Hunter Biden investigator needs special counsel protections: Barr

The prosecutor investigating Hunter Biden needs special counsel protections in the wake of damning whistleblower allegations, former Attorney General Bill Barr says.

Barr made the explosive remarks in the wake of allegations that FBI agents wrongly labeled accurate information about President Joe Biden’s son as false.

“I think, probably, it’s time for Merrick Garland to give the current U.S. attorney in Delaware the protections and the authority of the special counsel under the department’s regulations,” Barr told CBS News, adding, “I think, to provide additional assurance and to deal with the appearance of a potential conflict between the administration and the investigation of the president’s son, that it’s time to do that.”

HUNTER BIDEN EVIDENCE WRONGLY LABELED DISINFORMATION BY FBI: WHISTLEBLOWER

Hunter Biden attends a Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony honoring 17 recipients, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, July 7, 2022.

SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

“I think Merrick Garland did the right thing when he came in and left the Republican U.S. attorney in Delaware in office to continue the investigation, but there are other components of justice involved in the criminal division that are not under the direct authority of that U.S. attorney, and now, we have questions about — we have whistleblowers coming forward, multiple ones apparently, that raise questions about some of the FBI’s role in that case.”

The former Trump attorney general added, “I think there has to be some assurance that this thing is going to be pursued, as he [Garland] likes to say, without fear or favor.”

David Weiss, the U.S. attorney for Delaware, is running the criminal investigation into Hunter Biden. Barr declined to appoint a special counsel in 2020 but says Attorney General Merrick Garland should grant those powers to Weiss.

Whistleblower allegations emerged last month that FBI supervisory intelligence agent Brian Auten opened an assessment in August 2020, which was used by FBI headquarters to label accurate information about Hunter Biden as false, according to disclosures made public by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA). A whistleblower said Timothy Thibault, the FBI assistant special agent in charge of the Washington Field Office, shut down a line of inquiry into Hunter Biden in October 2020 despite some of the details being known to be true at the time.

CONTROVERSIAL HUNTER BIDEN FBI BRIEFING BACK IN SPOTLIGHT AFTER WHISTLEBLOWER CLAIMS

FBI Director Christopher Wray said he “found it deeply troubling” when asked about the whistleblower allegations last week.

Barr publicly rejected the idea of appointing a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden when asked about it in late December 2020 during his final days as attorney general.

“I think that, to the extent that there is an investigation, I think that it is being handled responsibly and professionally currently within the department,” Barr said. “And, to this point, I have not seen a reason to appoint a special counsel.”

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“If I had appointed a special counsel, I’m not sure that that person would still be around, because it would’ve looked at that point as if I was trying to, you know, ‘We lost the election. Take this!’ I think I would’ve put them in a position, maybe, where they could’ve said that was just a political move,” Barr said in May, adding, “I was very confident that when I left, Weiss would be — would continue, continue his job. I was very confident in that, and I’ve been proven right.”

The president’s son revealed he was under federal investigation for his taxes shortly after the 2020 election, and he is reportedly being scrutinized for potential money laundering, as well as for possible foreign lobbying violations under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.