DOJ slams Jim Jordan’s 'unjustified and premature' subpoenas in Hunter Biden probe

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) sent a letter to House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, offering up U.S. Attorney David Weiss for “a public hearing” before the committee — and warning against “the perception of political interference” and potential “misrepresentations about our work.”

Politico on Monday published a copy of the letter, addressed to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH). In the letter, Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte responds to a July 21, 2023 letter from the Judiciary Committee that demanded transcribed interviews of 11 DOJ officials involved in the department’s probe of President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.

Weiss, who was appointed as U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware by former President Donald Trump, led the DOJ investigation into Hunter Biden’s finances. Last month, Hunter Biden “agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor tax crimes,” Reuters reports.

“The Department is ready to offer U.S. Attorney Weiss to testify,” Uriarte wrote to the committee, before warning Jordan against distorting findings of the DOJ’s investigation.

“Across administrations, the Department has long recognized its obligation to protect law enforcement work from even the perception of political interference, including from Congress,” the DOJ wrote. “Our longstanding principles and duty to take care that the law be faithfully executed require us to maintain the confidentiality of sensitive law enforcement information and to protect line attorneys and agents so they can do their jobs for the American people free from improper political pressures.”
The Justice Department requested the testimony be made public, noting “we are deeply concerned by any misrepresentations about our work — whether deliberate or arising from misunderstandings — that could unduly harm public confidence in the evenhanded administration of justice, to which we are dedicated.”

The letter also expressed deep concern about the authorization of deposition subpoenas made by the committee “before the stated deadline” in Jordan’s July 21 letter.

“Any attempt at compulsory process are unjustified and premature,” the DOJ wrote.

“It has been less than a month since the Committee’s original requests, and little more than a week since the Department responded to that letter on the date requested by the Committee,” the DOJ added.

You can read the full letter below or at this link.