Acting Attorney General William Barr said Monday he saw no reason for a special adviser to take over the criminal investigation of Hunter Biden, the son of President-elect Joe Biden, who will again undermine President Donald Trump.
Trump has asked to push the Justice Department to appoint a special lawyer for the investigation, which focuses on Hunter Biden’s taxes and currently handles the US attorney’s office in Delaware.
“To the extent that there is an investigation, I believe it is being managed responsibly and professionally within the department,” Barr told a news conference two days before his Justice Department resigns.
“And so far I have seen no reason to appoint a special adviser and I see no reason to do so before I leave,” Barr said.
“If I thought a special piece of advice was the right tool, I’d name one, but I didn’t.”
Barr also said he hoped the Biden administration would manage the “responsible” Hunter Biden probe.
Appointing a special lawyer is seen as a means of preventing Joe Biden or other officials in his administration from putting any pressure on the US law firm to go easy on Hunter Biden.
Special counselors are appointed by the Attorney General to investigate a person or problem when federal prosecutors or divisions of the Department of Justice have a conflict of interest if they have dealt with the investigation.
Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen declined last week to say whether to appoint a special adviser to the Hunter Biden investigation.
U.S. Attorney General William Barr attends a news conference to provide an update on the investigation into the bombing of 103 Pan Am flight on the 32nd anniversary of the attack at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, DC, USA, December 21, 2020.
Michael Reynolds | Reuters
Joe Biden said he would not intervene in federal prosecutors’ decisions.
“It’s not my Department of Justice. It’s the Department of Human Justice,” Biden said in a recent interview.
Barr resigned last week after angering Trump, contradicting the president’s claim that he lost the presidential election to Joe Biden as a result of massive voting fraud.
Barr said in an interview with The Associated Press that the DOJ saw no evidence to justify reversing Biden’s election.
On Monday, Barr said he commented in that interview whether there had been systematic or widespread voting fraud.
“I agree with that statement,” he said.
Barr, at the same press conference, contradicted Trump’s suggestion that Russia was not responsible for the so-called massive SolarWinds hack of US government agencies. Barr said the hack “definitely looks like Russians.”
Over the weekend, Trump claimed that the hack could have been the work of China. But Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said before the president weighed in on Twitter that “I think it’s time to say quite clearly that the Russians are engaged in this activity.”
US Vice President Joe Biden (R) shows a few faces in the crowd with his son Hunter as they walk down Pennsylvania Avenue after President Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony in Washington on January 20, 2009.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
Hunter Biden, a lawyer and businessman, said nearly two weeks ago that he was at the center of an investigation by an American lawyer named by Trump in his home state of Delaware. The revelation came after the presidential election.
Trump was upset that Barr managed to keep the investigation a secret before the election.
The president has also been looking for years over the appointment in 2017 of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special lawyer to investigate the 2016 presidential campaign and his contacts with the Russians.
Both Hunter Biden and his father said Hunter did not commit a crime.
Last week, when Joe Biden was asked by a reporter, “Are you sure your son Hunter didn’t do anything wrong?” he replied, “I trust.”
Hunter Biden, in the disclosure of the investigation, said: “I take this issue very seriously, but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these issues will demonstrate that I have managed my business legally and properly, including for the benefit of tax advisers. professionals. “