Trump has advanced the idea in meetings with advisers and has even gone as far as asking for the names of potential appointees for the special council positions, according to one of the people briefed on Trump’s talks.
The matter of special counsel seems poised to become a major issue in the closing days of Trump’s presidency, as he works to finalize his long-awaited priorities, paralyze the upcoming administration and exact political revenge on those he says. wronged him during his tenure.
Trump remains deeply saddened by the special council investigation led by Robert Mueller into the ties between his campaign and Russia.
Some of Trump’s aides have signaled to allies that the president intends to go ahead with the moves, although it remains unclear how and when Trump could raise the issue with the Justice Department, which will undergo a change in leadership next week when attorney General William Barr resigns.
Under Justice Department rules, a special counsel must be appointed by the attorney general, although Trump has questioned his team whether he can name one himself, according to a person familiar with the case.
But right now there is no obvious replacement who might be more willing to fulfill Trump’s wishes. A person familiar with the case predicted that Trump would eventually be persuaded to fire Rosen, although he has become more unpredictable than ever at the end of his tenure.
Trump’s interest in special counsel was first reported by The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press.
In addition to the special counsel issue, Trump is considering firing more members of his administration and is considering a long list of petitions for clemency.
Trump has been interested in a special council to investigate voter fraud for several weeks, according to a person familiar with the matter. There is no evidence to support his allegations of widespread voter fraud, and courts have repeatedly ruled on him for trying to reverse the election results.
The Hunter Biden investigation – and in particular the revelation that Barr prevented it from going public before the election – has become a fixation on Trump’s as he wallows in his election loss. It created an existing rift between the president and Barr, with Trump outraged that his attorney general had not allowed the news to go public until voters cast their votes.
Ultimately, White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, brought the president and Barr together for a meeting on Monday that led to Barr submitting his resignation. Sources warmly called the meeting despite Trump’s anger, and the president then tweeted that his relationship with Barr was “very good.”
It’s unclear whether Trump ever directly advanced the idea of special counsel to Barr, although his interest in mentioning them is publicly known and several of his allies have expressed support.
The federal law governing the special council lays down the specific conditions under which an attorney general can appoint one, which apparently are not currently met. Those conditions include that an attorney general is denied and that the investigation creates a conflict of interest for the department, and that it is in the public interest to appoint one.
Within the Justice Department and the agencies leading the Hunter Biden investigation, one concern remains that any intervention by Trump to appoint special counsel could cause politicization and encroachment on what officials see as a legitimate investigation. said one person who was briefed on the matter.
Senate Speaker Lindsey Graham said on Wednesday that he has not spoken to Trump about appointing special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden, but said he thinks it is a “ good idea. ” The South Carolina Republican said he felt a potential special counsel should investigate not only allegations related to Biden’s taxes, but also his business dealings with other countries, including China and Ukraine.
Another Trump ally in the judiciary, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, disagreed.
“ If the Biden transition team speaks on behalf of Biden and he says the president will not interfere with what is happening at the Justice Department, I don’t think we need any special counsel, but if we had special counsel, it would be so. protect us from possible interference, of course, ”Grassley said.
Democrats on the judicial panel said they believed the Hunter Biden case was better left without the involvement of special counsel. Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin noted that the federal investigation into the younger Biden’s taxes has “been going on for a while.”
“I hope President Biden’s selection of Attorney General makes it clear that a person of honesty and integrity can look at this for the first time and handle it properly,” he said.
On Monday, the Justice Department declined to comment on the prospect of a special counsel or Trump firing Rosen.
In August, Rosen expressed his views on political interference with the Justice Department during a public conversation at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
“I think it is critical that we have confidence in the independence and impartiality of our justice system because we are a rule of law,” he said. “We are a country where the rule of law rules. We are not a country where courts can act on the basis of arbitrariness, skew, whims, bias, political affiliation.”