Transcripts For CSPAN3 Attorney 20240703

Welcome to the hearing on Oversight Department of justice. Chair recognizes the gentleman from california to lead us in the pledge. Please stand. Please face whichever flag is most appropriate for your direction. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god with liberty and justice for all. Chernow recognizes himself her Opening Statement. The fix is in. Even with the facesaving indictment last week of hunter biden, everyone knows the fix is in. 4 1 2 years the department of justice has been investigating mr. By the, an investigation run by david wiess, an investigation that limited the number of witnesses agents could interview, an investigation a prohibited agent from referring to the president as the big guy in any interviews they did get to do. An investigation that curtailed attempts to interview biden by giving a heads up. An investigation that noted run by mr. Weiss where they told the congress three different stories in 33 days. They told this committee on june 7, david wiess said, i have ultimate authority to determine when, where and whether to bring charges. 23 ds later, he told this committee, actually, i can only bring charges in my u. S. Attorney district, district of delaware. To further confuse matters, on july 10, he told senator graham , i have not sought special counsel status, rather, i have had discussions with the department of justice. An investigation run by mr. Weiss that negotiated a plea deal that the Federal District court declined to accept. A plea deal so ridiculous that the judge asked this question, is there any precedents for agree not to prosecute crimes that have nothing to do with the charges being diverted . The response from the doj lawyer, i am not aware of any, your honor. A plea deal so ridiculous that the judge also asked, have you ever seen a diversion agreement with an agreement not to prosecute was so broad that it encompasses crimes in a different case . The response from the doj lawyer, no, your honor, we have. Not only was a sweetheart deal rejected, but according to the near times, there was an even sweeter deal, an earlier deal, a deal in which mr. Biden would not have to plead guilty to anything. 4 1 2 years, and all that, and that we get a special counsel. Now we get a special counsel. Who does the attorney general pick . David wiess, the guy who let all that happen. He couldve selected anyone. He could have picked anyone inside government, outside government, but he picks the one guy he knows will project joe biden. He picks david wiess. Here is what the ag said in his august 11 announcement of david wiess as special counsel. I am confident that mr. Weiss carry out his responsibility in an evenhanded and urgent matter. Urgent manner . Every witness we have talked to, the two f. B. I. Whistleblowers that came forward , the two f. B. I. Agents on the case, they have all said this thing was anything but urgent. The f. B. I. Said this was frustration at the pace. Of course, the irs agents, they said the investigation was slow walked. Evenhanded . A limited the number of witnesses that could be interviewed. They tipped off the defense counsel about a subpoena. The judge says the plea deal was a joke. All that is just half the story. There is one investigation protecting President Biden, theres another one attacking President Trump. The Justice Department has both sides of the equation covered. Look at the classified documents case. Spring and early summer of last year, the department of justice asked President Trump to turn over boxes of documents. He does just that. In the process, President Trump finds 38 additional documents, he tells the department of justice, very next day the f. B. I. Comes to his home and he turned them over. Then they asked the president to put any boxes he brought from the white house to his home in a storage home and secure it by locking it. He does that as well. Everything they ask him to do, he did. Them what does the Justice Department do . August 8 of last year they rate his home. According to the f. B. I. Agent, the assistant director in charge of the Washington Field office, the search was a complete departure from standard protocol. When we interviewed him, he said, first, the Miami Field Office did not do the search. Instead, they said folks from d. C. He said there was no u. S. Attorney signed to the case. Instead it was run by d. C. , in particular, jake pratt, who is now on the special counsel team. He said the f. B. I. Did not get President Trumps Council Approval before they did the search. And that he told us, he had recommended that when the f. B. I. Got to the home of mr. Trump, they waited for counsel to do that together. But the doj said no. Who does the attorney general name is special counsel and that case . Jack smith, the guy who a few years ago was looking for with the prosecute americans, looking to prosecute the very victims of the weaponized government, the weaponized irs. Jack smith, the guy who prosecuted governor mcdonald, only to have the Supreme Court overturned that prosecution in a unanimous decision. That is the guy the attorney general of the United States selects as special counsel. Any wonder why four out of five americans believe there are now two standards of justice in our great country. I anticipate a number of questions on these two investigations. Later in the hearing i expect from republicans you will also get questions about the many other concerns the American People have with the department. The school board memorandum, catholics, the memo that said prolife catholics are extremists, the fifth circuit decision, great decision, on the department of justice and other agencies censoring speech. And of course, the fisa law and how that process has been abused and infringed on privacy rights of American People. Americans believe that today in our country there is unequal application of the law. They believe that because there is. Republicans are committed to making a change. With that, yield to the gentleman from new york, the ranking member, for Opening Statement. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, at the outset let me make two comments. Just about every a surgeon you made in your Opening Statement has been completely refuted by witnesses who have testified before this committee. Number two, far from being favored, many commentators have noted that people accused of simple gun possession while under the influence of a drug in which the gun was not used in the commission of a crime are rarely, if ever, prosecuted the way hunter biden is being prosecuted. Mr. Chairman, one of her most important duties is conducting oversight of the department of justice. We are called upon to ensure the doj uses the enormous amount of power granted in a fair and just manner that respects the civil and human rights of all americans. The attorney general of the United States overseas issues that affect the lives of each and every american. Violent crime, drug trafficking, attacks on civil rights, threats to national security, and environmental crimes all fall under his purview. That is why we regularly request that he or she appear before this committee to speak about the work the department is doing for the welfare of the country. This is how we ensure the department stays accountable to the American People. If it were up to the republicans, americans would hear nothing about any of the substantive issues today. They would hear nothing about the rise in domestic terrorism and what the Justice Department is doing about it. They would hear nothing about what the department is doing to stop hate crimes and prevent gun violence. They would hear nothing about how the department is disrupting efforts by russia, china and others to interfere in our elections. Extreme accomack the republicans have poisoned vital oversight work the day of the ignored legitimate responsibilities and use their power to stage i political stunt after another. They have with the countless taxpayer dollars on baseless investigations into President Biden and his family, desperate to find evidence for an absurd impeachment and desperate to distract from the mounting legal peril facing donald trump. They have fought tirelessly to stop efforts to fight for actors manipulating americans through social media. They have unconstitutionally appeared in criminal litigation an attempted to bully state and local Law Enforcement own offices. They publicize the names of witnesses, leading to threats of death of physical violence against those witnesses and their families. They have caused any number private institutions and Companies Millions of dollars in legal fees as they struggle to respond to ridiculous and overbroad requests for information and transcribed interviews. They have issued subpoenas for show without making meaningful attempts to get the information they seek by consent. They have levied low, baseless personal attacks on any prosecutor to bring charges against donald trump or january 6th writers. They have attempted to discredit investigators were not hard enough on Donald Trumps political opponents. They supported the attack on january 6. They have justified conduct we all know to be wildly illegal, like the theft of classified materials and incitement of violence. And through it all, rather than try to unite the country or solve the problems that affect us all, they have sought to exploit our division for cynical, personal political gain. That is their goal, division. They want to divide this country and make our government appear like it is broken, because that is when theyre broken broken Political Parties rise. Today i implore the public to see through the sham. I have no doubt you will hear a deluge of conspiracy theories and baseless accusations. They will quote freely from so called whistleblowers who have been broadly discredited or contradicted. They will viciously attack federal Law Enforcement. They will tell you that all 91 criminal charges against donald trump are part of the conspiracy, despite overwhelming evidence of each of his crimes. They will attack special counsel david wiess, who was appointed by donald trump, lets not forget, for being not hard enough on hunter biden. They will continue with they have been doing for years, discrediting anyone who does not serve their Political Goals at any cost. The shame of it is that in this hearing room, like on the house floor where we are barreling towards a government shutdown, we could be working together to put people over politics and to solve any number of problems affecting the American People. More than 30,000 americans have died from gun violence so far this year alone. Guns have become the leading cause of death for children ages 1 through 17. Surpassing car accidents. Domestic violence extremism and White Nationalism are on the rise. We are seeing active clubs and other white supremacist groups pop up around the country. Antisemitism is at an alltime high. Maligned foreign actors like russia, china, i ran, and north korea are attempting to influence our elections. Political rhetoric is causing threats against Law Enforcement officials to skyrocket. The Immigration Court system is in desperate need of reform. Our election workers received Death Threats from Conspiracy Theory driven extremists. Fentanyl is filling the streets of poisoning children. This list goes on and on. And we the people in this groom are in a position to do something about it. In fact, it is our duty to do something about it. Consistent with the oath we took when we were sworn in as members of congress. We could work with the department of justice and attorney general garland to address any number of real substantive problems facing the American People. Instead, House Republicans will use their time today to talk about long discredited conspiracy theories and Hunter Bidens laptop. They will do it because they care more about donald trump than they do about their own constituents. I hope my colleagues will see reason and at least attempt to work with the attorney general in good faith. Sadly, on the other side of the aisle, reason and good faith seem to be in short supply. In any event, mr. Attorney general, i thank you for your testimony and thank you in advance for your patience. I yield back. That will yield back without objection. All other Opening Statements will be included in the record. We will now introduce the witness. The honorable Merrick Garland is the attorney general of the United States. He was sworn in on march 11, 2021. We welcome our witness at they can for appearing today. Will begin by swearing you in. Please rise and raise your right hand. Do you swear and affirm under penalty of perjury that the testimony you are about to give is true and correct to the best of your knowledge, information and belief still help you god. I do. Let the record show the witness answered in the affirmative. Taking. Please note your written testimony will be entered into the record in entirety. You know how this is done, you have been here before. Again, thank you for being here. You are welcome to give your Opening Statement. Is this working . You got it. Thank you. A morning chairman jordan, ranking member, and distinguished members of this committee. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you on behalf of the more than 115,000 employees of the department of justice. Since the Justice Department was founded, it has been tasked with confronting some of the most challenging issues before the country. Today we are handling matters of significant Public Interest that carry great consequences for our democracy. A lot has been said about the Justice Department, about who we are and what we are doing, about what our job is, and what it is not. And about why we do this work. I want to provide some clarity. First, we are made up of more than 150,000 men and women working every state and in communities across the country and around the globe. They are f. B. I. , dea, atf, and United States marshals who risk their lives to serve their communities. They are prosecutors and staff who work tirelessly to enforce our laws. The overwhelming majority are career Public Servants, meaning, they were not appointed by the president of any party. Second, i want to provide clarity about what the job of the Justice Department is and about what it is not. Our job is to help keep our country safe. That includes working closely with local Police Departments and communities across the country to combat Violent Crime. In fact, today were announcing the results of a recent u. S. Marshal operation conducted with state and local Law Enforcement. That operation targeted violent fugitives and resulted in 4400 arrests across 20 cities in just three months. Our work also includes combating the drug cartels that are poisoning americans. Last friday we extradited guzman lopez, a leader of a cartel from mexico to the United States. He is a son of el chapo and one of more than a dozen Cartel Members we have indicted and extradited to the United States. Our job includes seeking justice for the survivors of child exploitation, human smuggling and sex trafficking. That includes protecting Democratic Institutions like this one by Holding Accountable all those criminally responsible for the january 6th attack on the capitol. Our job is also to protect civil rights. That includes protecting our freedoms as americans to worship and think as we please, and to peacefully express our opinions, our beliefs, and our ideas. It includes protecting the right of every eligible citizen to vote and to have that vote counted. In includes combating discrimination, defending reproductive rights under law, and deterring and prosecuting attacks such as hate crimes. Our job is to uphold the rule of law. That means we apply the same laws to everyone. There is not one set of laws for the powerful and another for the powerless, one for the rich and another for the poor, one for democrats and another for republicans, or different rules depending upon ones race, at the city, or religion. Our job is to pursue Justice Without fear or favor. Our job is not to do what is politically convenient. Our job is not to take orders from the president , from congress, or from anyone else about who or what to criminally investigate. As the president himself has said, and i reaffirmed today, i am not the president s lawyer. I will add that i am not the prosecutor for congress. Justice Department Works for the American People. Our job is to follow the facts and the law, and that is what we do. All of us recognize that with this work comes public scrutiny, criticism, and legitimate oversight. These are appropriate and important given the matters and gravity of the matters before the department. Singling out individual career Public Servants who are just doing their jobs is dangerous, particularly at a time of increased threats to the safety of Public Servants and their families. We will not be intimidated. We will do our jobs free from outside influence, and we will not back down from defending our democracy. I want to explain why we approach the job in this way. The Justice Department was founded in the wake of the civil war and in the midst of reconstruction with the first Principal Task of bringing to Justice White supremacists and others who terrorized black americans to prevent them from exercising their civil rights. The Justice Department job then , and now, is to fulfill the promise that it is at the foundation of our democracy that the law will treat each of us alike. That promise is also why i am here. My family fled religious persecution in Eastern Europe at the start of the 20th century. My grandmother was one of five children born in what is now belarus who made it to the United States. Two of her siblings did not. They were killed in the holocaust. There is little doubt that, but for america, the same thing would have happens to my grandmother. But this country took her in, and under the protection of our laws, she was able to live without fear of persecution. That protection is what distinguishes this country from so many others. The protection of law, the rule of law, is a foundation of our system of government. Repaying this country for the debt my family owes, for our very lives, has been the focus of my entire professional career. That is why i served in the Justice Department under five different attorneys general, both democratic and republican administrations. That is why i spent more than 25 years ensuring the rule of law as a judge, and that is why i left a lifetime appointment as a judge and came back to the Justice Department 2 1 2 years ago. And that is why i am here today. I look forward to your questions. Thank you, mr. Attorney general procurement, america is the greatest country ever. We on the site are very concerned about the equal application of the law that you talked about in your Opening Statement. With that, we will move to five minute questions. We will start with the gentleman from louisiana. Thank you. Mr. Weiss, the rule of law does distinguish our country, but not appel that. You allow the rule of law to erode. That is why 65 of the people in this country have no faith in the department of justice under your leadership. They dont trust it, they dont trust you. The reason is because a witness every day politicized Justice Department and a twotiered system of justice. For example, they see the doj, of course, aggressively prosecuting President Bidens political arrival, mr. Trump, while the same time seeing special treatment to his son. I want to focus on that investigation of the biden family. We have many important questions for you today about that. Let me get right to the chase. Has anyone from the white house provided direction at any time to you, personally, or to any senior officials at the doj regarding how the hunter biden investigation was to be carried out . No. Have you had personal contact with anyone at f. B. I. Headquarters about the hunter biden investigation . I dont recollect the answer to that question, but the f. B. I. Works for the Justice Department. I am sorry. You dont recollect whether you have talked with anybody at f. B. I. Headquarters about an investigation into the president s son . I dont believe i did. I promise to the senate when i came before for confirmation that i would leave mr. Weiss in place, and that i would not interfere with his investigation. I havent kept that promise i have kept that promise. Have you had personal contact with anybody at the Baltimore Field Office on hunter biden . No. U. S. Attorney david wiess told senator Lindsey Graham i had discussions with departmental officials regarding potential appointment under 28 section 550 which would have allowed me to file charges in the district outside my own without the partnership of the local u. S. Attorney. With whom did he have those discussions . I will not get into the internal deliberations of the department. But you must, this is important. We have oversight with possibility over your department and need these answers. It is appropriate for mr. Weiss to have conversations with the department. I made it clear if you wanted to bring a case, he would be able to do that. The way you do that is to get an order signed by the attorney general called a 515 order. I promised he would be able to that, and he made clear he understood he would be able to do that. Okay. Can you tell us about any briefings or discussions you personally have had with mr. Weiss regarding any and all federal investigations of hunter biden . I will say it again, i promised the senate i would not interfere with mr. Weiss. Under oath today, your testimony is that you have not had any discussions with mr. Weiss about this matter . Undergoes, my testimony today is that i promised the senate i would not intrude in his investigation. I do not intend to discuss internal Justice Department deliberations whether or not i have them. Okay. So your testimony today is that you will tell us whether weve had discussions with mr. Weiss. My testimony today is that i told the committee that i would not interfere. I made clear that mr. Weiss would have the ability to bring cases he thought were appropriate. For a second time, are you aware f. B. I. Officials have come before this committee and stated there was a cumbersome bureaucratic process that mr. Weiss had to go through to bring charges in another judicial district . I am not aware. That is not true. Theres nothing cumbersome about the process. So they are lying to us under oath . They are description of the process as culberson is an opinion, not a fact. Only have to do that let me get to the fact. Mr. Weiss has been the lead prosecutor on the hunter biden cases 2018, correct . He is been the lead prosecutor since he was appointed by President Trump. Let me after, why has the Justice Department drag this out for so long . Is it really take years to determine if hunter biden lied on the federal form related to purchasing a firearm . Mr. Weiss is a long time career prosecutor. President trump appointed him. Youre not answering the question. Is that standard procedure . Should it take that long to make such a simple determination . I am answering the question if you give me the opportunity to do so. He was charged with that investigation under the previous administration. He has continued. He knows how to conduct investigations. I have not intruded or attempted to evaluate that, because that was the promise i made to the senate. The whistleblowers gave us testimony about serious misconduct at the Justice Department in regards to the preferential treatment afforded hunter biden. Has your office requested an investigation into that . There are wellknown processes for how whistleblowers make their claims. I am a strong proponent of whistleblowers and a strong defender. We have an inspector general, we have the office of professional responsibility. That is the way in which complaints from whistleblowers should be, and are, appropriately handle. I yield back. The chair recognizes the making member. Thank you. Mr. Attorney general, thank you for being here today. It is no secret that some of my colleagues across the aisle has threatened to shut down the government unless, and until, the f. B. I. A department of justice are defunded. One trump like candidate said we should abolish the f. B. I. Altogether. What would be the impact on america of defunding the f. B. I. . Defunding the f. B. I. Would leave the United States naked to the influence of the Chinese Communist party, to the attacks by iranians on american citizens and attempts to assassinate former officials, to the russian aggression, to north korean cyberattacks, to Violent Crime in the United States, which the f. B. I. Helps to fight against, to all kinds of espionage, to domestic violent extremists who have attacked our churches, our synagogues, our mosques, and who have killed individuals out of racial hatred. I just cannot imagine the consequences of defunding the f. B. I. , but they would be catastrophic. Thank you. I wanted to turn to the investigation by mr. Weiss and the authority he has been granted to conduct the investigation without interference. You testified to the Senate Judiciary committee on march 1 of this year that david wiess had full authority over any investigation concerning hunter biden. Was that a true statement at the time . Yes. Mr. Weiss has full authority to conduct his investigation however he wishes , and mr. Weiss has confirmed that in letters to this committee. Thank you. This authority included ensuring that he would be able to bring charges in jurisdictions outside of delaware, if necessary, is that correct . Assured mr. Weiss publicly that he would have the authority to bring a case outside of delaware if he thought that was appropriate. Does that remain true today . Yes, that is true today. Hasnt ever been the case of the course of this investigation that mr. Weiss would not of been able to bring charges outside of delaware if warranted by as a matter of my authority, i promised he would be able to do that. I think , as a parent in the letters exchanged with the committee and in my last testimony, in order for United States attorney or special counsel or anyone else to bring a case outside this jurisdiction, he requires me to sign a paper called section 515, the statute that permits bringing cases outside the jurisdiction. I promised i would do whatever was required to enable mr. Weiss to bring a case outside his jurisdiction, if that is what he thought was appropriate. I assume it was your understanding that mr. Weiss is fully aware that he could bring charges outside of delaware if necessary. Mr. Weiss has said so in letters sent to this committee. Did he ever do or say anything that might make him unsure of where he can bring charges . Mr. Weiss , his own letters reflecting never asked me to be special counsel and understood the process for asking for a signature on section 515. There been accusations that this is an example of a two tiered system of justice. What is your response to that allegation . The Justice Department treat everyone alike regardless of party, regardless of ethnicity, regardless of wealth. Everyone is treated alike. I understand that people may not understand why particular investigations are conducted in particular ways until all the facts come out. That is what we have the courts for. All of the explanations will come out with respect to mr. Weiss, for example, at the end of his period as special counsel. One of the requirements is that he file a report, which i have promised to make public to the extent that is lawful and consistent with the department policy. He will explain his decisions to prosecute and not prosecute thank you. One of the impacts of members of congress and making such accusations against doj, does this make it more difficult to do your job . Members of the Justice Department are strong and tough and able to understand that their job is to do the right thing regardless of any pressures from any quarter. What is dangerous, and i am not talking about the committee, but what is dangerous is when anyone singles out a career prosecutor or a career f. B. I. Agent, and we know as a matter of fact, that that kind of singling out has led to threats. This is a concern across the board. It is not a concern about anyone in particular. I think you would have been justified in referring to the committee but my time is expired. I yield back. Chair recognizes during the gentleman from north carolina. Mr. Attorney general, you are the only person who can ensure that mr. Weiss had all the Necessary Authority. I am the only person who can sign the agreement with respect to special counsel. The authority to do section 515 can be assigned by other people in the department. Ultimately, the authority is yours. You dont take orders from the president about such things, you decide what the Justice Department will do. I announced at the beginning, i promised he would be able to bring whatever cases he wants, and i have followed through on that promise. I am permitted to make that kind of promise, and i have made that. Did you undertake to inform yourself to interact with hymns sufficient to ensure that he knew he possessed that authority or that you would see to it that he had all Necessary Authority . I dont think theres any doubt he knew. He has written three letters to this committee indicating he understood he had that authority. Arent you also aware that a senior irs investigator, whistleblower, came forward and testified publicly that mr. Weiss stated he did not have such authority. He was not the decider. Are you aware of that . I will aware the testimony. I was not present at any point during that statement. Mr. Weiss , who was present, has indicated that he had the authority and knew he had it. Subsequent to those developments, though, you decided to make mr. Weiss special counsel, what you had not done before. Mr. Weiss made clear he did not ask me to be special counsel until last month. Last month i made him special counsel. Did you have some lack of information that you should have had that would have caused you to act earlier to make him special counsel . Mr. Weiss do not asked to be special counsel. I understand that. You have said that. Did you take the necessary steps to inform yourself what authority he understood he had for what obstacles he was encountering . Mr. Weiss, as i said, from the beginning, he had authority over all matters that pertain to hunter biden. Have you learned that he was, in fact, deterred by decisions of the United States attorneys and district of columbia and Northern District of california from proceeding as he thought best . With respect, congressman, mr. Weiss has not said he was deterred. He said that he followed the normal processes of the department , and that he was never denied the ability to bring a case to another jurisdiction. What changed . What made you decide that it was sufficient to leave him in the situation he was until you decided to make him special counsel . Mr. Weiss asked for that Authority Given his extraordinary circumstances of this matter, and given my promise that i would give him any resources he requested, and i made him special counsel. Until that time, was it just a matter of his predilection, or did you undertake to investigate and discern what he was doing with his authority and whether he faced any obstacles . I did not endeavor to investigate, because i had promised that i would not interfere with this investigation. The way to not interfere is to not investigate an investigation. Once he requested to be named special counsel, having not done so over month of her tenure, did you ask him what had changed that made him now need to be in special counsel . Mr. Weiss asked to be special counsel. I promised i would give him all the resources he needed, and i made him special counsel. When did the Justice Department permit statutes of limitations to expire on some of the prospective charges against hunter biden for tax violations . I dont know anything about the statute of limitations here. The investigation was in the hands of mr. Weiss to make the determinations that he thought were appropriate. Are you unaware that the statute of limitations have been allowed to expire after having the agreements in place . Linda fagan, termination of where to bring cases in which kind of cases to bring was left to mr. Weiss. I understand you said that. That is part of the problem. The question is, are you will bear the statute of limitations has been allowed to expire while the matter was under investigation . The investigators were fully familiar with all the relevant law. Im not asking for excuses, i am asking whether you are aware of that fact. I will say again, again and again if necessary, i did not interfere with, did not investigate, everybody in the country now knows who is paying attention to this, that the Justice Department permitted statute of limitations to expire. Every lawyer who is ever practice understand the implications of allowing statute of limitations to expire. Do not even know as the city or whether this occurred or not . Prosecutors make appropriate determinations on their own. In this case, i left it to mr. Weiss whether to bring charges or not. That would include whether to let the statute of limitations to expire or not, whether there was sufficient evidence to bring a case subject to the statute of limitations or not, whether there were better cases to bring or not. Time has expired. The chair recognizes the gentle lady from california. Thank you attorney general for being here with us this morning. You know, as much as we see dirt being thrown in the air, there is a lot of misinformation i think is intended to confuse people. I would like to ask unanimous consent to put into the record three letters from mr. Weiss that he sent to congress on june 7, june 30, and july 10. Without objection. He said over and over again he has full authority over this case, including the ability to seek special counsel or special attorney status, if needed. Trying to imply otherwise is simply false. Mr. Weiss was appointed by then President Trump. Your decision was to leave the trump appointed attorney completely in charge of this, hands off from you. He makes all the calls without interference from the attorney general. Is that correct . That is correct. And so, the idea that you would interfere is completely wrong. I would also like to ask, you talked about your independence from the president , but also your independence from the congress. Have you ever come across, historically, an instance where the congress of the United States tried to interfere with a prosecution initiated by the department of justice based on the facts and the law . I want to be gentle about the word interfere, but just as a historical example, in the case of irancontra, the consequences of action by the congress were that the special counsel investigation of oliver north were dismissed. Correct. Before i go into another question i have, i just would like unanimous consent to put into the record the annual statistical transparency report dated april 2023. It indicates that the duplicated counting method for f. B. I. Queries of u. S. Persons under section 702 database numbered over 119,000. I would like to note, and we will work with you, this committee on a bipartisan basis is very concerned about the query of the 702 database for u. S. Persons without a warrant. We are not suggesting the law does not permit that, but we are going to visit this issue. It is my view that querying the 702 database that has been collected without due process because it relates to foreign individuals is completely wrong in terms of the privacy rights of americans. I am hoping we could work successfully with you as we craft requirements for a warrant to do that querying. I would like to ask, as we know, and has been mentioned by the ranking member, the proposal is basically to defund the police by the republicans, to defund the f. B. I. I am concerned that if we defund the police, as a majority has adjusted, that really doesnt have an impact on the statute of limitations. So if we were to defund the department of justice, defund the f. B. I. And the police, as has been suggested, what would happen with the statute of limitations for cases you are pursuing if you are not able to actually do that . Would they be suspended in any way, with the criminals get off scott free . I know in my experience as a judge, if i was asked a legal question i dont know the answer to, i would go back to the office and study. I would have to do that in this case. I think i do. There is nothing in the statute that allows for the statute of limitations to be suspended, because the government has been shut down, or because the police have been defunded through the budget process. I just think we ought to take the implications of a shutdown, it could allow criminals to get off. I see my time has expired. I yield back. Chair now recognizing himself. Mr. Weiss is full authority to bring cases to other jurisdictions if he feels it is necessary. That was your response to the question on march 1, 2023. The only problem is he had already been turned down by the u. S. Attorney in the district of columbia. So he did not have a full authority. I had an extended conversation with senator grassley at the time. We briefly touched on section 515 and how that process went. I have never that you said he had complete authority, but he already was turned down. The u. S. Attorney they are said no you cant. You tell the senate under oath that he has complete authority. I will say it again, no one had the authority to turn him down. They could refuse to partner with him. You can use what every language. It is not the same under a will know Justice Department practice. Here is why the statute of limitations question is important. You let the statute of limitations lapse for 2014, 2015, those were the years with the felony tax charges were hunter biden was getting income from breweries my. Here are facts that are so important. Hunter biden was put on the board of burisma and made a lot of money. Up kate a lot of money over those years. He was not qualified. Back over to, he was not qualified. Not my words, his words. He said he got on the board because of his last name. The brand. Fact number three, burisma executives told hunter biden, we are under pressure, we need help. Fact number four, joe biden ghost ukraine, leverages our tax money to get the prosecutor fired who was applying the pressure. Interestingly enough, that fact is entirely consistent with what the confidential human source told the f. B. I. And they recorded in the 1023 form. The same form. That all happened. What im wondering is, why you guys let the statute of limitations lapse for those tax years that dealt with burisma. One more fact that is important, and that is that this investigation was being conducted by mr. Weiss , an appointee a President Trump. Wes and he will no doubt address it in the public report that will be transmitted to the congress. I dont know the answer to those questions. To the lawyers just , darn, were they careless . But i expect that wont be what he says, but because that you know that is not the case. As mr. Bishop pointed out, they had an agreement. They talked to the hunter biden defense counsel. At some point, they made an intentional decision to say, we are going to let the statute of limitations lapse. I want to know who decided that and why they did. Mr. Weiss was a supervisor of the investigation at that time. He made the appropriate decisions, and you can ask him that question. You know why they did it. Everyone knows why. They may not say it, but everyone knows. Those tax years, that dealt with that involved the president. Is wanting to have a gun charge in delaware, that doesnt involve the president of the United States, but burisma, oh my, that goes right to the white house. We cant have that. We can slow walk this and even extend the statute of limitations, then we can intentionally let it lapse. We know this investigation was low. Heres whatever was a. Doj slow walk to the investigation, slow walking the approvals of everything, this happened at doj taxable and delaware. I would have liked to see things move faster. Everyone as we have talked to said this was slow walked. And we know why. It was slow walked long enough to let the statute of limitations run out so they would not have to get into burisma. Tell me why i am wrong. Will the gentleman healed . I am asking the pressure. I have tried to make clear i dont know the specifics of the investigation. Much of what youre describing occurred during the Trump Administration with a Justice Department appointed by President Trump. Were talking about the last few years. Your statement was just this year, march 1. I am sorry, i was trying to respond to your descriptions of what the irs agent said about certain that the statute of limitations is six years. That lapsed in the biden administration. I will say again, the explanation for why the statute of limitations was lapsed, if it was, has to come from mr. Weiss. Let me ask one last question. Who decided that david wiess would stay on as u. S. Attorney . This occurred before i came. Mr. Weiss was kept on. I promised that i said, who decided . The white house decided joe biden decided to keep david wiess as u. S. Attorney. You were not sworn in until march. Your time has expired. Pretty fundamental question. Who decided david wiess would stay as u. S. Attorney in delaware . Your time has expired. Im waiting for an answer. Your time expired already. Gentlemen can respond. Mr. Weiss was u. S. Attorney from the district of delaware when i came on. He was appointed by President Trump. I promised he would be permitted to stay on for this investigation, and that is what happened. Gentlemen from new york recognize. Mr. Chairman, i believe you misquoted from the transcript of the senate hearing. I asked for consent to enter into the record the entire transcript of the hearing. Without objection. I did not misquote. None of the republicans goals today include solving american problems. There are many reasons that prosecutors declined to bring charges. One of those reasons is that they dont have any evidence for a conviction. That is the justice way. That is just in america. Let me raise these questions and concerns with you today. As we all know, republicans have repeatedly alleged that the doj and f. B. I. Are conspiring to shield the biden family from public criticism and giving hunter biden special treatment in its investigation. They have demonized Law Enforcement officials working with this case at every turn, which has directly led to increased threats against f. B. I. Officials, Law Enforcement of which they pretend to support. I want to place into the record excerpts from recent transcribed interviews. I would ask a copy be made available to you. The first is from a june interview with jennifer moore, the former executive director for Human Resources for the f. B. I. She said it the f. B. I. Received so many threats that had to stand up an entire 10 unit just to deal with them. She said it is unprecedented. It is a number they never had before. The second excerpt is from an interview earlier this month with the special agent in charge of f. B. I. Baltimore field office. Here is what he said. I joined the f. B. I. 25 years ago for a reason, to protect the American People, uphold the constitution. I have been through war. My family has been in bad places, mike is a bit evacuated from war zones. I been a bad things. I have accepted that. I am solely focus on two things, and they are not mutually exclusive. The first is is that i want to get to a resolution in a fair way. The second thing, it is becoming more relevant, is keeping my folks to safe. Out that part, i never to be concerned about keeping family save. For me, this is becoming more and more of a job i have to do a take away from what i was assigned to do, which was to investigate and do these things. When you talk about potential frustrations with communication , i am personally frustrated with anything the places employees and families in enhanced danger. Their children did not sign up for this. Do you agree that politically charged rhetoric claiming that Law Enforcement agents contribute to this onslaught of threats . As i said in my Opening Statement, we have had an astounding number of threats against Public Servants over the last several years. I think when career Public Servants in the Justice Department and election workers and airline crews, when they are singled out, this can lead to threats of violence and actual violence. We have the actual example of an attack on and f. B. I. Office by somebody who was incensed by political rhetoric. This does happen. We must not allow that to happen in this country. Does the rhetoric regarding the biden case have any basis in reality . I did not hear the first purpose has the rhetoric regarding the biden case have any basis in reality . It does not. How does this impact f. B. I. And doj employees ability to do their work . As ive already said, the agents of the f. B. I. And prosecutors understand that criticism comes with their job. They will continue to do their jobs without fear or favor, but the idea of threatening their safety or that of their families is important. Thank you. I assume that provisions have had to be in place to protect these agents and their families. I did not hear the first part. I assume the provisions or protections have had to be in place to protect ages and their families. That is correct. Let me move on to the fentanyl crisis. Let me put on the record so you can summarize. I asked for the indulgence of the chair. In any event, the f. B. I. , the doj are focused on the crisis of fentanyl. I want to raise that for you and followup with one or two other questions. I am dealing with the crisis of Human Trafficking and the prioritizing of america children. They are under siege. The level of child sexual abuse materials generating into Human Trafficking, and i want to put hr 30 on the record, indicates that there are 99,000 cases where they are enticing children, and maybe only 1 being investigated. I would like your comment on that. Finally, to emphasize the work that is hopefully still being done with antisemitism, attacks on immigrants, and African Americans and latinos. We are fighting the fentanyl scourge in every possible way, starting with the precursors in china, to the labs in mexico. The cartels that are bringing the drugs into the United States, networks in the United States, the streets of america. We will continue to do that with every resource that Congress Gives us. Human smuggling and trafficking, absently abhorrent. They have tax forces on both of these subjects and have brought many cases on the subjects. The idea of putting sexually explicit material about children on the weather is another area that we are continuing to investigate and prosecute, and as the social media to take down from their site. Time has expired. The floor has recognized your five minutes. Im wondering, mr. Attorney general. Has anybody told President Biden to knock it off . With hunter . I mean, you guys are charging hunter biden on sometimes, investigating him on others. President bringing hunter around to state dinners. Our job in the Justice Department is to pursue cases without reference to whats happening in the outside world. Yes or no . Is it a no . Nobody has spoken to the white house about hunter biden. s maximizer biden paying for a 15,000 per month rent in malibu. How can you guarantee that the people buying that are not doing so to gain favor with the president . The Justice Department is investigating criminal allegations, somebody who bought Hunter Bidens art ended up with a prestigious appointment to a federal position. Does not look weird, hes become this immediate success in the art world . Is father as president of the United States . Im not going to comment hunter Biden Associate devon archer told us that he so the appearance of access to then vice President Biden. Are you confident that he has stopped doing that . I do not understand the question. Devon archer sold the appearance of access to then vice President Biden. Are you confident he has stopped . I want to say again that all of these matters are within the purview of mr. Rice, i have not interviewed with them. If you are confident that i do not intend to interfere with them. It was a lot of chinese money working its way through the Shell Companies into the accounts of the biden family. So the China Initiative was set up during the Trump Administration at the department of justice to go after the influence of the Chinese Communist party, and the biden Justice Department dissolved the China Initiative. It so, does the department have any documents that would detail the basis for why you got rid of the China Initiative that President Trump had signed . They gave a long speech which explained that. He has testified before Congress Several times. We will provide you with tell us now. Why was that initiative dissolved . What the general said was that we face attacks from four nationstates. North korea, china, russia, and iran. We must focus our attention on the broad range of these attacks, are you saying that north korea has the same influence risk to the United States as the chinese, his party . Are you trying to represent parity . Because heres what it looks like. It looks like the chinese give all this money to the bidens and then you came and got rid of the China Initiative and it was successful. I saw one rationale that you guys got rid of it because it was racial profiling. One of the people you convicted was a guy named childs labor, taking 50,000 a month to do whatever research was being done. Are you aware of the millions of dollars that moved through rob walkers Shell Companies from Chinese Communist parties into biden family Bank Accounts . Are you aware of that . There are a lot of questions that you just estimated let me start with the first one. North korea is a dangerous genetically and with respect to cyber. Not on par with china. May i answer your question . Answer the question about the millions of dollars. You dont want me to answer but north korea . I know the answer, so does everyone. Lets get on to the serious questions and serious answers. Did you know about the Shell Companies to rob walker . I have left these matters to mr. Rice, i have not interfered. Blissfully ignorant. Youre looking the other way on purpose because Everybody Knows this is happening. People do not pay bribes do not get something in return. The China Initiative resulted in the convictions of harvard professor, someone in monsanto, we were working against the chinese, they paid the bidens, and we are getting told that north korea is the big threat. Does the fbi lose count of the number of paid informants on january 6 . Let me answer your question about china. I only get five minutes. January 6th. Did you lose count of the number of federal assets . Your time is expired. Let him answer the question. The attorney general can respond, but the time is expired. The most aggressive and dangerous adversary the state faces and we are doing everything within our power to rebut that, to stop them come to prevent invasions, both kinetic, and through cyberspace. If somebody give that answer in your courtroom when you were a judge, you would tell them they were being we need some order here. We are adjourning the witness. Stephen time has expired i know that. Your honor, would you like to stick with that . Point of order either way. Understand that. Before his time expired, the attorney general do not expire to the question. I want him to respond to that question. Im sure we will get into the elevator. Now recognizing the gentleman before that, he was not given a chance to answer. The witness might have thought mr. Chen min, the witness does not control the time. Numbers control the time. If they want to switch the question and focus on a different question, i want to give the witness a chance to respond to that final question. Thats all. He did not respond to it. We now recognize the gentleman from tennessee for five minutes. Thank you sir. I want to follow up on a few questions. The devon archer, thing, did he say that hunter biden did nothing wrong . Clear. I only know about mr. Archer from newspaper reports, i want to be clear that i kept my promise to not involve myself in this. Secondly, did you say that President Trump, President Trump appointed rice, within you appointed . Yes. President trump appointed him as the United States attorney. That you take care of that issue. In the department has been westernized. Wasnt there an investigation, you did not prosecute him . We do not make comments about it. If we were weapon eyes, we wouldve done it. That was a Beautiful Exchange there. You are the nations chief Law Enforcement officer and i appreciate that. Law enforcement is one of the fundamental functions of the government. Crime is growing too much in this country and my city of memphis. We need Law Enforcement, effective, swift, and fair. I need to focus my questions on what affects the American People. Crime. How do we get smarter Law Enforcement, requiring smart resource of allocations, not about funding or listening with the right funding for the right programs and see that this happens . Memphis is hiring, but its become more difficult. We lowered standards to get more officers. Thats not the way to do it. But we are desperate. I think you do the cops program for helping us. But, what can the department of justice do to help see that Law Enforcement program is more efficient and effective . So, the key to this is our partnership, with the fbi, dea, marshalls, atf, the entire alphabet soup. And, the task forces. And discussions to target the most dangerous criminals in those communities. But, at the same time, to engage the communities, to help engender Community Trust in Law Enforcement. Everybody who is prosecuted, Violent Crime cases, that includes me. They know that they need the trust of the community in order to get witnesses. And, we in the Justice Department are helping our state and local colleagues do just that. The funding you described from the cops office and the office of Justice Programs allows us to get money to state and local Police Organizations that are having trouble with recruitment and retention and promotion of law versus. And they will help them make their departments respectful of the Constitutional Rights and at the same time, effective, investigation and prosecution of criminal law violations. Thank you for those programs the cops are you also reinstituted practices investigations of certain Police Departments. Memphis is one of them, thank you for doing that. Can you share with us how important those pilot programs are and how they can improve policing . Yes, congress has authorized the Justice Department to conduct practice investigations, when we have a reasonable belief that there has been unconstitutional patterns of behavior in the police department. We are careful to select his cases where we think there is a such a pattern. We make those investigations, and we then work with the Law Enforcement agencies in the cities. We hope to come to a dissent decree that will lead to a better and more efficient and more Constitutional Police department. We have been successful in all of our cases to date in reaching a consent decree. Thank you, sir. You are part of what was announced, bringing federal charges against the five officers who killed tyre nichols in memphis. Thank you for that. We need that federal charge and we need that department looked at. If there is a shutdown of the federal government, how will that affect the doj . I have not done a complete calculation on the effects of a shutdown on the difference between which employees are indispensable under the statute and which ones are not. It was only disrupt all of our normal programs, including our grant programs, to state and local Law Enforcement. And to our ability to conduct normal efforts, with respect to the entire scope of our activities including helping state and locals fight Violent Crime. Thank you, sir. Happy new year. I yelled back. Thank you so much. Thank you mr. Chairman. Looking at the appointment of jack smith, and david weiss. This double standard here, of justice, could not be more glaring. If they didnt have a double standard, they would have standards at all. He was targeting political groups to harass, has malicious progress of the former governor mcdonald was unanimous overturned by the u. S. Supreme court chief justice roberts, for attempting to criminalize political activity. You appointed him to prosecute mr. Joe bidens chief rival, for the presidency. And then, we have the apartment of david weiss. He deliberately allowed the statute of limitations to run out on any charges that could have a dated joe biden and influence peddling. He hunter biden a sweetheart deal that was ultimately upended by the courts, and he is the one that you appointed to pursue the charges that could implicate joe. That leaves means only two explanations. Corruption or incompetence. Which is it . Those of the questions that judges would rule out of order. Im sure you would. Look, i said it before, ill say it again. Mr. Weiss was the republican you stated states attorney. You at least see the obvious double standard . Its ridiculous they are so applied to these two appointments. He was a republican appointee. Mr. Smith is a not registered to either party, i dont care what their registrations are. On thats not what im asking you. Im asking about their records, and how the records are related to the appointment you made. This is a question of judgment and motors. What was motivating you to do this . Mr. Smith had a nationwide reputation for integrity, and for what the heck has work is filed. You can see the indictment. How can you say that after he was so heavily implicated in the irs scandal . Or the reboot Supreme Court case . Let me go on. Weve had to have a couple of whistleblowers informing senior Justice Department officials obstructing investigation and millions of dollars of ill gotten and undeclared income to hunter biden. They noted several deviations by Department Officials from normal process and provided preferential treatment, to hunter biden. Including allowing the statute of limitations to last, requesting fbi Management Levels , investigating communications, for referring in the big guy or dad and witness interviews. Excluding the investigating teams with the meetings with the defense counsel and notifying them of the pending search warrants. They even set off a bidens of impending searches. That sounds an awful like obstruction of justice is that coming from you or somebody else . I do not understand the question. You never understand the question. All of the actions that your employees take to obstruct the investigation of hunter biden and the earnings that he made, and the taxes that he failed to declare, their source and ultimately, they were paid to. Ramona sagan respect. It is in the hands of mr. Rice. The appointee present from. I dont know about all of these allegations. Some of them from the. Where the attorney general appointed by the attorney general. Mr. Weiss 11 opportunity to explain the decision. I have intentionally not involve myself in the facts of the case, not because im trying to get out of responsibility, but because i am trying to pursue my responsibility. Your fbi director testified before the committee of an uptick in known or suspected terrorists coming across the southern border. He told us that represents a massive security risk. Those were his words. Massive security risk. You agree . I am perfectly to align myself with the director of the fbi. Well, why is it, then, that the senior ministration rescinded the trump era orders, that had secured that border . The exponential increase. The witness can respond. But the time is expired. The answer to the question about about immigration law, its an extremely long answer. I will to defer to the department of Homeland Security which is responsible at the border. We tried to get answers from him, he doesnt give them to us. I understand mr. Attorney general, he requested a short break. We will resume in five minutes. Okay thank you