Trump dismisses Attorney General Barr over failure to reveal Hunter Biden investigation

Trump, unaware of the investigation, had called for a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden.

By David Isaac, World Israel News

Attorney General William Barr, once one of President Donald Trump’s staunchest allies, is departing the administration under a cloud after it became known he ordered the tax investigation into the president-elect’s son Hunter Biden kept under wraps until after the election.

Trump, unaware of the investigation, had called for a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden after incriminating emails emerged from one of Hunter’s laptops.

Republican lawmakers made the same request, writing to Barr in October to investigate Hunter and Joe Biden for irregular business dealings. They said the American people deserved to know if the former vice president “received foreign monies during his tenure in the Obama administration” and “allowed his son to peddle access” to him with foreign firms.

Barr ignored their letter.  He “instructed prosecutors and senior colleagues to prevent word of investigations into Hunter Biden from becoming public and keep the Justice Department out of campaign politics, according to people familiar with the matter,” The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

Barr was following to the letter Justice Department policy, which warns that “prosecutors may never select the timing of investigative steps or criminal charges for the purpose of affecting any election, or for the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party.”

Instead of Barr announcing the investigation, Hunter Biden himself did so last week.

Barr’s actions are reportedly what led to his dismissal. Trump tweeted on Monday, “As per letter, Bill will be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family.”

Trump expressed his disagreement with Barr on Fox News on Sunday, saying “Joe Biden lied on the debate stage, He said there’s nothing happening, nothing happening, and Bill Barr should have stepped up.”

“All he had to do is say an investigation is going on. And by the way, I don’t want to say anything bad happened to Hunter Biden. Whatever it is, it is the facts, but I don’t want to say anything bad happened to Hunter Biden. And I purposely stay out of it,” Trump continued.

“But when you affect an election … when they are saying things, making statements and the press is purposely not reporting it, Bill Barr, I believe – not believe I know – had an obligation to set the record straight,” the president said.

Barr did earn praise from Sen. Lindsey Graham, Republican leader of the judiciary committee.

“I think he did an incredibly good job trying to repair damage done to the Department of Justice, trying to be fair and faithful to the law. I think he’s got a lot to be proud of,” Graham said.

“He fought for the president where he could, as every attorney general and administration should, but he also didn’t cross lines that he shouldn’t have crossed,” he said, referring to his not disclosing the Biden investigation.

Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen will become acting attorney general.

AP contributed to this report.