Colorado Republican Representative Ken Buck departed from his party's stance during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, as he praised U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland's handling of the investigation into President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden.
Buck commended key decisions made by Garland and defended the integrity of the investigation led by David Weiss, the U.S. attorney for Delaware, into Hunter Biden, who was indicted on federal gun charges last week. Buck highlighted that Weiss had been appointed by former President Donald Trump in 2018 and continued to lead the probe under the Biden administration.
During the hearing, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, had accused Garland of running a two-tiered justice system that favored Democrats and targeted Trump. He claimed that the Justice Department had dual investigations—one protecting Biden and another attacking Trump.
The notion that the Justice Department has been shielding the President's family is part of the broader Republican impeachment inquiry against Biden, focusing primarily on unsubstantiated allegations that, during his tenure as Vice President, Biden manipulated U.S. foreign policy to benefit his son.
But Buck broke from his party and defended the investigation into Hunter Biden, emphasizing that any action taken by Garland would have been criticized by his fellow Republicans.
You can hear what Buck said in the video below.
Buck pointed out that if Garland had asked for U.S. Attorney Weiss's resignation upon becoming attorney general, critics would have accused him of obstructing the Hunter Biden investigation and replacing a Republican appointee with a Democrat to slow down the inquiry.
Conversely, if Garland had appointed someone else as a special counsel to expedite the investigation, he would have faced criticism for interfering with the prosecution.
He said:
“In three different opportunities where you could have acted, you would have been criticized either way, whether you acted or did not act in that situation." ...
“Do you know what people would have said if you asked for U.S. Attorney Weiss’ resignation when you became attorney general?"
"They would have said that you were obstructing the Hunter Biden investigation and you were firing a Republican appointee so that you could appoint a Democrat to slow-walk this investigation and lose the leadership of that investigation.”
Weiss' plea deal with Hunter Biden's legal team on tax and gun charges, which was reached this summer but fell apart in August, drew Republican ire. Despite Weiss subsequently filing felony gun charges against Hunter Biden, Republicans continued to criticize his handling of the case.
On that note, Buck said:
“If you made the decision to appoint somebody else to special counsel, people would have criticized you because you would have been taking somebody out of the investigation that knew the facts."
Buck's defense quickly garnered attention, pleasantly surprising many.
Buck's action also angered the GOP base.
Republicans have intensified their scrutiny of the Biden family since House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's order calling for an impeachment inquiry into the President for alleged influence peddling.
To date, Republicans have not produced any evidence linking then-Vice President Biden to any criminal activities on the part of his son. In fact, the closed-door testimony of one of the younger Biden's business partners confirmed that Biden had no connection to any of Hunter's business dealings.
