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President Donald Trump is considering pushing for a special counsel to be appointed to advance a federal tax investigation into President-elect Joe Biden’s son.
Trump, angered that outgoing Attorney General William Barr did not publicly announce the ongoing two-year investigation into Hunter Biden, has consulted on the matter with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, White House attorney Pat Cipollone, and external allies.
That’s according to several Trump administration officials and Republicans close to the White House who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss private matters.
Beyond appointing a special counsel to investigate the young Biden, sources said Trump is interested in having another special counsel appointed to investigate his own unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.
But if you expect your newly appointed acting attorney general to go further than Barr on either issue, you could quickly end up disappointed.
Barr announced Monday night that he will resign starting next week, revealing his plans about a week after Hunter Biden publicly revealed that he was under investigation related to his finances.
It is generally the policy of the Department of Justice not to disclose ongoing investigations, although the subjects of those investigations may do so.
Jeffrey Rosen, the assistant attorney general, will occupy the highest position in the Department of Justice as an actor.
Trump is still weighing his options, considering whether to pressure Rosen to make the special counsel appointment or, if necessary, replace the acting attorney general with someone more likely to follow through on his wishes.
He has even asked his team of attorneys, including personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, to investigate whether the president has the power to appoint a special counsel himself.
A key question will be whether Rosen can withstand presidential pressure, and potentially devastating attacks, in the final weeks of the Trump administration.
Otherwise, Rosen could be sidelined in favor of others more willing to comply with the president’s orders.
Believing that a special counsel investigation could hurt the Biden administration even before it begins, the president’s advisers have urged Trump to push for one, which would make the investigation not easily stopped by the incoming president.
No firm decision has been made.
Trump announced that Barr would step down from office on December 23, amid persistent tension between the president and the attorney general over the Hunter Biden investigation.
Trump was angry for days after learning that Barr knew about Hunter Biden’s tax investigation before the election, but did not reveal it.
He was also unhappy that Barr said in a widely publicized interview with the AP that the Justice Department had not uncovered widespread voter fraud that would have affected election results.
As Barr exits, the most important thing with a lot hanging over the Justice Department is his investigation into Hunter Biden, which involves several US prosecutors’ offices and FBI field offices.
Appointing a special attorney could be tricky as it would require consolidating different investigation angles and bringing in someone new to run the investigation and catch up.
Under federal regulations, a special attorney can be fired only by the attorney general and for specific reasons such as misconduct, breach of duty, or conflict of interest.
The appointment of a special prosecutor for the Hunter Biden investigation would also indicate a more lengthy and complicated investigation than the current investigation, so far focused largely on his taxes.
Either way, the investigation is complicating the election of Joe Biden for attorney general, on whose shoulders this investigation would land.
Any candidate for attorney general is likely to face a mountain of questions at a confirmation hearing about how he would oversee the investigation.
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