Attorney General William Barr said Monday he does not intend to appoint a special counsel for the federal tax investigation into Hunter Biden. “If I thought a special counsel at this stage was the right tool, I would name one, but I haven’ and I’m not going to,” said Barr during a press conference.
Earlier this month Hunter Biden announced he was the “subject of a federal tax investigation, however, the scope of the probe is unclear and may deal with suspicions of money laundering involving the incoming president’s son” reports National Review.
A lack of special counsel may be the latest example of President Trump and AG Barr being in opposition to one another. Last week Barr told reporters he believed a massive cyberattack against U.S. government agencies was conducted by Russians. Trump, however, had suggested China could have been behind the attacks. “I agree with Secretary [of State Mike] Pompeo’s assessment…it certainly appears to be the Russians, but I’m not going to discuss it beyond that” Barr said of the situation.
Last week Barr also announced his resignation will be on December 23rd following reports of tensions with President Trump. “In line with DOJ policy,” writes National Review, “Barr also did not reveal the existence of the federal probe into Hunter Biden’s taxes before the general election, a decision that reportedly drew Trump’s ire.”
Another contentious incident allegedly leading to Barr’s resignation is that “Barr also indicated that there was no clear basis for appointing a special counsel to investigate the president’s claims of widespread voter fraud during the election” writes National Review. “While Trump has alleged that Democrats ‘stole’ the election by means of widespread voter fraud, Barr has publicly stated that the Justice Department did not discover fraud on a scale that could alter the election results.”
Source: NationalReview.com