The December Warrant Shows David Weiss Wasn’t Going to Charge Gun Crimes Until Trump Elicited Threats

Over a week ago, NBC’s Gary Grumbach emailed me to figure out how he could access the then still-sealed warrant dockets I liberated.

To the best of my knowledge, neither he nor anyone else at NBC reported that the dockets revealed that David Weiss first obtained a warrant to search Hunter Biden’s iCloud content and a laptop attributed to him for evidence relating to the gun charges on December 4, 81 days after indicting him. Indeed, besides me, only right wing outlets (Fox, NYPost, Washington Examiner) reported on the warrant.

The existence of the warrant was first disclosed as part of a legal fight (MTD; response; reply) over whether David Weiss charged Hunter Biden only because pressure from Donald Trump and Jim Jordan generated threats that led Weiss to fear for the safety of his family.

Q Do you have concerns for the safety of individuals working in your office?

A Sure. I have safety concerns for everybody who has worked on the case, and we want to make sure that folks — yeah, folks are encouraged to do what they need to do with respect to the pursuit of justice generally and they not be intimidated in any way from performing their responsibilities.

Q Do you have concerns that the threats and harassment employees have received are intended to intimidate them into not doing their jobs?

A I really can’t speak to the intention of any actor in this realm. I just know that these — that certain actions have been taken by individuals, doxing, and, you know, threats that have been made, and that gives rise to concern. We’ve got to be able to do our jobs. And, sure, people shouldn’t be intimidated, threatened, or in any way influenced by others who — again, I don’t know what their motives are, but we’re just trying to do a public service here, so —

Q Have you yourself been the subject of any threats or harassment?

A I’ve certainly received messages, calls, emails from folks who have not been completely enamored of my — with my role in this case.

Q Do you have concerns for your safety or that of your family because of these threats?

A You know, I’m not — for myself, I’m not particularly concerned. Certainly I am concerned, as any parent or spouse would be for — yeah, for family, yep.

The fact that, in five years of investigating Hunter Biden, in the over two years after Hunter Biden’s book came out, David Weiss never obtained a warrant to search the iCloud content that he already had in possession for evidence to support gun charges (and also never sent the gun to the FBI lab for testing) is pretty compelling evidence that he never intended to charge Hunter for gun crimes until Donald Trump elicited threats that led Weiss to fear for the safety of his family. In his response, Weiss claims it is a Hollywood plot that such threats might lead him to renege on his decision to deal with the gun crime as part of a diversion agreement, making light of the same threats that, he told Congress, led him to be “concerned, as any parent or spouse would be for — yeah, for family, yep.”

This is unbelievably scandalous — that in the middle of a presidential campaign, Donald Trump ginned up threats against a prosecutor and then, for the first time, after the statute of limitations expired, that prosecutor sought new evidence to prosecute Joe Biden’s son.

Yet Gary Grumbach doesn’t think that’s newsworthy.

Instead, Grumbach is focused on important things: like whether Joe Biden will visit his son on his birthday.

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44 replies
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  2. earlofhuntingdon says:

    This is unbelievably scandalous — that in the middle of a presidential campaign, Donald Trump ginned up threats against a prosecutor and then, for the first time, after the statute of limitations expired, that prosecutor sought new evidence to prosecute Joe Biden’s son.

    Yep, absolutely scandalous that the lamestream media does not consider that newsworthy. What it seems to hate more is giving an independent journalist any credit, especially for beating it to especially newsworthy stories.

    • rattlemullet says:

      “This is unbelievably scandalous” Quite frankly it should be against the law. TFG knows exactly what he’s doing. He explicitly telling his gun toting, unbalanced rubes to covey death threats to gain leverage through fear and intimidation. TFG has a proven track record of such behavior time and time again. TFG needs to be pulled from social media. The cowardliness exhibited by most republicans and virtually all media is sickening. The bravest person in the room is E Jean Carroll, followed by the prosecutors who have legal cases against him and the judges that uphold the process of the rule of law. One exception to that list is Aileen Cannon she is dutifully following the delay mechanism. By any legal mechanism available TFG needs to removed from pubic life, he sucking all the oxygen out the room.

    • RipNoLonger says:

      The last punch from this post is incredible. I know nothing about that “reporter” but he should be sensitive enough to have it hurt. (Maybe not.)

      Yet Gary Grumbach doesn’t think that’s newsworthy.

      Instead, Grumbach is focused on important things: like whether Joe Biden will visit his son on his birthday.

      (I wish I had a EmptyWheel help page that showed which HTML tags are allowed – and when to use them. I know this is a WordPress site but each site can be modified.)

      • Rayne says:

        This has been spelled out several times. Save this image because these are the only HTML tags which will be allowed in comments no matter what you personally think this WordPress site should be able to do.

        The limitation on HTML in comments is for your safety, that of the community, and the site.

        • vegeholic says:

          thanks for reminder. as suggested above, please put this on the “about” page, or somewhere accessible, so it is available when needed.

        • Spencer Dawkins says:

          I echo the request to put that image somewhere incan find it, and remember to consult it. I trust you folks to make good choices about what tags are allowed, but I rarely type raw HTML these days, and when I guess at what’s supported – unnumbered lists being one I use frequently elsewhere, I always guess wrong.

          I’m not sure when I posted my first comment, but I read almost everything posted here, and I’ve never seen this list before.

          Thank you all for everything you do.

        • Rayne says:

          Save the .jpg. I’ve got enough other stuff going on right now that I’m not going to deal with this any further.

          The downside responding in this thread: everybody who’s never really needed it comes out and fusses about having this handy when they could invest the effort learn simple HTML tags on their own at W3C School’s site or wherever they feel comfortable learning HTML, and bookmark that site.

          EarlofHuntingdon has clearly done that.

        • EuroTark says:

          One word of warning about W3Schools: While they are mostly useful, they aren’t always correct when you get down into the details.

          This is outside the scope of simple HTML in a comment, but the section about HTML forms is downright dangerous as it doesn’t properly distinguish the differences between GET and POST. The main difference between the methods doesn’t lie in size and sensitivity of the data you send, but whether posting the form would perform a state-change on the server. Like the name implies, GET should be used to fetch data, while POST should be used to alter it. This matters quite a bit when it comes to web-accelerators and caching; a GET would be safe to pre-fetch, while a POST is not. I’ve read horror stories about admin interfaces that were built using GET for simple transformations such as deletion. They couldn’t figure out why they lost all data when one of their users had a pre-caching accelerator installed.

        • Rayne says:

          For the purposes of learning how to use the highly limited number of HTML tags allowed in comments, W3C is perfectly satisfactory especially since it has a sandbox feature to allow newbies to tinker without repercussions.

          No commenter will be using more complicated HTML like forms. Do NOT discourage them from learning strong, em, blockquote, a href tags.

  3. Molly Pitcher says:

    Not going to mention this enormous story, or give you any credit for all the leg work you have done, Marcy, but would you mind showing me all the answers to the Algebra test ?

  4. Upisdown says:

    Someone should investigate the “oranges” of the Hunter Biden investigation. (Peter Schweizer.) It is scary to think this is how federal agencies treat average citizens and taxpayers; not to mention how the legislative branch treats non-political persons.

    There have been obvious abuses of the process and possibly the Constitution.

  5. Yogarhythms says:

    Marcy,
    Journalism school is in session. Dr Wheeler’s syllabus for serious first year journo students advises: first, research the warrants, in a criminal case. second, follow the evidence in the indictment. Threats may follow. Questions: Change majors? Or buckle up butter cup? Or switch storylines to family celebrates birthdays?

  6. Savage Librarian says:

    Ordinary

    Hi, Marcy. This is Gary,
    I like things to be airy,
    I avoid what might be scary,
    So I stick to the ordinary.

    Giving credit, which may vary,
    Strikes me as unnecessary,
    I don’t like what might be hairy,
    As I prefer the sedentary.

    No coal mines and no canary,
    For me it’s all cash-and-carry,
    No bury Caesar, just seize your berry,
    That’s all I have. Yours truly, Gary.

      • Knowatall says:

        Apropos of Laurie (one of her best):

        The day the devil comes to getcha
        You know him by the way he smiles
        The day the devil comes to getcha
        He’s a rusty truck with only twenty miles
        He’s got bad brakes he’s got loose teeth
        He’s a long way from home

        The day the devil comes to getcha
        He’s got a smile like a scar
        He knows the way to your house
        He’s got the keys to your car
        And when he sells you his sportcoat
        You say: Funny! That’s my size
        Attention shoppers!
        Everybody please rise

        Give me back my innocence
        Get me a brand new suit
        Give me back my innocence
        Oh Lord! Cut me down to size

        […]

        [Moderator’s note: The above lyrics have been cut to Fair Use size. Do not cite an entire song’s lyrics here, especially without a song title and lyricist’s full name. Song lyrics are typically copyrighted material; it doesn’t matter if you lifted them from a site which doesn’t respect the holder’s copyright. Artists face enough incursions from AI now, they don’t need more abuse of their copyrights. /~Rayne]

        • Knowatall says:

          Having spent years in the ‘rap’ area of the music industry, I do fully understand Fair Use. I also agree that artists are not sufficiently compensated for their works (in the moment). That said, copyright law is exceedingly tilted toward corporate interests, and away from even a common law understanding of fair use. Laurie’s stuff is incredibly verbose, so your edit will hopefully serve as a prod for others to seek out the song. :-)

    • Legonaut says:

      Awesome! Definitely has a Gilbert & Sullivan vibe.

      Needs a line like “Go pound all of the sand, Gary.”

    • punaise says:

      Gary, Gary, quite contrary,
      How does your guarding grow?
      With silver spells, and cuckold shills,
      And PACERs made all in a row.

    • Savage Librarian says:

      Thanks, y’all. How do I do it? Must be all that positive reinforcement you give me! Three-quarters of a century old this year. And, like Joe Biden, I’m still full of plenty of surprises. That’s how the fruits of experience and education keep on giving.

  7. bloopie2 says:

    “Instead, Grumbach is focused on important things: like whether Joe Biden will visit his son on his birthday.”

    Maybe he’s just happy to be In With The In Crowd (catch Dobie Gray singing same on YouTube, if you want to be carried back sixty years).

  8. David F. Snyder says:

    On a related note, Mike Lofgren has an article over on Salon’s site, entitled “How Donald Trump reduced the GOP to groveling sycophants”. Seems like that statement applies in this situation as well.
    https ://www .salon.com/2024/02/04/how-donald-reduced-the-to-groveling-sycophants/

  9. bgThenNow says:

    The kinds of threats issued to the families of and prosecutors and judges/court workers who have had the audacity to challenge TFG are legion. I’ve not heard of same against journalists, but perhaps the issuance of such are out there. People should read the threats Fani Willis submitted to the GA court. Nasty. I guess one who does not pay their lawyers needs ammunition to try to intimidate lawyers on the other side in an effort to level the playing field. He has lost all his competent defense.

    Thank you , Marcy. I am glad to have a subscription to EW. Stay safe.

  10. David Steele says:

    It’s just another example of the evidence Lowell can use to toss items out of the prosecutorial toolbox. Even Weiss didn’t think there was merit enough to charge until threatened into it, and I would guess is also going to play a part in the reneging of the plea deal discussion. My next question is then:

    What elements / evidence would be needed for a defense to throw out these search results?

  11. dogshelpgod says:

    Once someone gains a reputation for threatening violence, like a mob boss, there is often no need for explicit threats in particular circumstances. It is truly frightening and distressing how this threatening conduct has become part of this country’s politics. How extraordinary- as Romney wrote – that Senators – United States Fucken’ Senators would not vote to impeach Trump because of fears for their or their family’s safety. Papa Doc anyone?

      • JVOJVOJVO says:

        Doesn’t NBC employ people (Ken?) who’s job it is to know the answer to Gary’s question? Did Gary reach out to those people INSIDE his organization first, before asking Marcy? Why not? THE MORE YOU KNOW! ffs

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