Former President Trump’s team responded with skepticism Friday to the appointment of a special counsel to oversee the investigation into President Biden’s son Hunter.
The Trump campaign issued a statement from an unnamed spokesperson arguing the Biden family has been “protected by the Justice Department for decades.”
“If this special counsel is truly independent — even though he failed to bring proper charges after a four year investigation and he appears to be trying to move the case to a more Democrat-friendly venue — he will quickly conclude that Joe Biden, his troubled son Hunter, and their enablers, including the media, which colluded with the 51 intelligence officials who knowingly misled the public about Hunter’s laptop, should face the required consequences,” the statement read.
Trump sought to make Hunter Biden’s business dealings an issue during the 2020 presidential campaign, and House Republicans have revived questions about whether President Biden was involved in his son’s business dealings, something he and the White House have denied.
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday appointed David Weiss, the Delaware federal prosecutor who has led the investigation into Hunter Biden, as a special counsel overseeing the investigation.
Garland said he made the decision in the politically explosive case after Weiss asked for the appointment.
Republicans have sharply criticized how a tax probe into Hunter Biden was handled, citing claims from two IRS whistleblowers that Weiss was blocked from seeking special counsel status — a claim Weiss and the Justice Department have consistently denied.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has indicated it could be grounds for a possible impeachment of Garland, noting differences between the whistleblowers’ testimony and Weiss and Garland’s recap of the prosecutor’s authority.
House Republicans also cast doubt on Weiss’s appointment Friday.
“This action by Biden’s DOJ cannot be used to obstruct congressional investigations or whitewash the Biden family corruption,” McCarthy said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “If Weiss negotiated the sweetheart deal that couldn’t get approved, how can he be trusted as a Special Counsel? House Republicans will continue to pursue the facts for the American people.”