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Posted: 2023-07-11T01:43:30Z | Updated: 2023-07-11T01:43:30Z

The federal prosecutor who brought charges against Hunter Biden last month offered a more forceful denial on Monday that the Justice Department interfered with the case.

U.S. Attorney David Weiss in the District of Delaware had told lawmakers he had ultimate authority to bring charges in any state, and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has said Weiss had free rein to handle the case.

An Internal Revenue Service employee who is seeking whistleblower protection has claimed Weiss said in an October meeting that he wasnt the deciding official on charges for the presidents son in jurisdictions outside of Delaware, frustrating efforts to build a tax case against Hunter Biden in Washington, D.C., and California.

In a letter to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Monday, Weiss said Justice Department officials told him he wouldnt need permission from local U.S. attorneys to bring charges in other states.

I was assured that I would be granted this authority if it proved necessary, Weiss said. And this assurance came months before the October 7, 2022, meeting referenced throughout the whistleblowers allegations.

Weiss also said he had never been denied the authority to bring charges in any jurisdiction and had never requested special counsel status.

Its a more direct response to the whistleblower, a career agent named Gary Shapley, than Weiss offered in a letter earlier this month to House Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). That letter did not mention the October meeting or refute Shapleys claim that Weiss request special counsel status and was denied.

Republicans have said Shapleys testimony, as well as corroborating testimony from an anonymous IRS colleague, is more evidence of a two tier system of justice that persecutes former President Donald Trump , who is facing obstruction of justice charges, while protecting the Bidens.

Reacting to the Monday letter, Jordan noted that Weiss and Shapley had given opposite accounts of the situation.

Do you trust Bidens DOJ to tell the truth? Jordan said on Twitter .

But Weiss is a Republican appointed by Donald Trump, and he was allowed to remain in his post by President Biden in order to see out the Hunter Biden case. Last month he brought tax and gun charges against Hunter Biden in Delaware and said the case is ongoing.