I have to assume that the attorney general is finally about to do what Justice Department regs called for him to do the moment he was confirmed two and a half years ago: appoint a special counsel for what the Justice Department brands the “Hunter Biden” case. We shall see. If I’m right, look for three things:
First, is the appointee a former prosecutor from outside the government (as the regs require) who has a reputation for non-partisan scrupulousness and rigor in enforcing the law?
Second, is the appointee a new broom that sweeps clean? That is, will the special counsel bring in a new staff to take a fresh look at the Biden scandal, or will he or she just be a figurehead who creates the illusion of detachment from Biden Justice Department supervision but actually retains the same Biden Justice Department lawyers? (As I noted earlier in the week, the Mar-a-Lago documents case is still being run by Jay Bratt, the same Biden Justice Department official who investigated it prior to the special-counsel appointment of Jack Smith.)
Third, will the special counsel be given a sweeping mandate to investigate and prosecute any and all crimes uncovered in an inquiry into the Biden family influence-peddling business (much like Garland gave Jack Smith a sweeping mandate to investigate Donald Trump for document-retention crimes, post-2020-election crimes, and any other crimes discovered during the probe)? Or will Garland draw a narrow remit that limits the special counsel to Hunter Biden’s tax and gun crimes?
We’ll know soon enough.