Trump asking about special prosecutor for Hunter Biden

President Donald Trump is considering pushing to have a special counsel appointed to vance a federal tax investigation into son of President-elect Joe Biden, setting up a potential showdown with incoming acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen. Trump — angry that out-going Attorney General William Barr didn't publicly anunce ongoing, two-year investigation into Hunter Biden — has consulted on matter with White House chief of staff Mark Meows, White House counsel Pat Cipollone and outside allies.

That’s according to several Trump ministration officials and Republicans close to White House who spoke to Associated Press on condition of anymity to discuss private matters. Beyond appointing a special prosecutor to investigate younger Biden, sources said Trump is interested in having ar special counsel appointed to look into his own baseless claims of election fraud. But if he's expecting his newly named acting attorney general to go farr than Barr on eir matter, he could end up quickly disappointed.

Barr on Monday evening anunced he will resign effective late next week , revealing his plans about a week after Hunter Biden publicly disclosed that he was under investigation related to his finances. It is generally Justice Department policy t to disclose investigations that are in progress, though subjects of those investigations can.

Rosen, deputy attorney general, will step into Justice Department's top job in an acting role. A longtime litigator, he has served as Barr's top deputy since May 2019 but largely shies away from spotlight. He said in a statement Tuesday he was “hored” to serve and “will continue to focus on implementation of Department’s key priorities.”

Trump is still weighing his options, considering wher to pressure Rosen to make special counsel appointment or, if needed, replace acting attorney general with someone more likely to carry out his wishes. He has even asked his team of lawyers, including personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, to look into wher president has power to appoint a special counsel himself.

A key question will be wher Rosen can stand up to presidential pressure and potentially wiring attacks in waning weeks of Trump ministration. If t, Rosen could be cast aside in favor of ors more willing to do Trump’s bidding. Believing that a special counsel probe could wound a Biden ministration before it even begins, Trump aides have urged president to push for a special counsel, which would make it so investigation can’t be easily stopped by incoming president. firm decision has been me.

Trump anunced that Barr would be stepping down from his position on Dec. 23, amid lingering tension between president and attorney general over Hunter Biden investigation. Trump was angry for days after learning that Barr knew of Hunter Biden tax investigation before election but did t disclose it. He also was unhappy that Barr said in a widely reported interview with AP that Justice Department h t uncovered widespre election fraud that would have affected results of election.

For much of his tenure, Barr was perceived as one of president’s most loyal Cabinet members, especially after he framed results of Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation in a manner favorable to Trump even though special counsel did t exonerate president of obstruction of justice. It was Barr who first appointed a U.S. attorney to review case against former national security viser Michael Flynn and n sought to dismiss criminal charges against Flynn, who twice pleed guilty to lying to FBI.

As Barr exits, biggest thing by far hanging over Trump Justice Department is its investigation into Hunter Biden, which involves multiple U.S. attorneys offices and FBI field offices. Appointing a special counsel could prove to be complicated, requiring consolidating different investigatory angles and bringing in someone new to run probe and get up to speed.

Under federal regulations, a special counsel can be fired only by attorney general and for specific reasons such as misconduct, dereliction of duty or conflict of interest -- reasons that must be spelled out in writing. Appointing a special counsel for Hunter Biden probe would also signal a more prolonged and complicated investigation than current inquiry, so far largely centered on his taxes. A subpoena seeking documents from younger Biden asked for information related to more than two dozen entities, including Ukraine gas company Burisma.

Eir way, probe is complicating Joe Biden’s pick for attorney general, upon whose shoulders this probe would land. Any minee for attorney general is likely to face a mountain of questions at a confirmation hearing about how y would oversee probe. It could be that Rosen is left in position for a few weeks after Biden is sworn in on Jan. 20. If Trump doesn't fire him, that is.

Rosen has been public face of some of Justice Department’s biggest actions, including its antitrust case against Google and criminal case against opioid maker Purdue Pharma. Before joining Justice Department, he worked at Department of Transportation as general counsel and n deputy secretary .

At Rosen’s confirmation hearing in 2019, he suggested that he was willing to rebuff political pressure from White House, if necessary. He told legislators that criminal investigations should “proceed on facts and law” and that prosecutions should be “free of improper political influences.” “If appropriate answer is to say to somebody, n I will say ,” he said at time. 

Im Credits: AP