{"id":1577730,"date":"2022-07-29T09:05:02","date_gmt":"2022-07-29T13:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1577730"},"modified":"2022-07-29T09:05:14","modified_gmt":"2022-07-29T13:05:14","slug":"former-ag-bill-barr-to-merrick-garland-appoint-a-special-counsel-already","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-ag-bill-barr-to-merrick-garland-appoint-a-special-counsel-already\/","title":{"rendered":"Former AG Bill Barr To Merrick Garland: Appoint A Special Counsel Already"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fformer-ag-bill-barr-to-merrick-garland-appoint-a-special-counsel-already%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1577730&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Recent developments warrant the appointment of a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden, former Attorney General William Barr says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[I]ntervening events, especially recent reports about FBI whistleblowers and the possible reach of the investigation, warrant adding the protections of special counsel status to assure that key decisions are made independently without political \u2018favor,\u2019\u201d Barr told The Federalist.<\/p>\n<p>President Joe Biden\u2019s son Hunter has been under federal investigation since 2018 for issues related to his foreign business practices, including obtaining investments and board positions from politically compromised figures in communist China and other trouble spots. Multiple U.S. attorney\u2019s offices were tasked with components of the investigation, with the Delaware office being the lead. Hunter Biden\u2019s problems became much more public with the news that he had left a laptop full of incriminating information at a computer repair store in Delaware. That news was then suppressed by Democrat-allied intelligence officials falsely claiming it was Russian disinformation.<\/p>\n<p>This week, multiple FBI whistleblowers, including those in senior positions, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/07\/28\/doj-may-have-obstructed-important-biden-corruption-investigations-out-of-pittsburgh-and-delaware\/\">accused<\/a> FBI headquarters of \u201cimproperly discredit[ing] and falsely claim[ing] that derogatory information about Biden\u2019s activities was disinformation, causing investigative activity and sourcing to be shut down,\u201d according to a Monday letter from Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That fact, as well as concern over the investigation\u2019s complexity and scope, convinced the former attorney general of the need for a special counsel.<\/p>\n<p>By highlighting the apparent breadth of the still-pending investigation into Hunter Biden\u2019s affairs, Barr\u2019s comments confirm concerns of three insiders, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/07\/27\/doj-insiders-say-delaware-us-attorneys-office-too-inadequate-to-investigate-biden-family-corruption\/\">reported<\/a> by The Federalist on Wednesday, that \u201cthe Delaware U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office investigating Hunter Biden lacks the wherewithal and resources to adequately probe the dubious financial dealings of the Biden family and their business partners.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Barr\u2019s view that a special counsel is now warranted to continue the investigation into Hunter Biden\u2019s business dealings represents a change from the position he took in December 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>During a December 21, 2020 press conference, when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2020\/12\/21\/948787251\/barr-says-no-need-for-special-counsel-for-hunter-biden-probe-election-fraud-clai\">asked<\/a> whether he agreed with Republicans that a special counsel was needed to handle the Biden investigation, Barr negated the idea. \u201cI think it\u2019s being handled responsibly and professionally currently within the department, and to this point I have seen no reason to appoint a special counsel, and I have no plan to do so before I leave,\u201d the outgoing attorney general <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2020\/12\/21\/948787251\/barr-says-no-need-for-special-counsel-for-hunter-biden-probe-election-fraud-clai\">told<\/a> reporters.<\/p>\n<p>Barr\u2019s reasoning at the time, according to those close to him, was that the Trump administration\u2019s DOJ had no conflict, either real or apparent, in handling any investigation of Hunter Biden. And because the controlling standard for the appointment of a special counsel requires such a conflict, an appointment at the time would have been problematic.<\/p>\n<p>Barr felt it would be up to the new attorney general to make the determination about conflict and how to satisfy any concerns over the DOJ\u2019s independence, those close to Barr say.<\/p>\n<p>For Barr to \u201cpreempt those decisions on the way out the door by appointing a special counsel to investigate the Biden family would have been a bad precedent and, as a practical matter, would have led the new AG to reverse the appointment as a political ploy,\u201d said one former official. As such, the best way to assure the investigation would continue was by not appointing a special counsel then, the individual said.<\/p>\n<p>Such reasoning runs consistent with the former attorney general\u2019s steady efforts to return the Department of Justice to its proper apolitical role in our democratic republic and to restore the rule of law to our country.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Even with the new statement from Barr, he complimented Attorney General Merrick Garland for at least one part of how he\u2019s handled the Hunter Biden investigation. \u201cAG Garland made a good decision by keeping David Weiss in office,\u201d Barr told the Federalist on Thursday, referring to the Republican U.S. attorney in Delaware supervising the investigation. Barr went on to say, however, that the \u201cintervening events\u201d including the bombshell whistleblower reports and potential scope of the investigation \u201cwarrant adding the protections of special counsel status\u201d to make sure important determinations aren\u2019t politically motivated.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, circumstances have since changed, and Barr now believes a special counsel is warranted. So the question for Garland is: Will he show the same prudence and care for our country as his predecessor and appoint a special counsel to investigate his boss\u2019s family?<\/p>\n<p><em>The Federalist\u2019s Editor-in-Chief Mollie Hemingway contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Margot Cleveland is The Federalist&#8217;s senior legal correspondent. She is also a contributor to National Review Online, the Washington Examiner, Aleteia, and Townhall.com, and has been published in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. <\/p>\n<p>Cleveland is a lawyer and a graduate of the Notre Dame Law School, where she earned the Hoynes Prize\u2014the law school\u2019s highest honor. She later served for nearly 25 years as a permanent law clerk for a federal appellate judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Cleveland is a former full-time university faculty member and now teaches as an adjunct from time to time. <\/p>\n<p>As a stay-at-home homeschooling mom of a young son with cystic fibrosis, Cleveland frequently writes on cultural issues related to parenting and special-needs children. Cleveland is on Twitter at @ProfMJCleveland. The views expressed here are those of Cleveland in her private capacity.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-comments mt-30 mt-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-comments-container d-flex flex-column align-items-center py-30\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"110\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fdrlst-mark.svg\" class=\"img-fluid mb-20\" alt=\"The Federalist logo eagle mark\" \/>    <\/p>\n<p>Unlock commenting by joining the Federalist Community.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/plans\/pricing\/\" class=\"btn btn-on-white\">Subscribe<\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recent developments warrant the appointment of a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden, former Attorney General William Barr says. \u201c[I]ntervening events, especially recent reports about FBI whistleblowers and the possible<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":499,"featured_media":1897833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1577730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_finder_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/07\/28\/former-ag-bill-barr-to-merrick-garland-appoint-a-special-counsel-already\/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=former-ag-bill-barr-to-merrick-garland-appoint-a-special-counsel-already","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1577730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/499"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1577730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1577730\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1897833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1577730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1577730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1577730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}