President Donald Trump is considering pushing to have a special counsel appointed to advance a federal tax investigation into the son of President-elect Joe Biden, setting up a potential showdown with incoming acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen.
Mr. Trump — angry that outgoing Attorney General William Barr didn’t publicly announce the ongoing, two-year investigation into Hunter Biden — has consulted on the matter with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, White House counsel Pat Cipollone and outside allies.
Dual agenda
That’s according to several Trump administration officials and Republicans close to the White House who spoke to on the condition of anonymity to discuss private matters.
Beyond appointing a special prosecutor to investigate the younger Biden, the sources said Mr. Trump is interested in having another special counsel appointed to look into his own claims of election fraud. But if he’s expecting his newly named acting Attorney General to go further than Mr. Barr on either matter, he could end up quickly disappointed.
Mr. Barr on Monday evening announced he will resign effective next week, revealing his plans about a week after Hunter Biden publicly disclosed that he was under investigation related to his finances. It is generally Justice Department policy not to disclose investigations that are in progress, though the subjects of those investigations can.
Rosen, the deputy attorney general, will step into the Justice Department’s top job in an acting role.
Mr. Trump is still weighing his options, considering whether to pressure Rosen to make the special counsel appointment or, if needed, to replace the acting attorney general with someone more likely to carry out his wishes.
