WASHINGTON (NEWSnet/AP) — Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday he has appointed a special counsel in the Hunter Biden probe, furthering an investigation of the president's son ahead of the 2024 election.

Garland said he was naming David Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware who has been looking into the financial and business dealings of the president's son, as the special counsel. In the meantime, Weiss notified a federal judge in Delaware that plea deal talks in the Hunter Biden case were at an “impasse.”

Garland noted the “extraordinary circumstances” of the matter as he made the announcement at the Justice Department. He said that Weiss asked to be appointed and told him that “in his judgment, his investigation has reached a stage at which he should continue his work as a special counsel."

“Upon considering his request, as well as the extraordinary circumstances relating to this matter, I have concluded it is in the public interest to appoint him as special counsel,” Garland said.

The move is a momentous development from the typically cautious Garland and comes amid a pair of sweeping Justice Department probes into Donald Trump, the former president, who is seeking a return to the White House in the 2024 election.

Last month, Hunter Biden’s plea deal over tax evasion collapsed after U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika raised concerns about the specifics.

By being named special counsel, Weiss will have broader authority to conduct a more sweeping investigation.

House Republicans also are working their own investigation into Hunter Biden’s business dealings.

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