Hunter Biden special counsel David Weiss slams Joe Biden comments as 'gratuitous and wrong'

A report released from the special counsel behind the prosecutions against Hunter Biden slammed President Joe Biden's comments in pardoning his son.

In a news release on his decision to issue a full and unconditional pardon for Hunter Biden covering 11 years, the president criticized the prosecutions of his son as "infected" by "raw politics" and a "miscarriage of justice." That drew the ire of special counsel David Weiss, who led the prosecutions that resulted in convictions for Hunter on tax- and gun-related charges.

"This statement is gratuitous and wrong," Weiss wrote in his report Monday.

"Other presidents have pardoned family members, but in doing so, none have taken the occasion as an opportunity to malign the public servants at the Department of Justice based solely on false accusations," Weiss wrote.

A White House spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hunter Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, accused Weiss of abusing his prosecutorial power and reneging on a plea agreement after “his office faced blistering attacks from Republicans” claiming the deal was too lenient.

Lowell argued that prosecutors “pursued wild – and debunked – conspiracies” that prolonged the investigation, which cost millions of dollars. Alexander Smirnov, a Ukraine native with links to Russian intelligence agencies, pleaded guilty in a related Weiss prosecution to lying to FBI agents about his allegations that Joe and Hunter Biden received $5 million bribes from a Ukrainian company.

“Like all his court filings, David Weiss’ 27-page report continues to ignore some of the major mysteries of his 7-year investigation," Lowell told USA TODAY in a statement. “What is clear from this report is that the investigation into Hunter Biden is a cautionary tale of the abuse of prosecutorial power.”

What was Hunter Biden convicted of?

A jury convicted Hunter Biden on June 11 of lying on a federal form about his drug use, lying to a gun dealer, and illegally possessing a gun as a drug user or addict. The president's son also pleaded guilty to several tax crimes.

The tax crimes carried a maximum sentence of 17 years and the penalty for the gun crimes was capped at 25 years, although typical sentences are less and the judges didn't have to give Hunter Biden any jail or prison time.

The president's pardon not only freed his son from the risk of time behind bars for those convictions but also shielded him from any other federal prosecutions for other potential crimes committed from Jan. 1, 2014, through Dec. 1, 2024.

Weiss defended the prosecutions in the report, saying that they resulted from impartial investigations and that the president's comments undermine "the very foundation of what makes America's justice system fair and equitable."

Foreign agent investigation

After Joe Biden's pardon, Weiss said, he couldn’t comment on any other potential charges against Hunter Biden. “It would be inappropriate to discuss whether additional charges are warranted,” Weiss wrote.

One of the potential avenues for charges was the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires people lobbying the U.S. government on behalf of foreign governments or companies to register with the Justice Department.

Hunter Biden balked at the plea deal because he was concerned about the possibility of other charges. Prosecutors said at that time that they were investigating possible FARA violations for his work with energy companies in Ukraine and China.

While reviewing the plea deal, U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika asked whether Hunter Biden could be charged as a foreign agent.

But Weiss said in a later court filing that he didn’t pursue charges in that area because it appeared Biden was paid millions of dollars without doing much.

Special counsel David Weiss defends charges against Hunter Biden

Lowell, Biden's lawyer, had blasted the special counsel for selective and vindictive prosecution, arguing the gun and tax charges he faced are rarely pursued.  But Weiss denied the allegation in his new report. Hunter Biden filed four motions to dismiss, including arguing his case was based on selective and vindictive prosecution, and judges rejected all of them.

“These prosecutions were the culmination of thorough, impartial investigations, not partisan politics,” Weiss wrote. “Eight judges across numerous courts have rejected claims that they were the result of selective or vindictive motives.”

Weiss revisited some of the salacious details behind the tax charges. From 2016 to 2020, Biden had more than $7 million in income, Weiss wrote.

“Instead of paying his taxes, he chose to spend the money on his extravagant lifestyle, including drugs, escorts, luxury hotels, and exotic cars,” Weiss wrote. “And, when he did finally pay some of his taxes, he falsely claimed that personal items, including clothing and escort services, were business expenses.”

Weiss noted that Hunter Biden published his memoir, "Beautiful Things," in the middle of the investigation. The book provided evidence of his drug use around the time he bought and possessed the gun in Delaware for 11 days in late 2018.

“In the memoir, Mr. Biden admitted to smoking crack ‘every fifteen minutes, seven days a week’ in 2018, the same time period during which he possessed the firearm and lied on the federal forms,” Weiss wrote.

Weiss also wrote that Hunter Biden’s tax violations can’t be explained entirely by drug use because he didn’t pay his taxes for his false 2018 return until February 2020, about eight months after regaining his sobriety, according to Weiss.

“These are not ‘inconsequential’ or ‘technical’ tax code violations,” according to the report.

(This story has been updated with additional information.)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Special counsel report on Hunter slams 'wrong' Joe Biden comments