We’re still waiting for that special counsel. Still waiting for Attorney General Merrick Garland, Joe Biden’s “wing man,” his version of Barack Obama’s Eric Holder, to do the right thing.

But who are we kidding? Garland, who would today be Associate Justice Garland were it not for Mitch McConnell, is perfectly content to stonewall the pursuit of justice as it pertains to Hunter Biden’s corrupt business affairs and influence peddling, and his father’s role in those dealings. There’s simply no way to de-couple the one from the other.

Of course, Joe Biden has steadfastly maintained that he has no knowledge of his son’s business affairs. In fact, he said as much to Fox News’s Peter Doocy during a 2019 campaign event in Iowa. “I have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings!” Biden snapped at Doocy, struggling to hide his irritation at the question. Biden has since doubled down on that false assertion, as did his former press secretary, Jen Psaki.

But facts are stubborn things. So, it turns out, are voicemails. As the New York Post reports:

The stunning revelation of President Biden’s 2018 voicemail about Hunter Biden’s business dealings in China raises questions about the federal probe of the first son, legal experts said Tuesday — as Republican lawmakers vowed congressional hearings into the matter.

Former Justice Department prosecutor Jim Trusty called the situation “a huge integrity test” for the FBI and for Attorney General Merrick Garland. “Will they walk away from powerful evidence? Will they come up with a soft plea — like a tax charge — that does not remotely capture the actual wrongdoing?” he said. “Or will they treat Hunter Biden like any other white-collar defendant in the federal system?”

These are great questions. And they demand a special counsel. But if Team Biden can sidestep and ignore and delay just a while longer, they might be able to ride it out. Here’s a transcription of Joe’s incriminating voicemail:

“Hey pal, it’s Dad,” Joe Biden said. “It’s 8:15 on Wednesday night. If you get a chance, just give me a call. Nothing urgent. I just wanted to talk to you. I thought the article released online, it’s going to be printed tomorrow in the Times, was good. I think you’re clear. And anyway if you get a chance, give me a call. I love you.”

Short, sweet, and damning. And, no thanks to The New York Times or The Washington Post, but instead thanks to the UK’s Daily Mail, you can listen for yourself:

For context, Biden left that voicemail for Hunter in late 2018. He wanted to discuss a potentially explosive New York Times article detailing his son’s dealings with a corrupt Chinese oil tycoon. The voicemail was discovered on — where else? — Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop. You remember: the laptop that the Times and the Post and every other mainstream media outlet insisted was “Russian disinformation.” You remember: the laptop whose deeply incriminating contents were published by the New York Post just two weeks prior to the 2020 election, and were immediately and conspiratorially suppressed by Twitter and Facebook.

“This voicemail is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the evidence mounting against the Biden Crime Family,” said New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, the No. 3 Republican in the House. “When Republicans take back Congress, we will use our congressional power of oversight to uncover the truth for every American as a matter of national security.”

Let’s hope so. This voicemail is about as close to a smoking gun as we’ll ever get. But between now and next January, when a new Congress is sworn in and those gavels are passed from Democrats to Republicans, we’re going to continue to ask: Where’s the special counsel?

Waiting on you, AG Garland.