Firing a special counsel is exceedingly difficult, as anyone who followed the saga of President Donald Trump vs. Robert Mueller can attest. Now, former Vice President Joe Biden may face a similar quandary if he manages to be sworn into the presidency on Jan. 20.
That’s because last week, Attorney General Bill Barr announced he had provided the prosecutor he appointed to look into the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation with special counsel status.
While the move to provide John Durham with extra protection from firing had been made in October, Barr didn’t announce it until after the election.
“Although I had expected Mr. Durham to complete his work by the summer of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as additional information he uncovered, prevented him from doing so.” Barr wrote in a letter to both the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Judiciary committees.
“In advance of the presidential election, I decided to appoint Mr. Durham as a Special Counsel to provide him and his team with the assurance that they could complete their work, without regard to the outcome of the election.”
“The more I study what Attorney General Bill Barr did in his secret October order naming the Connecticut U.S. attorney as a special counsel, the more devilishly clever it seems — and the bigger the pickle it creates for Barr’s successor,” Wittes wrote in a Friday piece.
“This, presumably, is Barr’s intention. Untangling this knot is going to take no small amount of diplomacy, lawyering and finesse. And a false move in any of several directions could create a real mess.”
AG Barr is a careful lawyer. Wheels of justice do run slowly at times; we all wish they’d be faster in putting the bad guys on the spot. But I favor indictments that lead to convictions over PR stunts. In a Trump second term the pace can be greatly accelerated.
But I expect the Hunter investigation in DE to be dropped, effectively, like a rock if his father ever is sworn in. New admins routinely ask for the resignations of US Attorneys, and the inertia & MSM will kneecap the query. OTOH, Slow Joe might appoint Hunter to the post if CCPDems run the Senate.