President Trump has expressed interest in advancing the appointment of a special adviser to investigate allegations of fraud in the November election and issues related to Hunter Biden, people familiar with the matter say.
In recent days, the president has instructed advisers to search for people who could serve in such a position, one said, by Mr. Trump and his campaign lawsuits and other attempts to counter the founder of the election results. White House officials and Capitol Hill and other presidential allies have also pushed for the appointment of a special adviser, said another person familiar with the discussion.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has told the public that a special adviser is interested in stepping forward to investigate presidential election fraud and wants to act quickly, one said.
Attorney General William Barre said the Justice Department has not found evidence of widespread fraud that would change the election.
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Senior White House officials have also expressed frustration with Attorney General William Barr’s investigation into Mr. Biden’s business and financial dealings, discussing the possibility of a special adviser to Hunter Biden’s investigation and concerns about Mr. Biden’s son, the hunter, if Biden’s next administration tries to shut down. Any investigation will be carried out, the administrative official said.
The White House declined to comment. A spokesman for Mr Barr declined to comment. A spokesman for the Biden transition team declined to comment. According to people familiar with the matter, Bitter Biden was not involved in the investigation.
Mr. Trump has expressed growing frustration with his attorney general in private and in public in recent months, as attempts by the president and his supporters to overthrow the election have repeatedly failed. The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a claim by Texas’s attorney general to invalidate 20 million votes in four major states. President-elect Joe Biden in federal and state courts has been accused of irregularities in overriding his victory, the most recent of dozens of losses.
Mr Barr’s announcement that the Justice Department had found no evidence of widespread electoral fraud would anger Mr Biden’s victory, the aides said. Alleged. The federal agency in charge of election security and organizations representing top election officials across the country have also considered the election free from tampering.
Mr. Trump said in a meeting with the Street Journal on Friday that Mr. Barr was aware of Hunter Biden’s current federal investigation before the election, but worked to prevent it from being made public, a person familiar with the conversation said. At the meeting, Mr. Trump considered firing Mr. Burr, but people familiar with the conversation said it was unclear whether Mr. Trump would follow suit.
Aides and allies have been urging the president for months not to fire Mr Barr. For his part, the attorney general has told associates that he intends to stay on the job until he is fired.
Under the rules of the Department of Justice, the Special Adviser must be appointed by the Attorney General. A special adviser is appointed to carry out investigations with a level of independence, not subject to daily supervision by agency officials, and is simply removed by the Attorney General for misconduct or conflict of interest.
Mr Barr’s aides said they were unlikely to name anyone in the post, especially after the Federal Bureau of Investigation appointed another lawyer in October as special adviser to continue its examination of the origins of Russia’s 2016 investigation. Announcing the appointment earlier this month, he said he had kept it quiet for more than a month so as not to affect the November election.
Mr. Trump and some Republican lawmakers have been urging the Justice Department for months to investigate Hunter Biden and his business dealings, and the call will intensify as the November election approaches. The department is investigating Biden to determine whether Mr. Barr and other Justice Department officials denied requests from several Republican lawmakers before the election, another person said.
Hunter Biden revealed earlier this week that he was aware of a federal investigation into his tax matters. He said he has acted legally and properly.
On Friday, Mr. Biden said in response to questions from reporters: “I am proud of my son.”
Increasing pressure on Mr. Barr, more than two dozen Republican lawmakers signed a letter to Mr. Trump earlier this week, asking him to direct the attorney general to appoint a special adviser to investigate “irregularities in the 2020 election.” This effort was led by Rep. Was done by Lance Gooden (R., Texas), who said a special adviser is “the best option to bring to light anything that happened in the 2020 election.”
Mr. Gooden did not discuss his proposal directly with Mr. Trump, a congressional spokesman said. A person familiar with the matter said the Justice Department did not respond to the letter.
The president retweeted several tweets about the letter on Thursday, calling the effort “excellent.”
U.S. in denture. Hunter Biden is being investigated by attorney Fis, led by David Wes. Mr. Weiss was a lawyer in those office fees for years and was the most supervisor for the Obama administration. According to local media reports at the time, Mr. Trump’s appointment to the top job in 2017 was backed by Democratic senators from his home state.
Write to Aruna Vishwanath on [email protected], Rebecca Ballhouse on [email protected] and Sadie Gurman [email protected]
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