U.S. Attorney David Weiss has managed to stay out of the spotlight for much of his 20-year career as a federal prosecutor, but that could change soon.
Weiss is now overseeing policymakers research and Hunter Biden possible tax offenses and other aspects of their business.
Weiss, a 66-year-old Republican, will have to decide whether there is enough evidence to sue the grand federal jury against the son of an incumbent president, Democrat Joseph Biden.
“David is a straight shooter,” said a former Weiss close associate who spoke on CBS News on condition of anonymity.
US Department of Justice
The former partner described Weiss as a moderate Republican who is apolitical in his work. “He’s not a trumper or close to Biden.”
Then-President Donald Trump appointed Weiss as U.S. Attorney General in Delaware in 2018. At the time, he had been the acting head of the office and received the support of U.S. Delaware Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons. both Democrats.
Biden chose to keep Weiss in office, one of the only U.S. lawyers named by Trump stay – because he understood the political risk of dismissing the prosecutor in the midst of an ongoing investigation into Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden’s attorney did not respond to requests for comment.
In overseeing the four-year investigation, several former Weiss colleagues told CBS News that Weiss would be neither too aggressive nor too protective in handling the investigation.
“David is a diligent professional prosecutor,” said Robert Kravetz, a 13-year-old former U.S. assistant prosecutor in Delaware.
Weiss, a gray-haired Philadelphia native, served as an assistant to the U.S. Attorney General’s office from 1986 to 1989. While there, he prosecuted corruption, money laundering, and email and electronic fraud.
He left and became a partner in the law firm of Duane Morris, but returned for a couple of periods to the U.S. Attorney’s office before becoming an acting attorney in 2017.
“He’s a leader who cares about the people who work for him,” Kravetz said. He noted that Weiss left for private practice and other jobs over the years, but was repeatedly invited to join the office under the lawyers of both political parties.
“It offers calm, consistent leadership,” Kravetz said. “He’s probably not looking for prominence.”
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