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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A recently revealed federal criminal investigation into Joe Biden’s son Hunter’s business dealings will complicate the president-elect’s selection of a new attorney general, former Justice Department officials and legal experts said.
Hunter Biden revealed Wednesday that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware is investigating his tax matters. The media have reported that the problems stem from his work in countries like China.
President Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress made Hunter Biden’s business in China and Ukraine a line of attack against the elderly Biden during the 2020 election campaign. Hunter Biden has denied wrongdoing and his father issued a statement support after disclosure.
But its existence puts increased scrutiny on Democrat Joe Biden’s choice to head the Justice Department, the highest-profile cabinet position he has yet to fill. Whoever gets selected will likely face a flood of questions from Republicans on the matter at the Senate confirmation hearing early next year.
Biden “will certainly have an opportunity early in his administration to show that he means what he says about safeguarding the independence of the Justice Department,” said Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis and an ethics expert on the government. . “Obviously, this is a very sensitive matter: your son is under criminal investigation.”
Biden’s transition team is confident that the attorney general will be able to fully answer questions about the independence of the office and the integrity of the investigation, according to two transition officials.
During the campaign, Biden criticized Attorney General Bill Barr, whom he accused of politicizing the department and being too loyal to Trump and his agenda. He vowed to restore his traditional independence from the White House.
He reiterated that promise in a CNN interview last week.
“I’m not going to tell you what to do and what not to do,” Biden said. “I am not going to say that they are going to prosecute A, B or C, I am not going to tell them. That is not the role, it is not my Department of Justice, it is the Department of Justice of the people.”
Upon taking office on January 20, Biden has said that he will issue an executive order stating that no member of the White House staff or any member of his administration may initiate, encourage, obstruct, or improperly influence specific investigations or prosecutions by any reason; and will promise to fire anyone who tries to do so.
PRESSURE TO KEEP DELAWARE LAWYER
Biden may also face Republican pressure to keep the current US attorney in Delaware leading the investigation, David Weiss, on the job for the duration of the investigation or even appoint a special counsel to ensure distance from the White House.
At the dawn of Trump’s term, Democrats called for a special counsel to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election. Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions did the same, appointing Robert Mueller to lead the investigation.
Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican member of the Judiciary Committee, who will hold the nomination hearing for Biden’s election, said Thursday that Biden must commit to retaining all Justice Department attorneys involved in the investigation.
“Those US prosecutors who are involved in this investigation, their staff absolutely must remain,” Hawley said. “I mean, you can’t talk about replacing them or transitioning.”
Speculation about Biden’s election has centered on Doug Jones, a U.S. senator from Alabama who lost his bid for re-election, Sally Yates, who was deputy attorney general during the Obama administration, as well as federal court judges from appeals Merrick Garland and Deval Patrick. a former governor of Massachusetts.
Jones has a personal bond with Biden that goes back 40 years, which could complicate a semblance of neutrality.
Donald Ayer, who served as deputy attorney general during the George HW Bush administration, suggested that Biden publicly state that he will not participate in the investigation when he presents his candidate.
“My fervent hope is that that message gets out loud, often and early. And hopefully they get past Hunter Biden’s question by explaining exactly where they are going,” Ayer said.
“Hunter Biden is one case in hundreds,” he added. “And it will be handled the same way as everything else, and there will be no interference.”
(Report by Jarrett Renshaw and James Oliphant; additional report by Jan Wolfe and Sarah N. Lynch; edited by Scott Malone and Grant McCool)
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