Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday that the Trump-appointed US attorney who is investigating Hunter Biden has been given “special counsel” status.
This gives the senior prosecutor, David Weiss, more powers than a typical US attorney and puts the nation in uncharted territory – with three special counsels at the Justice Department currently investigating matters related to the sitting president, his son, and the previous president.
Garland’s order appointing Weiss said he is authorized to “conduct the ongoing investigation … as well as any matters that arose from that investigation or may arise” as the probe continues.
A senior Justice Department official said Weiss will write a report, which the attorney general is expected to publicly release when the probe is over. This has been the common practice of special counsels in recent years, like Robert Mueller and John Durham.
Weiss made a request to be elevated to a special counsel on Tuesday.
As someone who voted for Biden in 2020, and will do so again in 2024, this is a good thing. Elevating this Hunter business to the level of a special counsel investigation takes away the R’s nonsense “weaponization of government” argument. I’m confident that the investigation will show this whole thing is a nothingburger.
Edit:
Eh, they’ll still call it weaponization and say it was biased no matter what. It’s good for history books, but won’t stop GOP talking points
I know you’re right. I just hope that the verdict from the Court of Public Opinion doesn’t align with GOP talking points.
Considering how the recent special elections have gone for Republicans its looking like it doesn’t
You could have Trump himself leading the investigation, and conservatives would still say it’s rigged and biased
I’d like to share your enthusiasm, but anything short of a full conviction with jail time will mean maga idiots will start screaming “two tier justice!”
I expect the best we’ll get is him having a heart attack during one of his temper tantrums from all of the court cases. Which will somehow be blamed on the deep state.
The Republicans know you can appoint a SP who’s in the tank. That’s what they do, why shouldn’t Garland?