The ‘Ongoing Investigation’ Dodge on Hunter Biden

Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss says he’s willing to answer Congress’s questions about the Hunter Biden case—but not yet. On Monday he again invoked an “ongoing investigation” as a reason for why he won’t do so now. The problem for Mr. Weiss going forward is that there is no “ongoing investigation” exemption for refusing Congress.

His latest comments come in a reply to Sen. Lindsey Graham, ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, who had asked what actions Mr. Weiss had taken in regard to an informant’s accusation that Joe Biden had accepted a $5 million bribe from a Ukrainian energy company while he was vice president. Mr. Graham also wanted to know whether Mr. Weiss had sought special counsel status. Mr. Weiss answered that he had neither “requested” nor been “denied the authority to bring charges in any jurisdiction.” This contradicts what IRS investigator Gary Shapley testified that Mr. Weiss told six witnesses at an Oct. 7, 2022, meeting.

Remember what this is all about. It began with Republican questions about what exactly Biden family members did in exchange for millions apparently paid to them by overseas companies. Then we learned about the alleged bribe. Each bit of new information only raised more serious questions.

Notwithstanding the partisan sniping and media catcalls, Congress has done a decent job of unearthing specific information that the Justice Department and FBI didn’t want public. Their stonewalling now presents the ultimate oversight issue: Did the FBI and Justice properly investigate? Or did the Biden name prevent that?

Attorney General Merrick Garland insists Mr. Weiss was free to bring whatever charges he wanted anywhere he wanted to bring them. Mr. Weiss’s public statements back that up.

But Mr. Shapley testified that Mr. Weiss stated, in the presence of six witnesses, “I’m not the deciding official on whether charges are filed.” He further said Mr. Weiss “shocked us” with the news that “the Biden-appointed D.C. U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves would not allow him to charge in his district.” Finally, Mr. Shapley testified that Mr. Weiss had admitted he’d “subsequently asked for special counsel authority from Main DOJ at that time and was denied that authority.”

Mr. Garland insists there was no interference and Mr. Weiss was free to bring charges in any district he saw fit.

All we know is that someone is lying. The Republican House committees rightly want Mr. Weiss to come in and clear it all up.

Alas, Mr. Weiss isn’t cooperating. And too many are letting him off with his “ongoing investigation” excuse.

“The executive branch response of ‘ongoing investigation’ is really a political objection, rather than a legal one,” says Andrew McCarthy, a former assistant U.S. attorney. “There is no ‘ongoing investigation’ privilege.”

The “ongoing investigation” dodge is particularly troublesome here, because the issue now is the integrity of Justice and the FBI. The suspicion isn’t that Mr. Weiss is protecting his case. It’s that he’s trying to shield the investigators and prosecutors from accountability for what they did and did not do.

It’s true there are prudential reasons why prosecutors and investigators don’t discuss ongoing cases—mostly for fear of jeopardizing them. But legitimate concerns can be accommodated, such as by holding a closed-door hearing.

Much of the information Congress has already unearthed, moreover, should be relatively easy to confirm or refute. On Sunday, Iowa Sen.

That’s oversight. It’s maddeningly slow. Right now the House committees are trying to squeeze information from federal authorities. They are also beginning to depose the people involved under oath, such as those named by Mr. Shapley. Then come subpoenas, maybe even for Mr. Weiss and Hunter Biden.

That won’t be until they’ve got enough of those involved on the record to have a fair idea of what’s left to ask. In the past, Congress might have deferred to concerns about an ongoing investigation. But the FBI and Justice have lost the credibility that made that possible. They themselves are the issue now, and Congress has a duty to get answers.

The process isn’t perfect, but it beats dumping everything on another special counsel. Former Attorney General William Barr told Fox News last month that the Justice Department’s indictment of

But only if they have nothing to hide.

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