Hunter Biden issue isn’t going away
Since his election, Joe Biden has kept his focus firmly on his prospective personnel and policy plans, mostly ignoring at least publicly such potential distractions as President Donald Trump’s legal maneuvers and his son Hunter’s legal problems.
Until Monday night, he had rarely commented on his defeated opponent’s increasingly farfetched legal steps and verbal rejoinders.
Biden has limited comments on Hunter to expressions of paternal love and confidence that his son did nothing wrong. But the legal issues aren’t going away about Hunter Biden’s questionable overseas business activities during and after his father’s vice presidency.
Hunter’s problems are providing a crucial first test of the president- elect’s vow to restore Justice Department independence from White House influence.
Some Republicans are urging appointment of a special counsel to remove investigations of Hunter from the jurisdiction of the next attorney general, who will be nominated by Biden and confirmed by the Senate.
The entire concept of special counsels has come under question again since Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian influence in the 2016 Trump campaign. Whether one is warranted for Hunter Biden, both ethics and politics will require Biden’s attorney general to separate himself from the ongoing probes.
One alternative is recusal from the investigation by assigning jurisdiction to one of the attorney general’s deputies.
Recusal would especially be necessary if Biden picks outgoing Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama, a former U.S. attorney with whom he has long had a close professional and personal relationship.
Biden could reduce the problem by naming someone less closely tied to him personally, like federal appeals Judge Merrick Garland.
In any case, Biden needs to avoid starting his tenure with unnecessary ethical distractions.
The issues surrounding the Hunter Biden case are familiar in at least two ways. A presidential offspring or sibling taking advantage of the access afforded by familial ties has unfortunately been a recurrent problem. Recent examples include the savings and loan problems of George H.W. Bush’s son Neil, the paid lobbying for Libya by Jimmy Carter’s brother Billy, and the various ways Trump’s children have sought to monetize the current presidency.
The need to maintain Justice Department independence is also a recurring issue, usually after the kinds of violations that occurred during the Watergate scandal of the 1970s or in the current administration.
Besides probing Hunter Biden, some reports indicate investigators may be looking at potentially questionable activities by the president- elect’s brother, James. Though neither instance has revealed evidence directly involving Biden himself, he clearly should have exercised more control over his son’s and his brother’s efforts to benefit from his stature.
Hunter’s case, meanwhile, is complicated by what The New York Times says was Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani’s role in forwarding evidence to a federal prosecutor in Pittsburgh. But that won’t matter if the younger Biden failed to report all of his overseas income on his tax return, as NBC News has suggested.
Fortunately, thanks to Attorney General William Barr, the Hunter Biden probe remained secret during the recent campaign. While that outraged Trump, it is the normal Justice Department procedure, just as the Democrats kept the initial investigation of the Trump campaign’s Russia ties secret until after the 2016 election.
Whatever the ultimate bottom line, the president- elect needs to ensure the probe is kept independent of his White House, lest legal damage to his son result in unneeded political damage to him.