave Weiss Over Hunter Biden

SEPTEMBER 07, 2023

The ‘documents that weren’t’ provide more evidence that Attorney General Merrick Garland misled Congress.

Emails obtained by the Heritage Foundation following a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, and shared exclusively with The Federalist, reveal a glaring gap in the documentation maintained by the Delaware U.S. attorney’s office: There is nothing memorializing the authority Attorney General Merrick Garland claims he gave U.S. Attorney David Weiss for the Hunter Biden investigation.

For more than a year, Garland represented to Congress that Weiss held ultimate authority over the Hunter Biden investigation — which the eventual appointment of Weiss as special counsel contradicted. But now there is more evidence — or rather a lack of evidence — indicating the claimed authority was always a charade.

The Friday before the long holiday weekend, the DOJ provided the Heritage Foundation with the second batch of documents it was ordered by a federal court to produce in response to Heritage’s FOIA lawsuit. This installment concluded the DOJ’s production of the non-exempt documents in Weiss’s custody which concerned his authority for investigating Hunter Biden. But none of the documents produced addressed Weiss’s authority or any authority promised by Garland.

Mike Howell, the director of the Heritage Oversight Project and a co-plaintiff in the FOIA lawsuit against the DOJ, stressed the significance of this omission to The Federalist.

“The DOJ lives on paper.” Anything as important as granting Weiss ultimate authority over an investigation or promising to give him authority to bring charges in another venue, if necessary, “would have been written down,” Howell explained. To Howell, this last batch of documents constitutes an admission by Garland that “there was nothing written down at the DOJ and sent to Weiss, indicating Weiss had any of the authority that Garland claimed he did.”

“We’re beginning to understand why Biden’s DOJ is throwing everything and the kitchen sink at us to fight the release of these records in federal court, all paid for by the taxpayers of course,” Howell told The Federalist.

While the DOJ withheld some documents from the production, claiming various exemptions from FOIA, it is difficult to fathom what FOIA exemption would permit the DOJ to withhold a communication granting Weiss the authority Garland publicly discussed on multiple occasions. When asked why Garland had not memorialized his supposed grant of ultimate authority to Weiss, the DOJ did not respond to The Federalist’s inquiry.

The lack of any materials documenting such authority raises more questions about the statements both Garland and Weiss made to Congress. As far back as April 26, 2022, the attorney general told Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty that the “Hunter Biden’s investigation … is being run by and supervised by the United States attorney for the District of Delaware,” and that Weiss “is in charge of that investigation.”

Then on March 1, 2023, Garland unequivocally testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, in response to questioning by Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, that “the U.S. attorney in Delaware has been advised that he has full authority … to bring cases in other jurisdictions if he feels it’s necessary.”

Garland maintained that position even after IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley testified that during an Oct. 7, 2022, meeting, “Weiss stated that he is not the deciding person on whether charges are filed.” Specifically, after news broke of the whistleblower’s testimony, Garland said during a press conference that Weiss was assured he could “make a decision to prosecute any way in which he wanted to and in any district in which he wanted to.”

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>>19514072

Weiss would later write to Congress to confirm Garland’s position, stating:

I want to make clear that, as the Attorney General has stated, I have been granted ultimate authority over this matter, including responsibility for deciding where, when, and whether to file charges and for making decisions necessary to preserve the integrity of the prosecution, consistent with federal law, the Principles of Federal Prosecution, and Departmental regulations.

After the transcript of Shapley’s testimony was released, however, Weiss would walk back his claims by clarifying that what he meant was that Garland had promised him that he would be granted ultimate authority to make charging decisions — not quite the same thing as having that ultimate authority.

Either way, one would presume that if Garland had granted Weiss full authority over the Hunter Biden investigation and promised to authorize him to file charges in other venues, there’d be some documentation to back up the claim. But there was none in the FOIA production.

Of course, after the sweetheart plea deal — footsied out between one of Weiss’s top assistant U.S. attorneys, Lesley Wolf, and Hunter’s attorneys — imploded, Garland named Weiss special counsel. So the federal prosecutor now has the requisite authority to charge the president’s son in whatever district he wants.

But that belated appointment isn’t a grant of absolution for misleading Congress, which is precisely what appears to have happened. And the documents that weren’t suggest as much.

https://thefederalist.com/2023/09/07/exclusive-foia-turns-up-zilch-on-the-full-authority-garland-claims-he-gave-weiss-over-hunter-biden/

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Sidney Powell - Defending The Republic Newsletter

Good News Friday: 09/08/23

Dear Patriots,

Even a short week seems long these days as we wrestle with the lies of the left.

But, do not despair, there is some good news.

1- A big win in Arizona. Warrior Kari Lake has never given up her war on election fraud.

The National Pulse

Court Rules AZ Used Illegal Signature-Verification in Elections.

2- Thank you Senator Vance for stepping up to protect all Americans from the tyranny of masks. Masks do nothing but serve as a symbol of fear and submission. If you re so inclined call your Senators and demand they join this bill.

LifeSite

Sen. JD Vance to force vote on bill banning federal government from reimposing mask mandates

3- We do not think the Democrats realize the extent of the contents of their Pandora’s Box.

Read more about the people who have been charged in an article by warrior Andy Ngo.

The Blaze

Georgia’s Republican AG announces indictment of 61 leftists under the RICO statute used just weeks ago against Trump

4- The situation with illegals and our open boarder is absolutely untenable. Due to Biden policy, the entire country in a dangerous position.

And yet, we admit to a little smugness seeing how Democrat politicians in California and New York, who declared their domains as Sanctuary Cities/States are reacting to reality.

Democrat policies NEVER work. This is a good lesson for all of Americas: voting for any Democrat will bring misery.

If you have not heard the Mayor of New York ranting about illegals in his city, you can catch it here.

Daily Signal

Protests Erupt in Blue Cities Over Illegal Immigrants as Leftists Reap What They Sow

5- It has not been often that we could look to Mexico for inspiration.

Biz Pac Review

Mexican parents take mandated textbooks tainted with ‘virus of communism’ and set them ablaze!

6- We are happy for reinstated warrior Dr. Littell. He stood firm and now can help other doctors face down the leftist Covid-CCP zealots.

The Epoch Times

Florida Doctor Reinstated After Losing Board Certification for Criticizing COVID-19 Vaccines

7- We are sorry that Megyn Kelly is unwell due to the Covid-CCP injections. But we are glad that she can use her platform to tell this story. After all, she used her platform to advocate FOR the injections, back in the day.

The National Pulse

Megyn Kelly Regrets COVID Shot, Confirming Autoimmune Condition.

https://truthsocial.com/@realSidneyPowell/posts/111029710890577218

https://defendingtherepublic.org/good-news-friday-09-08-23/

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene

@RepMTG

I just introduced the companion bill to @JDVance1’s Freedom to Breathe Act in the Senate to ban federal mask mandates.

We cannot allow our country to be sucked back into the COVID hysteria that ushered in unscientific and nonsensical health mandates like blanket masking policies.

Read more about my bill:

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/house/marjorie-taylor-greene-introduces-anti-mask-mandate

Sep 08, 2023, 12:58 PM

https://truthsocial.com/@RepMTG/posts/111031293808980773

Marjorie Taylor Greene introduces anti-mask mandate after effort stalls in Senate

EXCLUSIVE — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is set to introduce legislation that would ban the federal government from reimplementing mask mandates in response to a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, particularly for students and travelers.

Under the Freedom to Breathe Act, federal officials would be blocked from issuing orders that would require mask-wearing on airplanes, public transit, or in educational settings, according to the bill that was first shared with the Washington Examiner. That ban would extend to President Joe Biden and would also prevent officials from denying services to travelers or students if they refuse to wear a face covering.

“Dr. [Anthony] Fauci privately recommended not wearing a mask to his close friends, admitting they weren’t effective, yet he provided nationwide public health guidance stating Americans be required to mask in nearly all social settings, including while on public transit and in schools,” Greene said in a statement. “Even Joe Biden himself declared the pandemic is over. We cannot allow our country to be sucked back into the COVID hysteria that ushered in unscientific and nonsensical health mandates like blanket masking policies.”

The bill would restrict federal funding from going toward proposing or enforcing mask requirements for travelers and students as well as ensure agencies issue revised guidance for mask-wearing that adheres to Greene’s legislation. That new guidance would be required 90 days after enactment.

Greene’s proposal is being introduced as the companion bill to similar legislation that Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) sought to force a vote in the upper chamber earlier this week. That bid failed after the Ohio Republican failed to garner unanimous support to vote on the legislation, leaving the bill stalled in the upper chamber.

The House version has already attracted 13 co-sponsors, including Reps. Jeffrey Duncan (R-SC), Mike Collins (R-GA), Mary Miller (R-IL), Ryan Zinke (R-MT), Matt Rosendale (R-MT), Andy Ogles (R-TN), George Santos (R-NY), Tom Tiffany (R-WI), Bill Posey (R-FL), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Lance Gooden (R-TX), Dan Bishop (R-NC), and Michael Guest (R-MS).

Even if the bill manages to pass both the House and Senate, it’s unclear whether Biden would sign the legislation effectively abdicating his ability to enforce the public health measure in the future. The White House has sought to remove itself from conversations on whether such mandates should be reimplemented, especially as Republicans seize the issue ahead of the 2024 election.

"It is up to the schools," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Wednesday. "It is the decisions of the districts to decide what they want to do with the guidelines that they’ve been provided by CDC."

Even Biden has become more lax with COVID-19 protocols after opting not to wear a mask to a White House event earlier this week despite his wife, first lady Jill Biden, testing positive for the virus on Monday.

"Don't tell them I didn't have it on when I walked in," Biden joked.

The renewed conversations on public health mandates come as COVID-19 cases have been on the rise nationwide, raising concerns about a possible resurgence in the fall and winter. However, numbers remain relatively low compared to this time last year and the year before.