Barr Rejects Special Counsel for Hunter Biden Probe
Joe Biden will soon be able to sweep the matter under the rug.
When it comes to his son Hunter, Joe Biden will see and hear no evil. This reality was once again driven home last week with Biden’s insistence regarding the criminal investigation into his son: “I have, we have, great confidence in our son. I’m not concerned about any accusations that have been made against him.” Biden then passed off the criminal investigation as “kind of foul play.”
The obvious issue for the Trump administration is whether it can truly trust that Biden would remain uninvolved in the years-long FBI investigation into his son’s shady business dealings. Biden’s response anytime the mainstream media has dared to ask about Hunter makes it clear that the answer is a resounding “no.”
Responding to Biden’s latest Hunter comments, The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway asserted that Joe’s dismissal of the investigation is argument enough for the appointment of a special counsel. “The guidance for when to start a special counsel is when there’s a conflict of interest,” Hemingway noted. “Joe Biden has already said he thinks this is a fraudulent investigation. He says he loves his son and does not believe he is capable of doing anything wrong. There is already enough problem here posed by what Joe Biden has been saying to make it questionable about whether he will allow this Justice Department investigation to continue unabated.”
Furthermore, Hemingway contended, “If you really believe what everybody said during the Russia-collusion hoax, there’s no question that there should be a special counsel instigated now. And that doesn’t get into the fact that Joe Biden has said things contrary to the public record about how involved he was in the Biden family business.”
Meanwhile, Biden recently tapped as press secretary Jen Psaki, another Barack Obama retread. She dubiously claimed, “[Joe Biden] will not be discussing an investigation of his son with any attorney general candidates. He will not be discussing it with anyone he is considering for the role, and he will not be discussing it with a future attorney general.” In fact, she insisted, “It will be up to the purview of a future attorney general in his administration to determine how to handle any investigation.” She concluded, “As you know, U.S. attorneys are — that’s a personnel decision. We’re far from there in the process, given we haven’t announced an attorney general. … But we’re going to allow the process to work how it should, which is for the Justice Department to be run independently by the attorney general at the top.”
This denial brings back memories from Obama AG Loretta Lynch and the secret tarmac meeting in 2016 with Bill Clinton in which they claimed to have talked about little other than each other’s grandkids. Certainly not the criminal probe into Hillary Clinton’s illegal email server!
Furthermore, who truly believes any of Joe Biden’s denials? His are especially specious claims when it comes to his son Hunter, with whom Joe claimed to have never discussed his foreign business dealings, a demonstrably fallacious claim. This is the same Biden who continues to parrot the Charlottesville lie against Trump as he falsely accuses him of racism. And this is the same Biden who has an embarrassing history of plagiarism and a shameless relationship with the truth.
Will AG William Barr appoint a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden as his parting act? Nope. He said just this morning that it’s not necessary, because the current probe was “being handled responsibly and professionally.” To the contrary, however, we’d argue that Biden’s recent comments demand it.
Update: In a wide-ranging Monday afternoon press conference, Barr said, “I have not seen a reason to appoint a special counsel and I have no plan to do so before I leave.” He explained that’s because the current investigation is “being handled responsibly and professionally.” Barr has done outstanding work as Trump’s AG, but for those who worry about Biden gaining control of the deep state, this was a disappointing last public appearance in the post.
But then again, in an interview last week, Barr explained his thinking and it should serve as food for thought:
“A lot of Republicans think [not appointing a special counsel is] playing by Robert’s Rules — you are being soft on the other side. And I understand that frustration. It’s painful that the system is used against Republicans and there is an AG not willing to do the same thing against Democrats. But that is the only way we find our way back.”
“Think about the power it would give the federal bureaucracy. The standard for investigating someone is low. So just gin up an investigation, make it public, affect every election.” That is not a republic any of us should want to live in, but there also must be justice served against those who did exactly what he warned against.