Senate Republicans seek special counsel authority

More than 30 Senate Republicans asked Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday to give the federal prosecutor who has been investigating Hunter Biden for several years “special counsel protections and authorities.”

The group, which includes Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, wrote in a letter to Garland that the move is warranted because the criminal investigation involves President Joe Biden‘s son. They also contended it would “avoid the appearance of impropriety.”

Giving U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss special counsel authority would also “provide additional assurances to the American people that the Hunter Biden investigation is free from political influence,” the letter argued.

If Garland honors the request, it could give Republicans and Democrats in Congress insight into the grounds for any future decision by Weiss on whether to prosecute Hunter Biden. Lawmakers might not otherwise get that justification if Weiss is not granted special counsel status.

Giving Weiss that status also would force Garland to explain to Congress any disagreement he had with an action proposed by Weiss during the probe, up to and including a recommendation that Hunter Biden be charged.

Former President Donald Trump and his GOP allies have for years used Hunter Biden and his business dealings to lodge attacks against the president.

Hunter disclosed the existence of the criminal probe in late 2020, shortly after his father was elected president. He said that he had been informed that Weiss was looking into his “tax affairs.”

“I take this matter very seriously but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors,” Hunter said at the time.

In their Monday letter to Garland, the Republican senators wrote, “There is no way of knowing the entire scope of the investigation, but evidence seems to be mounting that Hunter Biden committed numerous federal crimes, including, but not limited, to tax fraud, money laundering, and foreign-lobbying violations.”

However, Hunter Biden has not been charged with any of those crimes. It is not clear if he will ever be charged.

An Arkansas woman who had a child by Hunter Biden out of wedlock testified before a federal grand jury in Delaware earlier this year as part of the criminal probe, her lawyer told CNBC in March. The lawyer, Clint Lancaster, also said that the woman had handed over a significant amount of Hunter’s financial records to federal investigators.

“I expect him to be indicted,” Lancaster said about Biden at the time. “Just based on what I saw in his financial records, I would be surprised if he’s not indicted.”

Hunter Biden’s criminal defense lawyer Christopher Clark did not immediately respond to a request for…