It’s a Friday in August, Congress is on recess, Joe Biden is heading off to Delaware yet again, so naturally this was the perfect time for Attorney General Merrick Garland to drop a bombshell into the Hunter Biden case.

And yes, this is a bombshell.

“I’m here today to announce the appointment of David Weiss as a special counsel consistent with the Department of Justice regulations governing such matters. In keeping with those regulations, I have today notified the designated members of each House of Congress of the appointment,” Garland said at a press conference in Washington, D.C.”

Weiss is the federal prosecutor who has investigated the business dealings of Hunter Biden and brought charges against him in Delaware. His appointment as special counsel indicates that, contrary to Biden’s defense lawyers’ claims, the Justice Department investigation into President Biden’s son is not over.”

Garland said on Tuesday that Weiss told him that “in his judgment, his investigation has reached a stage at which he should continue his work as a special counsel, and he asked to be appointed.”

“Upon considering his request, as well as the extraordinary circumstances relating to this matter, I have concluded it is in the public interest to appoint him as special counsel,” Garland said.”

Garland’s actions today are WELL overdue, but let’s not start celebrating prematurely. There are a lot of variables involved here, so let’s have a look at them.

First, this is a HUGE day for the IRS whistleblowers, Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, who came forward to tell Congress and the media what they knew, what they saw, and what the law was. Garland’s appointment of Weiss vindicates them in almost every way imaginable. However, we have to remember that Shapley pointed the finger directly at Weiss and Garland regarding special counsel status, saying that Weiss had requested it and Garland had not granted it previously. Shapley named witnesses to that meeting, while Weiss hedged and it became clear that Garland was meddling with the investigation. Making David Weiss the special counsel does not feel like the best choice if JUSTICE is the end goal, and definitely looks like an end run around having him testify to Congress, as the DOJ had previously promised he would do.

Weiss has to answer for all of the allegations the IRS whistleblowers brought forward. And Congress has requested to interview Weiss for his misleading and contradictory letters to Congress. This seems like nothing more than a play to forestall that testimony.

— Tristan Leavitt (@tristanleavitt) August 11, 2023

Second, all credit has to go to Judge Maryellen Noreika, hero of the republic. But for her actions on the day that the DOJ tried to seal that sweetheart deal for Hunter Biden, we would not be here today. Without Judge Noreika, the Hunter Biden plea deal gets rubber stamped with a “wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more” and Hunter goes off to his art studio to create a few more fingerpaintings for “the Big Guy’s” donors to buy, Joe and Jill continue to happily ignore the existence of Navy Joan, and Democrats run around using the plea deal as a shield to protect Joe from any other investigations. That plea deal fell apart on July 26th. It’s only been a little over two weeks, and look at everything that has happened since, all because Judge Noreika said “explain this to me” and the DOJ could not.

Third, given the revelations from the House Oversight Committee this week, Hunter Biden is neck-deep in FARA (Foreign Agent Registration Act) violations. Remember that Robert Mueller specifically targeted the Trump camp for FARA violations, with Paul Manafort being indicted and pleading guilty on those charges. At the time, the FARA charges were seen as a surprise because the laws were so easy to manipulate. But that double-edged sword is now pointing back at Hunter Biden, as the Wall Street Journal editorial board warned that it might.

FARA is a long-ignored law dating to 1938 that special counsel Mueller brought out of mothballs in an attempt to pry information out of Donald Trump’s associates. It requires Americans acting as an “agent of a foreign principal” under most circumstances to register with the U.S. government. As we noted at the time, in the nearly half-century up to 2016 the Justice Department brought only seven criminal FARA cases and won three convictions. The rarity of prosecutions created much confusion about how and when the law applies.”

That didn’t stop Mr. Mueller. As special counsel investigating nonexistent Russia collusion, he used FARA to prosecute Trump associates who were mostly accused of lying about their work on behalf of foreign governments.”

This is how he nailed Paul Manafort, who took money from the Ukrainians. Michael Flynn admitted to making false statements in documents filed pursuant to FARA regarding his work on behalf of the Turkish government. FARA also ensnared Greg Craig—a high-powered Democratic lawyer and former White House counsel to President Obama—who was prosecuted as an offshoot of the Mueller investigation into Mr. Manafort’s deals with Ukraine.”

As long as FARA was targeting people in the Trump orbit, Democrats cheered these prosecutions. They weren’t even fazed when a federal jury acquitted Mr. Craig on FARA-related charges that we and others believe should never have been brought.”

They may regret that legal standard now that federal prosecutors have confirmed to Judge Noreika that FARA charges could still be lodged against the President’s son. Based on Mr. Mueller’s prosecutions, Hunter is vulnerable.”

Paul Manafort was sentenced to 73 months in prison for his FARA convictions – per the DOJ, 60 months is the statutory MAXIMUM, but Manafort had other charges involved. Hunter Biden could easily do 60 months (five years) for his FARA violations, but Joe would likely be dead by the time Hunter got out of federal prison (and Karine Jean-Pierre has already said that Joe won’t pardon Hunter – but commuting the sentence could still easily be on the table).

Finally, while it does feel like a vindication to finally have a special counsel, as I pointed out before, this exposes all the problems with the case up to this point, including that Weiss should not be eligible to be special counsel.

. @AndrewCMcCarthy says what makes a Special Counsel SPECIAL: the attorney is supposed to be brought in from OUTSIDE government, according to the regulation. David Weiss is a top official in Biden’s DOJ + not eligible! “This guy is a vehicle to flush the case….This whole thing…

— Dagen McDowell (@dagenmcdowell) August 11, 2023

And the general consensus is that this does two things in the immediate future: keep David Weiss from having to testify to Congress about the failed plea deal and the whistleblowers’ claims, and will also enable Weiss to slow-walk any further investigations into Hunter Biden. Why, charges could even wait until, oh, I dunno… after November of 2024???

.@CBS_Herridge sniffs out the possibility that AG Garland names David Weiss a special counsel to "delay a resolution on the Hunter Biden matter" and keep Weiss from testifying before members of Congress about what he found in his investigations thus far pic.twitter.com/kHxdx60LUd

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 11, 2023

Law professor Jonathan Turley is also busy breaking down why the choice to give Weiss special counsel powers NOW is incredibly suspect.

After his appointment as Special Counsel, Weiss has announced that the deal with Hunter is dead as Dillinger. Defense counsel may now regret telling the prosecutors to “just rip up” the agreement. FARA anyone?

…The problem is the appointment of Weiss as special counsel despite the testimony of the whistleblowers. For those IRS agents, this seems a lot like sending “Shoeless Joe” Jackson back into the game after telling him “Say it ain’t so, Joe!”

…The problem with Garland’s announcement does not seem to expand the mandate from a narrow focus on Hunter as opposed to the broader Biden corruption scandal. The initial impact is to insulate Weiss from calls for testimony before Congress.

…The question is, if Weiss always had this power to ask for an appointment, why didn’t he when he was reportedly prevented from pursuing charges in two other jurisdictions?

And this also has the effect of protecting Joe by only focusing in on Hunter.

…If the President is to be subject to a full and independent investigation, the Attorney General would need to state so clearly and unambiguously. His silence speaks loudly to the rank-and-file that the mandate is still focused narrowly on Hunter.

— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) August 11, 2023

The entire influence peddling and “family business” and bribery racket is still in the hands of the House Oversight Committee. It looks to me like Merrick Garland is hoping that by throwing this bone on a Friday in August, the media and Congress will divert and the heat will be off Joe Biden. And the House Oversight Committee knows it, as Rep. James Comer said in a press release.

“This move by Attorney General Garland is part of the Justice Department’s efforts to attempt a Biden family coverup in light of the House Oversight Committee’s mounting evidence of President Joe Biden’s role in his family’s schemes selling ‘the brand’ for millions of dollars to foreign nationals. The Justice Department’s misconduct and politicization in the Biden criminal investigation already allowed the statute of limitations to run with respect to egregious felonies committed by Hunter Biden. Justice Department officials refused to follow evidence that could have led to Joe Biden, tipped off the Biden transition team and Hunter Biden’s lawyers about planned interviews and searches, and attempted to sneakily place Hunter Biden on the path to a sweetheart plea deal.”

“Let’s be clear what today’s move is really about. The Biden Justice Department is trying to stonewall congressional oversight as we have presented evidence to the American people about the Biden family’s corruption. The House Oversight Committee will continue to follow the Biden family’s money trail and interview witnesses to determine whether foreign actors targeted the Bidens, President Biden is compromised and corrupt, and our national security is threatened. We will also continue to work with the House Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means to root out misconduct at the Justice Department and hold bad actors accountable for weaponizing law enforcement powers.”

Hunter Biden is now going to be the eventual sacrificial goat in order to keep the Democrats in control of the White House. Just when he will be sacrificed is to be determined by Joe Biden’s continued cognitive and physical decline, the status of the presidential race, and how confident the Democrats and the media feel that they can continue to control the narrative that “the Big Guy,” corrupt and venal as he is, is a better choice than a Bad Orange Man or any other Republican.

Featured image: original Victory Girls art by Darleen Click