WASHINGTON The Justice Department this year repeatedly pledged to make the prosecutor investigating the presidents son available for public testimony.

But when special counsel David Weiss appeared before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, it was for a closed-door deposition rather than a televised hearing.

The interview was part of Republicans impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden, whom they claim has helped his son Hunter Biden s business deals and protected him from prosecution.

The decision to interview Weiss privately, however, likely reflects the challenges Republicans face in arguing that the Justice Department has shown favoritism to the presidents son even as its prosecuting him for multiple crimes. Weiss has consistently said hes had free rein to handle the case, a message he repeated this week.

I am, and have been, the decision-maker on this case, Weiss said in a public statement accompanying his private testimony, adding that hes never been blocked or prevented from pursuing charges or investigatory steps.

Weiss was appointed by former President Donald Trump as the U.S. attorney for Delaware in 2017, and Attorney General Merrick Garland has said he kept Weiss in his job so he could finish the Hunter Biden case. Garland elevated Weiss to special counsel status in August, giving him more freedom to bring charges and the responsibility to submit a full report to the Justice Department after the case concludes.

Republicans initially wanted Weiss for both a deposition and a public hearing, according to two sources familiar with negotiations, but when the Justice Department said they had to pick one, they chose the deposition.

Depositions have some clear advantages. Knowledgeable committee members and staff can drill down into details and obtain new information without worrying that a TV audience can follow along, and witnesses can give answers without worrying that a grandstanding lawmaker will try to make a spectacle of them.

But depositions also have disadvantages. For one, the material only becomes public if the committee decides to release it, and lawmakers can use selective leaks to convey a misleading picture of the testimony. Democrats say thats what Republicans have been doing with a series of depositions with six Justice Department officials in recent weeks.

Why do the Republicans want it behind closed doors and not out for the whole public to see? Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), who attended part of the Weiss deposition, told HuffPost. The answer is because they want to do what theyve been doing with every transcribed interview, which is to take things out of context, to cherry-pick things, to mislead and misrepresent what these witnesses have said, because they have no evidence to support their allegations.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said Tuesday that Weiss, in his testimony, contradicted his prior statements that he had full authority to pursue charges against Hunter Biden how he wanted. Specifically, Weiss said he requested special attorney status last year, according to Jordan, which would have allowed him to bring charges outside of Delaware. Jordan claimed Weiss said a Justice Department official denied the request.

Thats how he never once got the status and didnt get any type of special counsel status at all until he asked for it on Aug. 8 and was given it on Aug. 11, Jordan said.

If Weiss said he requested special attorney status from the Justice Department and got denied, that would confirm testimony previously given by Gary Shapley, a career IRS agent who told lawmakers earlier this year that the Justice Department stifled his teams efforts to investigate Hunter Bidens taxes.

Goldman said Jordan offered a misleading picture of the anecdote. Weiss told lawmakers, according to Goldman, that he was only told he couldnt have special attorney status because he hadnt already asked to partner with prosecutors in the states with proper jurisdiction. The response was, You will have whatever authority you need, but go through the proper process and sequencing, and special attorney jumps a step.

Those prosecutors, Martin Estrada for the Central District of California and Matthew Graves for the District of Columbia, sat for transcribed interviews last month. According to a transcript obtained by HuffPost, Estrada said he didnt know if Weiss had requested special attorney authority. He also said that while his office had declined to partner with Weiss on tax charges in California, he nevertheless said hed give office space and staff support to attorneys working the case under Weiss.

Goldman said Weiss wound up not requesting special attorney status because he negotiated a plea deal with Hunter Biden instead, with the presidents son agreeing to admit guilt to gun and tax crimes in exchange for immunity from further charges. After the deal collapsed over a disagreement about the scope of that immunity, Weiss went for special counsel status.