[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 113 (Monday, July 11, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S3192]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Hunter Biden

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, on May 9 of this year, Senator Johnson 
and I wrote to David Weiss, the U.S. attorney for the District of 
Delaware. Now, he happens to be in charge of the Hunter Biden criminal 
case. In that letter, we asked Mr. Weiss a series of threshold 
questions that Attorney General Garland has repeatedly failed to 
answer.
  First, we asked whether Nicholas McQuaid is recused from the Hunter 
Biden case. As we have said publicly many times, McQuaid is conflicted 
because he worked with Hunter Biden's criminal attorney before he was 
hired as a top position in President Biden's Justice Department.
  Second, we asked Mr. Weiss whether he or any of his employees have 
had any communications with McQuaid.
  Third, we asked Mr. Weiss whether any of his employees, not just Mr. 
McQuaid, are recused from the Hunter Biden case.
  We asked these questions because the Biden family is from Delaware 
and has extensive political connections. Notably, Hunter Biden told his 
business partners:

       I'll bring suit in the Chancery Court in Delaware--which as 
     you know is my home state and I'm privileged to have worked 
     with and know every judge in the Chancery Court.

  Does the Biden family have connections to anyone in Mr. Weiss's 
office? That seems to be a very fair question.
  With respect to those three questions, Mr. Weiss didn't even try to 
answer. In fact, the Attorney General jumped in and answered on behalf 
of U.S. Attorney Weiss. But calling the Attorney General's letter an 
answer is an overstatement. It was another nonanswer--essentially just 
words on a piece of paper that didn't say anything worthwhile.
  So Senator Johnson and I also asked Mr. Weiss if he has received 
sufficient resources and support from the Justice Department to 
properly handle the Hunter Biden case.
  Again, no answers.
  One would think that the Department, and specifically Mr. Weiss, 
would want to tell Congress and the American public that the answer to 
that question is yes. The failure of Mr. Weiss to answer that very 
important question adds to the growing concern and public concern that 
the Justice Department is pulling the punches on the Hunter Biden case.
  We also asked Mr. Weiss whether he has discussed the need for a 
special counsel or an independent counsel to properly investigate the 
Hunter Biden case.
  Again, no answer.
  The last question is more relevant today than when it was asked 
because the other week a voicemail was released reportedly from Joe 
Biden to Hunter Biden. In it, Joe Biden repeatedly left a message about 
a New York Times article that involved Hunter Biden's dealings with Ye 
Jianming. That business associate is closely connected to the communist 
Chinese regime.
  Joe Biden told his son: ``I think you're clear.''
  Well, that message appears to show that Joe Biden was aware of Hunter 
Biden's business deals and relationships. So the White House strategy 
for the President to continue to deny knowledge of these business 
relationships falls very flat.
  On July 30, 2021, and on June 28, 2022, Senator Johnson and I wrote 
to the White House counsel. We wrote about then-Vice President Biden's 
use of nongovernment email to transmit government information to Hunter 
Biden. The White House counsel's office refuses to answer whether 
President Biden still communicates government business to Hunter Biden, 
among other questions that we posed.
  So what do we get? More stonewalling.
  Most recently, on July 7, this year, Senator Johnson and I wrote to 
the Attorney General, FBI Director, and U.S. Attorney Weiss. In our 
letter, we asked again about recusals of Hunter Biden's case. We also 
noted that recent reporting on Hunter Biden showed more connections 
between him and foreign nationals--this time, Russians and Ukrainians. 
Those additional links further support my and Senator Johnson's 
conclusion in our September 2020 Biden report that Hunter Biden's 
activity causes criminal, counterintelligence, and extortion concerns.
  At the time, our findings were ignored or falsely labeled Russian 
disinformation by Democrats and by liberal media. We gave floor 
speeches on March 28, this year, March 29, this year, April 5, that 
introduced bank records connecting Hunter and James Biden to the 
communist Chinese regime. The same connections that we made in our 2020 
report. Those bank records have proven to be authentic and, hence, 
aren't Russian disinformation.
  For years, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle levied 
complaints against the Trump administration's Justice Department for 
the lack of transparency. Now, why aren't those same Democrat 
colleagues raising this concern about this administration not showing 
the proper transparency?
  Congress has a constitutional responsibility to ensure the proper 
execution of, and compliance with, conflicts of interest laws and 
regulations. The failure of the Justice Department to comply with these 
rules will cause political infection to run rampant. And, of course, 
that will rot the core of the Justice Department and cast a cloud over 
everything that the Department of Justice does.
  As I have said before, the Justice Department's failure to be 
transparent with the Hunter Biden criminal case and recusals related to 
it has cast a cloud over that investigation. So I ask: What is the 
Justice Department trying to hide?
  The American people's concern about how the case has been managed, 
these concerns are very legitimate.
  To Attorney General Garland, to Wray, and to Mr. Weiss, I strongly 
urge you to clear the cloud sooner rather than later.