Acting Assistant Attorney General Stuart Goldberg, the Justice Department’s top tax prosecutor, told House investigators on October 25 that now-Special Counsel David Weiss could not bring tax charges against Hunter Biden without high-level approval, according to a transcribed interview reviewed by Breitbart News.
Goldberg’s claim is another of numerous instances of Biden administration officials’ testimony contradicting Attorney General Merrick Garland’s claim in June that Weiss “was given complete authority to make all decisions” in the Hunter Biden tax probe.
The testimony also reinforces allegations leveled by four IRS agents that the DOJ politically interfered into the Hunter Biden probe by blocking Weiss from charging Hunter Biden in Washington, DC, and California.
“Was the fact that Hunter Biden was involved here, did that require DOJ Tax’s signoff because it’s a sensitive matter?” a House investigator asked Goldberg during the interview.
“Well, without getting into the case, again trying to answer a question at a slightly higher level, there are cases that are sensitive, people — some would say sensitive, sometimes say significant cases. And those cases typically have closer supervision than other, more run of the mill cases,” Goldberg replied.
Goldberg also told investigators that Weiss’ full authority, including his special counsel status, does not mean he could avoid seeking approval from the DOJ Tax Division to charge Hunter Biden for tax violations.
“We talked about earlier this morning that the final authority for prosecution or not of criminal matters arising under the Internal Revenue laws rest with the Tax Division, correct?” an investigator asked the prosecutor.
“We have approval authority, though someone can appeal us if they disagree. But, yes, it’s our responsibility in the first instance to do that,” Goldberg replied.
Later an investigator asked, “And if someone — if Mr. Weiss gets 515 authority, he would still be required to go through the Tax Division to get approval of tax charges. Is that correct?” an investigator asked in referenced the special counsel status.
“Yes,” Goldberg replied.
“So even if Mr. Weiss had been afforded special attorney status or special counsel status, he would still be operating within the Justice Department’s guidelines in the Justice Manual, correct?” the investigator followed up.
“Yes,” Goldberg replied.
Goldberg was not able to answer many questions, citing Weiss’ “ongoing investigation.”
It is not clear if Weiss investigation includes President Joe Biden.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
