quote, mr. weiss full authority to bring cases in urth jurisdictions if he feels it's necessary. that was your response, attorney general to senator grassley's question in 2023, just referencing when mr. bishop was questioning you. only problem is he'd been turned down by the u.s. attorney in the district of columbia, mr. graves. so he didn't have full authority, did he? >> i had an extended conversation with senator grassley at the time. we briefly touched on the section 515 question and how that process went. i've never been suggest -- >> my point is very simple, mr. garland. you said he had complete authority, but he had been turned down and the u.s. attorney said no, you can't and you go tell the united states senate that he has complete authority. >> i will say again that no one had the authority to turn him down and they could refuse to partner with him. >> you can use whatever language refuse to partner is turning down. >> it's not the same under a well-known justice department practice. >> her

investigation run by mr. weiss where they told the congress three different stories in 33 days. they told this committee on june 7th david weiss said i have ultimate authority to determine when, where and whether to bring charges. 23 days later june 30th he told this committee actually i can only bring charges in my u.s. attorneys district, the district of delaware. to further confuse matters on july 10th he told senator graham i have not sought special counsel status but had discussions with the department of justice. investigation run by mr. weiss that negotiated a plea deal that the court designed to accept. a plea deal so ridiculous the judge asked this question quote, is there any precedent for agreeing not to prosecute crimes that have nothing to do with the charges be diverted? the response from the d.o.j. lawyer, i'm not aware of any, your honor. a plea deal so ridiculous the judge asked have you ever seen a diversion agreement where the agreement not to prosecute was so broad that it encompasses crimes in

>> mr. weiss has been the lead prosecutor on the hunter biden case since 2018, correct? >> i'm sorry? >> mr. weiss has been the lead prosecutor on the hunter biden case since 2018? >> he's been the lead prosecutor since he was appointed by president trump. >> why has the justice department dragged this investigation out for so long? does it really take years to determine if hunter biden lied on a federal form related to purchasing a firearm? >> mr. weiss was a long-time career prosecutor, president trump appointed him as -- >> you're not answering the question. is that standard procedure? should it take that long to make such a simple determination? >> i'm answering the question if you give me an opportunity to do so. >> okay. >>> he was charged with that investigation under the previous administration. he's continued. he knows how to conduct investigations and i have not intruded or attempted to evaluate that because that was the promise i made to the senate. >> the whistle-blowers gave us testim

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 d's 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

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, there's 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 depar

mr. weiss is in the middle of the unit ongoing prosecution on the matter you are talking about. >> if we believe and we do at least on this side of the day, that a pattern of behaviors occurring relative to the investigation of hunter biden, particularly including while he lived in the vice presidents home, while the operated and co- mingled with the vice president and even today as he travels with the president in light of that, can you agree that in fact it should be reasonable for us to look at a number of items including and one that i want your answer on, if limited time. he supposedly had this ability to bring a prosecution anywhere. he now has that ability. however are you concerned and should we have the right to look into the fact that political appointees in california and in the district of columbia refused to, in fact, cooperate with him in those investigations that he was charged with doing in delaware but which flowed over into their jurisdictions? is that not, in fact, an example

>> mr. weiss was a long-standing career prosecuted, appointed by president trump, outstanding reputation and he will proceed as appropriate and end of investigation will give a public report like mr. durham and mr. mueller and be available for questions about why he did various things that were done. >> i yield balance of my time. >> what changed, in 2023, mr. weiss wrote and said i have not requested special counsel designation. what happen in that 31 days? >> as i said publicly, several days before my announcement, i think three days, mr. weiss had asked to become special counsel, explained he had reached stage of his investigation that was appropriate. >> what stage is that? >> i gave him that. >> are we in beginning stage, middle stage, end stage, keep hiding the ball stage, what stage? >> i would go back to the videotape where i said and permitted to discuss ongoing investigation. >> isn't that convenient. something changed 23r july 10 to august 27, a judge called bs on the plea deal. that is

later in january, mr. weiss was denied the ability to bring charges in the central district of california. you testified before the senate judiciary committee in march that he had full authority. that weiss confirmed that to us in june that he had been granted full authority over this matter. then he backed up. he said, well, just kidding. my charging authority is limited to my home district in delaware. of course, you appoint him as special counsel. why the heck has his story changed over the course of the investigations? >> congressman, i have seen all of the three letters. i read them carefully. they are all consistent with each other. i urge everyone watching this on television or anyone interested to look at those three letters. they are not inconsistent with each other. there's no change in the story. >> you agree he had -- you said this publically, he had ultimate authority. prior to the appointment as special counsel. >> i have explained this repeatedly here. i explained this in another proceeding. i sai

later mr. weiss was denied the ability to bring charges against hunter biden in the central district of california. you testified in march of this year he had full authority. that weiss confirmed that to us that he had been granted full authority over this matter. but then he backed up. he said just cudding. my charging authority is limited to my home district in delaware. and you appoint him as special counsel. so why the heck has his story changed so many times over the course of these investigations? >> you have seen all three letters i read them carefully. they are all consistent with each oh other. i urge everyone watching this on television or anyone interested to look at those three letters. they are not inkipt with each other and no change in the story. >> you agree he had and you said this publicly he had ultimate authority. >> i have explained this repeatedly here. i have explained this in another proceeding. i said that mr. weiss would have the authority to bring a case in any jurisdiction

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 could've selected anyone. he could have picked a

mr. weiss. i have not interfered with them and i have not -- >> if you're confident he has stopped -- so it was a lot of chinese money that was working its way through these 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 malign influence of the chinese communist party and the biden justice department dissolved the china initiative. 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? >> the assistant attorney general gave a long speech which explained that, he testified before congress several times. we would be happy to provide you with -- >> what is the basis? tell us all now, why was the china initiative dissolved? >> we face attacks from four nation states. north korea, china, russia and iran and we need to focus our attention on the broad range of these attacks. >> are you saying th

mr. weiss, and i have not interfered -- >> so it was a lot of chinese money that was working its way through these shell companies into the accounts of the biden family so the china initiative was set up during the trump administration at the department of just toys go after the maligned influence of the chinese communist party and the biden justice department dissolved the china initiative. does tit have any documents for why you got rid of the china initiative that president trump set up? >> the assistant attorney general of the division gave a long speech which explained that. he has testified before congress several times. i would be happy to provide you -- >> just tell us all now, why was the china initiative dissolved? >> what the assistant attorney general said was that we face attacks from four nation states. north korea, china, russia and iran, and we need to focus our attention on the broad range of these attacks. >> are you saying that north korea has the same maligned influence risk

mr. weiss. i have not interfered with them. >> if you were confident he had stopped you could probably tell us. so it was a lot of chinese money that was working its way through these 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 malign influence of the chinese communist party and the biden justice department dissolved the china initiative. i'm wondering does the department have any documents that would detail the basis for why you got rid of the china initiative that president trump had set up? >> assistant attorney general for the national security division gave a long speech and testified before congress several times. >> tell us all now why was the china initiative dissolved? >> assistant attorney general said we face attacks from four nation states. north korea, china, russia, and iran. we need to focus our attention on the broad range of these attacks. >> are you saying

mr. weiss is going to issue a report at the end. let's let them do their jobs and stop politicizing these cases. with that, i yield back. thank you, mr. chairman. i yield the chairman to clear the record. >> my friend from maryland said they will get a search warrant and go get it, unless it is hunter biden. then they tip off the defense counsel. we know that happened. second, relative to mr. bragg, mr. bragg sued me and it went to court, and guess what the court ? they said we were right, and the guy we wanted to talk to, one of his prosecutors, came here and testified in this room. so, the court was on our side there. i yield back to the gentle lady from indiana. >> i didn't get to my question, sorry. attorney general, you had a very moving statement about your grandparents coming here from belarus to live in the country without fear of prosecution. i grew up in a very similar country, ukraine now, and when i came here as a young person, i believed in the value as an american not to be afraid of my government. but i wanted to tell

>> mr. weiss asked to be made special counsel and i made him -- i did not consider an alternative. i, of course, to put in an alternative, would have greatly disrupted an investigation that was already -- >> i want to be clear. it was either no special counsel or if there was a special counsel, it was going to be the guy who presided over the investigation for the previous five years. >> i thought about the -- what the consequences would be both of not appointing him and trying to find somebody else at that time, but there was no other -- >> and you had no concerns -- i mean, the whistle-blowers have brought forward all kinds of concerns. when somebody brought those up, you said those are allegations. they stand up well. but there were two facts that can't be questioned, two facts about the investigation of hunter biden. they let the statute of limitations run, and the plea deal fell apart. so i just was -- i wanted to make clear that the guy who presided over all that was the only guy under consi

mr. garland? >> weiss has already said that. >> okay. mr. garland, is it standard operating procedure in your department of justice for prosecutors to allow the statute of limitations to expire on very serious crimes when the potential defendant has already agreed to an extension? >> so there, as i said before, there's no standard operating procedure here. >> maybe there should be. this is an oversight hearing. maybe there should be. maybe you should adopt standard operating procedures to avoid this kind of a circumstance. would you agree? >> no. speed because it's left to the discretion of alexa >> you've answered my question, thank you. according to one of the irs whistleblowers, quote, the purposeful exclusion of the 2014 and 2015 tax years sanitized the most substantive criminal conduct and concealed material facts, and quote. how can americans trust an investigation run by a special counsel who, by allowing the statute of limitations to expire, irreversibly, quote, sanitized the most substantive criminal conduct and concealed material f

ziegler, in september of 2022, mr. weisswas telling you that he was the one weighing whether to bring the 2014 and 2015 charges. is that correct? >> that is correct. >> coming back to october 7th 2022, mr. shabbily, according to your testimony on page 125 quote, he decided not to charge 2014 2015. it seems to me that this october 7th 2022 meeting, which you have described as a red line, it's just a misunderstanding. that after the u.s. attorney in d.c. declined a partner on the 14 or 15 charges, mr. weiss took a good hard look at those charges himself. he ultimately decided not to charge them. therefore, not to seek the special attorney status. he may have been right about that. he may have been wrong, you guys make your case for it. but, it was his decision. isn't that right, mr. shapley? >> no, that is not supported by the facts. >> really. which fact is that not supported? by >> his old emission in a meeting which i documentary contemporaneously. -- >> but he contradicts what you are saying. he does not agree with what yo

>> mr. weiss asked if he made special counsel and i do not consider an alternative. i, of course, but in an alternative, was greatly disrupted in the investigation already. >> i want to be clear, he was the only one under consideration? there was either no special counsel or if there was, it was going to be the guy for the previous five years. >> i thought about what the consequences would be of both not appointing him and trying to find somebody else at that time. >> and you have no concern. i mean, the whistleblowers have brought forward all kinds of concerns. earlier, when someone brought this up, they said those are allegations. they have been cross-examined for four hours by democrats in oversight committee. but there are two facts that can be questioned. factor number one, they let the statue of limitations run, they let it expire. factor number two, the plea deal fell apart. so, i just want to make clear that the guy who presided over all of that was the only guy under consideration for spe

mr. weiss produced two senator graham and the judiciary committee, his is to corroborate some of the facts from that meeting that maybe he didn't have that authority, right? >> yes, the second letter on june 30th clearly shows that he is saying he has full authority, has ultimate authority. he immediately goes in and says that my authority is geographically limited. i don't understand how you can conclude any way from that statement in the june 30th letter that he has full authority. it is simply not accurate. >> correct. that was something that you saw early on all you saw as a potential problem. mr. weiss could not gain special counsel authority, what options were made in bringing charges against hunter biden in california or in the district of columbia? >> at what happened the special attorney authority that i have seen recently referenced. but, i mean, essentially when d.c. said no, and we know that d.c. said no, we were having conversations with our fbi counterparts of how do we bring in a

>> mr. weiss asked to be made special counsel, i did not consider an alternative. i, of course, put an alternative, would have greatly disrupted the investigation already ongoing. >> to be clear, he was the only one under consideration. either no special counsel or if there was a special counsel, it was going to be the guy who presided over the investigation for the previous five years. >> i thought about the possibility -- what the consequences would be, both of not appointing him and trying to find somebody else at that time, but there was no other -- >> and you had no concerns, i mean, whistleblowers have brought forward all kinds of concerns. earlier when someone brought those up, you said those are allegations. i think they stand up well, cross examined for four hours by democrats in the oversight committee but there were two facts that can be questioned, two facts about the investigation of hunter biden. fact number one, let the statute of limitations run, let it expire, and two, the plea de

. >> i left it to mr. weiss whether to bring charges or not, that would include whether to let statute of limitations expire or not, whether there was sufficient evidence to bring a case that was subject to the statute of limitations or not, whether there were better cases to bring or not. >> reporter: the attorney general reiterating that he stayed out of the hunter biden investigation. >> i promised senate when i came before it for confirmation that i would leave mr. weiss in place and that i would not interfere with his investigation. >> has anyone at the department told president biden to knock it off with hunter? >> no one that i know of has spoken to the white house about the hunter biden case. >> reporter: and insisting no one ordered him to bring federal charges against former president trump. >> no one has told me to indict, and in this case, the decision to indict was made by the special counsel. >> reporter: the political interference accusations are sure to reemerge as the gop controlled cows proceed

>> mr. weiss asked to be made special counsel, and i made -- i did not consider an alternative. of course to put in an alternative would have greatly disrupted an investigation. >> it was either no special counsel or it was going to be the guy who presided over the investigation for the previous five years. >> i thought of the consequences of not appointing him and trying to appoint somebody else at that time -- >> and you had no concerns, i mean, whistleblowers have brought forward all kinds of concerns. earlier when someone brought those up, you said those are allegations. i think they stand up well. they have been cross examined for four hours by democrats in the oversight committee, two facts about the question of hunter bipden. they let the statute of limitations run, and fact number two, the plea deal fell apart. i wanted to make clear the guy who presides over that was the only guy under consideration for special counsel designation, is that right? >> mr. weiss is known for high integrity,

well, mr. weiss committed, the justice department has committed to come now scheduled for october 11th. we expect him to honor that commitment. now, we do want to talk with a bunch of other folks who are part of this investigation before he gets here. we'll see if the justice department complies with that. but i don't think they can hide behind ongoing investigation, because they committed to providing mr. weiss before he was named special counsel. and, remember, they even said at the plea hearing that the investigation was ongoing. is so they already committed to that. so so i expect them to be there on the 11th. elizabeth: chairman jim jordan, congressman russell fry, thanks for joining us. >>> okay, let's get to this top story today, let's bring in michael faulkender. it's good to see you again. so the federal reserve hits the pause button on rate hikes. it may raise again possibly by november, that's what the derivatives market is predicting. how much is a rise in oil prices and gas prices a prob

and i think it is what mr. weiss conveyed to senator graham when he says he had conversations at main justice. it looks pretty obvious what happened. initially, everyone was pounding their chest. david weiss has full authority. now suddenly, he doesn't, because you guys came forward and told the truth. >> the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts. >> i like to think those willing to work with the committee to accomplish our work. i am surprised, though. there seems to be a new level of markers a year. as a long-standing member of this committee, i think most of the -- political interference and was sweetheart deals look like. and i think context is very important. in 2017, we had a situation where if national security adviser and trump campaigns target michael flynn was indicted. indicted by a federal jury, federal grand jury, he pled guilty twice and he lied to fbi agents about his communications with the russian government prior to the inauguration of president trump. he was only national security advis

let's listen. >> quote mr. weiss has full authority to bring cases in other jurisdictions if he feels it's necessary. that was your respond to senator grassley's question on march of 2023. only problem is, he had already been turned down by the u.s. attorney in the district of columbia, mr. graves. he didn't have full authority, did he? >> i had an extended conversation with senator grassley at the time. we briefly touched on the section 515 question and how that process went. i have never been suggested -- >> my point is simple. you said he had complete authority but he had already been turned down, he wanted to bring an action in the district of columbia and the u.s. attorney there said, no, you can't, and you tell the united states senate that he has complete authority. >> i'm going to say that no one had the authority to turn him down. they could refuse to partner with him -- >> and so that's where this is sort of going around in circles. in the end, what garland is saying is true. the justice department rules, i

insight into weiss' decision to seek special counsel status more than four years into the case. >> mr. weiss will have an opportunity to explain -- >> reporter: the attorney general made clear that david weiss has the answers to republican questions. the house judiciary committee has been negotiating with the justice department for weeks and wants testimony from weiss october 18th, but a government shutdown could frustrate their efforts to get the special counsel under oath and on the record. catherine herridge, cbs news, washington. >>> air force general c.q. brown will be the next chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. he was confirmed by the senate yesterday in an 83-11 vote. brown will succeed general mark milley when he retires at the end of the month. this confirmation comes as democrats try to maneuver around holds placed on hundreds of nominees by alabama republican senator tommy tuberville over the pentagon's abortion policy. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say the holds are causing a national security problem that includes delays in retirements and promotions. >>> and presiden

i remind everybody mr. weissas a trump e appointee.ve i'm not trying to get under anyone's skin here. it is so political. they were appointed by republicans, this democratic president held them over. ical >> greg: judge, i see youem squirming over there.y you are ready to explode. >> harold: i'm your friend now. >> jeanine: you are my friend and i love you, but you're wrong>> harolnow..e you said he answered all the questions. the questions. >> jeanine: he doesn't recollect if he's had contact with the fbi about hunter biden's case.sn't is there anything more f absurd in the universebi than that statement. and i'll tell you why. doesn't recollect is ay. classic example of a potential defendant who is trying to avoid a perjurply trap. we all know and everyone in america knows thatyo merrick garland had tone know something about that case and i'll tell you why. because it went on for five years. you don't think at y someen point merrick garland wht oat appointed david weiss and said wait a minute. i don't want to s

his report if you think that's the appropriate way to resolve it. >> can you think of a reason why mr. weiss or mrs. wolf would have given a heads up to the biden team that a search warrant was forthcoming? >> i'm not going to get into hypotheticals on this. >> literally delaying obtaining potential evidence in the case, which she involved in the negotiation of the irs deal with hunter biden? >> i'm not actually following the question. assisting u.s. attorneys, is that what you are asking? >> attorney general, i appreciate your time today but i'm concerned these facts are just some examples of what's been going on here, where. i apologize. i know my time is out. i yield back. because the time for the gentleman expired. >> martha: we are going to return to it in a moment but first, we need to bring you some breaking news. out of saudi arabia, fox's bret baier just sat down with saudi arabia's crown prince, mohamed been bin al salman. here is an exclusive fit from this interview with mohammed bin salman. >> when we are concerned with any country getting a nuclear weapon, that's a bad move. you

. >> is it -- >> mr. weiss did not have to report to anybody. he was the supervisor and decision maker in these matters. >>> also this hour, a brand-new cnn poll zeroing in on the primary state of new hampshire. a state trump won the primary for but lost in the general election. then and in 2020. where does he stand with the voters of new hampshire today? >>> welcome to "the lead," i'm jake tapper. we begin with our law and justice lead, the attorney general of the united states, merrick garland, forcefully attempting to rebuke republicans who are accusing him and the justice department of political bias. >> as the president hip smself said and reaffirm today, i am not the president's lawyer. >> this is committee hearing today is the culmination of months of tensions. today those house republicans accuse the attorney general of weaponizing the justice department to work in favor of president biden's son hunter. while targeting president biden's opponent donald trump. garland defended the independence of the justice department and the special cou

insight into weiss' decision to seek special counsel status more than four years into the case. >> mr. weiss. >> reporter: at today's hearing the attorney general make clear that david weiss has the clearance to republican questions. they have negotiated for weeks and wants testimony from weiss october 18, but a government shutdown could frustrate their efforts to get the special counsel under oath and on the record, j.b. >> james: good to see you, catherine herridge. the man charged with ambushing and fatally shooting a los angeles county sheriff deputy last week and pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. captain kevin leon salazar was arrested monday. his family says he has mental health issues including schizophrenia. dozens of officers turned out to salute ryan clinkunbroomer as his family prepares for his funeral. tonight a high school band director in alabama is accusing birmingham police of using excessive force. he was arrested after a postgame scuffle with officers in front of parents and students ended with him being tased. the incident was caught on body cam footage and we want

insight into weiss' decision to seek special counsel status more than four years into the case. >> mr. weissity to explain. >> at today's hearing, the attorney general made clear that david weiss has the answer to republican questions. the house judiciary committee has been negotiating with the justice department for weeks and wants testimony from weiss october 18th. but a government shutdown could frustrate their efforts to get the special counsel under oath and on the record. jb? >> good to see you, catherine herridge. >>> the man charged with ambushing and fatally shooting a los angeles county sheriff's deputy last weekend pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. kevin cataneo salazar was arrested monday after a stand off with police. his family says he has mental health issues, including scizophrenia. dozens of officers turned out to salute fallen deputy ryan clinkunbroomer as his family prepares for his funeral. >>> tonight a high school band director in alabama is accusing birmingham police of using excessive force. he was arrested after a postgame scuffle with officers in front of pa

i remind everybody, m mr. weiss was a trump appointee. it is so political.his democratic president held them over. >> greg: judge, i see you ready to explode. >> harold: i'm your friend now. >> jeanine: you are my friend and i love you, but you're wrong. you said he answered all the questions. >> harold: what questions? >> jeanine: he doesn't recollect if he's had contact with the fbi about hunter biden's case. is there anything more absurd in the universe than that statement. and i'll tell you why. doesn't recollect is a classic example of a potential defendant who is trying to avoid a perjury trap. we all know and everyone in america knows that merrick garland had to know something about that case and i'll tell you why. because it went on for five years. you don't think at some point merrick garland who appointed david weiss and said wait a minute. i don't want to spend a lot of time on this, harold. the democrats had a choice for united states attorney, a democrat choice, that's a deal that was made. david weiss is a democrat choice, gets a blue slip, is

of course not, i left it to mr. weiss whether to bring charges or not. no one has told me who should be indicted in any matter like this. and the decision about indictment was made by mr. smith. i am not the president's lawyer. i will add, i am not congress' prosecutor. >> merrick garland also said he has not interfered into the special counsel's investigation to hunter biden. that was central to the republicans' questions today, whether or not attorney weiss had the authority to decide whether or not the president's son should be charged. of course keep in mind here, weiss himself has told the committee's chair, quote -- this is from a letter he sent to jim jordan -- i have been granted ultimate authority over this matter. the fbi, who is managing the team, told the committee that david weiss had the authority and said, quote, there has never been anything in my view that changed that. as for the irs whistleblower that republicans often point to as the basis for their questions, gary shapley, who you have seen on this program, a high ranking u.s. officia

. >> the termination of where to bring cases and what kind of cases to bring was left to mr. weissinvestigators insist 20 million in payments from sources to the biden family and their associates, democrats say that the probes are politically motivated. >> wasting countless taxpayer dollars into the investigations of president biden and his family for the answered impeachment. >> reporter: while most was on the special investigation of hunter biden, merrick garland offered no insight into wis wiseman's decision to seek special counsel status to four years into the case. >> mr. weiss will have an opportunity to explain. >> reporter: in today's hearing, he may explain that david weiss has the answers to the questions, negotiating with the justice department to four weeks, and testimony from weiss on october 18, but it could shut down their efforts to get the special counsel under oath and on the record, j.b. >> james: good to see you, catherine herridge. the man charged with ambushing and shooting a los angeles county deputy last week and plead not guilty by reason of insanity. capta

mr. weiss's investigation. he said mr. weiss has full authority to bring cases in other jurisdictions if he feels its necessary. last week he told us that weiss had the authority because i promised him he would have the authority if he asked it. that seems to be something different. what he said to the senate has full authority, no problem. last week he told the house judiciary committee he had authority because i promised if he talked to me i would give him authority. false statements coming from the biden justice department. >> there is a concern. you don't stÈre to prejudge the evidence to say it's part of the inquiry. what i don't understand is the opposition to the inquiry itself. it seems to me the test is would the alleged conduct, if proven, establish impeachable offenses. is there a credible basis for those allegations. the answer is yes there is a basis to look at the president's conduct without pre-judging whether that qualifies at the beginning of that inquiry as an article of impeachment. >> you don't need a fu

i let lifted to mr. weiss, whether to bring charges or not. ld be indicted. in any manner like this. the decision about indictment was made by mr. smith. i am not the president's lawyer. i will add, i am not congresses prosecutor. >> merrick garland also said he is not interfered in the special counsel's investigation into hunter biden. that was central to republican questions today. whether or not u.s. attorney david weiss, who was appointed by former president donald trump, had the authority to decide whether or not the presidents son should be charged. of course, keep in mind, here ways himself has told the committee's chair, quote, and this is from a letter that he sent to jim jordan, i have been granted ultimate authority over this matter. the fbi agent, who's managing the team, told the committee also, that david weiss had the authority, and said, quote, there's never been anything, in my view, that changed that. as for the irs whistle blower that republicans often point to as the basis for their questions, gary shaply, who've you've seen

mr. weissnding career prosecutor, was pointed -- appointed by president trump. i'm not permitted to discuss ongoing investigations. mr. weiss is an experienced federal prosecutor with extensive experience and with sufficient credibility to be appointed by president trump. i just have no grounds for interfering. mr. weiss did not have to report to anybody. he was the supervisor and decision maker in these matters. howard: this was endlessly frustrated to the republican members who wants information about the president's son and kept getting the same robotic ans even as they prepare for an impeachment inquiry. garland's game plan was clearly to say as little as possible. i'm howard withand this is "mediabuzz". ♪ ♪ howard: while some democrats called the hearing a circus, jim jordan and his fellow republicans came on strong from the opening gavel. >> the fix is in. there's one investigation protecting president biden, there's another one attacking president trump. >> i am not the's lawyer. i will

i would guess that the folks that are working with and for mr. weiss right now on this investigation are pleased by the fact that the attorney general is not only staying out of their work on a day-to-day basis, but maintaining to congress that he is not interfering with what they do. those folks know whether or not their work is being interfered with. whether or not david weiss, they think he's doing a good job or a bad job or being aggressive or not aggressive enough. that's something that every person on that team has a personal opinion about that. but it seems pretty clear, at least at the top levels of the justice department, the attorney general and his staff are not interfering in that case. that's what the ag has said repeatedly today. >> jeff, on the question of public perception, on the politics of this, a recent poll showed that 55% of americans think president biden acted inappropriately in the investigation into his son hunter. so far has this hearing provided anything that might move those numbers? >> it's hard to imagine that it would. i

trump was the last person who appointed mr. weiss to the position of u.s. attorney. i appointed him to the position of special counsel last month. >> who initially appointed john durham? >> mr. durham was, i believe, also appointed by president trump. and mr. barr appointed him special counsel. >> and again, these guys are so upset that donald trump's appointed prosecutors aren't doing enough of the corruption that donald trump wants them to do. they are just following the law or they're not as corrupt and not willing to go as far as they think that donald trump deserves. >> it is an interesting jumping off point, mike, to ask you if the republicans attacking the hunter biden case just willfully ignore the fact that if trump appointed u.s. attorneys are in charge of that case and seems like garland hadn't touched it until he elevated the u.s. trump attorney if they think their theory is that he's in on the thick and what is the theory about the fact that it is a trump appointed republican who investigated hunter biden? >> they don't like that the hunter biden investig

>> mr. weiss asked to be made special counsel. i did not consider an alternative. >> i want to be clear. he was the only one under consideration. if there was a special counsel it would be the guy who presided over the investigation the last five years? they made a decision to say we're gonna let the statute of limitations lapse and i want to know who decided that and why they did it. >> mr. weiss was a supervisor in the investigation at that time and at all times. he made the appropriate decisions. you will be able to ask him that question. >> you know why they did it. everyone knows why they did it. they may not say it, but everyone knows why they did it. those tax years, that dealt with the -- that involved the president. it's one thing to have a gun charge in delaware. that doesn't involve the president of the united states. barisma, oh my. that goes right to the white house. we can't have that. >> why would garland ever consider anyone else? weiss already sacrificed -- you're right. he sacrificed his reputation to protect joe

you will have the opportunity to ask mr. weiss that question. >> steve: whenever that will be.s now. good morning to you. there is a lot of back and forth yesterday. what is your headline, your takeaway, what did we learn? >> i thought attorney general garland talked to the american people as if he were talking to bambi's baby brother, it was kind of insulting. the american people may be poorer under president biden, but they are not stupid. he didn't talk about the facts and thanks to the house republican and the whistleblowers, here are the facts. number one, mr. hunter biden, the president's son, sold influence to companies and countries that hate america, made millions of dollars doing it and at the very least he sold the appearance that he had influence. number two, he shared that money with some members of his and president biden's family. number three, the president was not telling the truth when he said he didn't know anything about this. number four and fact, president biden we now know aggressively enabled it. number five, apparently the obama administration knew abou

, appointee of president trump you will at appropriate time have the opportunity to ask mr. weisson. >> he avoided answering most possesses. he came in there acted like he never had seen anything never heard anything didn't know anything no one ever made him aware of anything, he couldn't recall, what conversations, he has had. he portrayed himself as an inept leader, incapable of running the department of justice. he absolutely knew nothing. so how can you possibly be the u.s. attorney general, how can you possibly be leading the doj and not know what is going on? it begs the question who is in charge. >> and who is making these decisions? because he portrays himself as knowing nothing, the truth is, we know he knows a lot of this, and we know that there are conversations that are taking place below the surface, if you will, and that there is a lot of moving the ball around over there in order to protect joe biden. it goes back to when they tipped off, the biden transition team, that hunter biden scheduled to be interviewed the next day. and at that point either white house or do

you will have the opportunity to ask mr. weissd's testimony leaves more questions than answers. >> the question is if he had the authority, why does he need the authority? that makes no sense, that is exactly what he tried to say. he had it all along, i had to make him special counsel. i don't get it. the plea deal was declined by a judge who did her job, that is why they got a special counsel. they were going to get away with this but for the two whistleblowers and the judge in delaware who did her job. >> brooke: attorney general faced questions about weaponization against practicing catholics. watch this. >> do you agree catholics are violent extremists, yes or no, answer the question. >> i have no idea what traditional means here. >> catholics that go to church. >> may i answer? the idea that someone with my family background would discriminate against any religion is outrageous and absurd. >> mr. attorney general, your fbi did this. your fbi was sending and we have the memos and e-mails, sending undercover agents into catholi