Senior Justice Department officials are in “ongoing discussions” about whether to appoint a special attorney to take over the investigation of Hunter Biden, where some believe it is “justified,” two well-known Fox News reporters said Wednesday.
Attorney General Bill Barr, who resigned last week and had his last day in the Justice Department on Wednesday, said earlier this week that he “had not seen a reason” to appoint a special lawyer to investigate the son of President-elect Joe Biden, who is under federal investigation for his “tax cases.”
BARR SAYS THAT HE HAS NO PLAN TO APPOINT SPECIAL COUNCIL TO TAKE OVER HUNTER OFFERS
But a well-known source told Fox News on Wednesday that it is an “open discussion.”
“It’s an ongoing discussion,” the source told Fox News. “No decisions have been made in any way.”
Another source told Fox News that some senior DOJ officials believe a special lawyer is “justified,” citing the special law.
“It was adopted to deal with a potential conflict of interest with the Attorney General or the President of the United States,” the source told Fox News. “An elected president coming in where his appointed lawyers will investigate his son? It’s textbook conflict.”
President-elect Joe Biden was asked at a news conference Tuesday whether the issue of the federal investigation into Hunter has come up with his team and with legal candidates.
“No, no. I guarantee you I will do what I said,” Biden replied. “The Attorney General of the United States of America is not the President’s attorney. I will appoint a person whom I expect to enforce the law as the law is written, not governed by me.”
And his future White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said this week that Biden “will not discuss an investigation into his son with any law graduates.”
“He will not discuss it with anyone he is considering for the role and he will not discuss it with a future lawyer,” Psaki told Fox News. “It will be up to a future attorney general in his administration to decide how to handle any investigation.”
Discussions within the Department of Justice come when Barr resigns and as acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen takes the helm.
Barr said Monday that he had no plans to appoint a special attorney for the investigation before leaving the Justice Department.
“I think to the extent that there is an investigation, I think it is being handled responsibly and professionally,” Barr said Monday about the Hunter Biden investigation. “Until this point, I have not seen any reason to appoint a special adviser and I have no plans to do so before I leave.”
Meanwhile, in his first – and only – interview since being appointed acting lawyer, Rosen told Reuters he would continue “doing things in the area of profit and doing things on the basis of the law and the facts.”
“That’s how I thought about it from the beginning, and that’s how I think about it through the end,” Rosen told Reuters last week.
U.S. Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen is holding a press conference to announce the results of the global dissolution of criminal and civil investigations with an opioid producer at the Department of Justice on October 21 in Washington. (Photo by Yuri Gripas-Pool / Getty Images)
The Ministry of Justice declined to comment.
Republicans have been demanding for weeks that a special attorney be appointed to continue the federal investigation into Hunter Biden to ensure it continues through the upcoming Biden administration. President Trump had reportedly discussed a potential special adviser to this inquiry.
HUNTER BIDED IN FEDERAL SURVEY FOR ‘TAX CASE;’ CONNECTIONS TO THE CHINA FUNDS WORK, SOURCES SAY
Hunter Biden confirmed earlier this month that he is under federal investigation for his “tax cases”.
A well-placed government source told Fox News that Hunter Biden has been a topic / target for the grand jury investigation. According to the source, a “target” means that there is a “high probability that the person committed a crime”, while a “subject” is one that you “do not know for sure” has committed a crime.
The source said President-elect Biden is not the subject of any grand jury investigation at this time.
The source also told Fox News that this investigation was based in part on suspicious activity reports (SARs) regarding suspicious foreign transactions.
Another source familiar with the investigation told Fox News that the SARs concerned funds from “China and other foreign nations.”
A Treasury Department official who did not comment on the investigation spoke broadly about the SAR and told Fox News that the SAR was filed by financial institutions “if there is anything unusual about a particular transaction.”
The official told Fox News that the mere filing of a SAR does not mean that there has been a criminal act or violation of the rules, but instead marks that a transaction is “out of the ordinary” for the customer. However, the official noted that a SAR could be part of money laundering or tax investigation.
The investigation, according to a source familiar with the case, began in 2018.
Biden Transition Team declined to comment.