Mike Pence, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, on Sunday welcomed the newly appointed Hunter Biden special counsel and said he hopes David Weiss will do his job fairly without any political influence.
The former vice president also accused federal law enforcement officials of having pushed a “political agenda” under the Trump administration, and vowed to “clean house on the whole top floor of the Justice Department” if he is elected president in 2024 in an interview on “Meet the Press.”
“I am hopeful that special counsel Weiss will do his job without fear or favor, but I have confidence that [Rep.] Jim Jordan, Congressman [James] Comer and others will continue to do their job for the American people,” Pence said, referring to the chairs of Republican-led House committees that have been investigating the federal probe into Hunter Biden.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the appointment of Weiss as special counsel in the Hunter Biden probe on Friday after Weiss, who was already overseeing the investigation, requested earlier last week that he be given the special counsel title.
Asked by NBC News’ Chuck Todd if he approves of that decision, Pence first criticized the Justice Department under the Trump administration, then he said he supported the DOJ’s probe into the president’s son.
“I think Joe Biden has a weakened America at home and abroad, but frankly, the pattern of the Justice Department during our four years in the White House and Senate has undermined public confidence in equal treatment under the law,” Pence said.
“And while I welcome the appointment of a special counsel, which is of course appropriate, and as a minimum, where the attorney general has a potential conflict of interest, I’m also comforted by the fact that Congress is going to continue to do its work. I’m confident that House Republicans are going to continue to bring forward the facts in this case,” he added.
Weiss was appointed by then-President Donald Trump to serve as U.S. attorney in Delaware starting in 2018. He previously served as the acting and interim U.S. attorney there, along with first assistant U.S. attorney, according to his Justice Department biography.
He began his career in 1984 clerking for Justice Andrew Christie on the Delaware Supreme Court. Prior to his clerkship, Weiss worked in the private sector at the firms Duane Morris and The Siegfried Group.
Weiss is among the handful of U.S. attorneys held over when President Joe Biden took office. He will continue in that position while taking on the additional special counsel role, Garland has said. U.S. attorneys act as the chief federal prosecutors for their area.
He is the third special counsel appointed by Garland. Robert Hurd was tapped in January 2023 to look into Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents. Jack Smith, who was appointed in November 2022, has been investigating Trump’s handling of classified documents as well as the former president’s role in efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
