Special Counsel Appointed

For John, BLUF:  The larger issue here is the future of President Biden and how the Democratic Party nomenclatura will jump.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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AG Merrick Garland appoints a special counsel in Hunter Biden probe

From NBC News, by Reporters Daniel Barnes and Kelly O'Donnell and Monica Alba and Ali Vitali and Dareh Gregorian and Ryan J. Reilly, 11 August 2023.

Here is the lede plus two:

U.S. Attorney David Weiss was appointed special counsel in the ongoing probe of the president's son Hunter Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday.

Weiss will be responsible for the “ongoing investigation" of President Joe Biden's son "as well as for any other matters that arose or may arise from that investigation," the Justice Department said in a statement.  Weiss, who was already overseeing the Hunter Biden probe and is based in Delaware, asked to be appointed special counsel on Tuesday and Garland agreed it was "in the public interest" to do so, the attorney general said.

The move was announced shortly before prosecutors from Weiss's team revealed in a court filing the plea talks over tax and gun charges against the president's son had broken down and the case would likely have to go to trial in California or Washington, D.C.  Later Friday, prosecutors suggested they could bring different charges against Hunter Biden in the new case.

The first issue is that the regulation calls for a Special Counsel to be appointed from outside the Government.  (28 CFR § 600.3 - Qualifications of the Special Counsel)  Clearly, Mr David Weiss is not from outside the Government.  Perhaps we will get a leak from DoJ, explaining the rationale.

For me the second issue is that this complicates President Biden's decision making.  I had been hoping that a plea deal between Mr Hunter Biden and DoJ might create space for President Biden to step down, citing "health concerns".  That space is gone.  Now what?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff