The Hunter Biden Special Counsel Is a Scandal

There has been speculation about why a special counsel is now being appointed for the Hunter Biden case (“A Not-So-Special Counsel for Hunter,” Review & Outlook, Aug. 12). One line of thought is the appointment makes clear that there is a continuing investigation, which will then be given as a reason for the Justice Department to refuse or greatly limit its cooperation with the congressional committees investigating the Hunter Biden matter.

Very likely that is one of the reasons. But the more important one, in my view, is so that Special Counsel David Weiss has clear legal authority to enter into a plea bargain that will include all the possible charges against Hunter Biden in all jurisdictions. In effect, this would immunize the younger Mr. Biden from prosecution for all his past activities.

The plea bargain will likely be a little tougher than the one that fell apart under a judge’s scrutiny, but it will still be a sweetheart deal. It will be presented to a Biden-friendly judge in a jurisdiction chosen by the special counsel. That is the way it looks from here.

Don Stenberg

Gretna, Neb.

Mr. Stenberg was Nebraska’s attorney general, 1991-2003, and treasurer, 2011-19.

Medieval kings, according to a political theology of the day, had two bodies. The body natural was the king’s body in our common sense. His “body politic” was the mystical but also the legal incorporation of his whole realm. Now, we are expected to accept that Mr. Weiss has two prosecutorial bodies, one as U.S. attorney for Delaware, where he is subject to the bureaucratic and hierarchical machinery of the Justice Department, and another, as special counsel, where he is subject only to the direct but limited oversight of Attorney General Merrick Garland.

This is close to nonsense in itself, and in both cases it is contrary to the Code of Federal Regulations, which states clearly in Title 28, Chapter VI, Part 600, Section 3a: “The Special Counsel shall be selected from outside the United States Government.” It also states that “Special Counsels shall agree that their responsibilities as Special Counsel shall take first precedence in their professional lives, and that it may be necessary to devote their full time to the investigation, depending on its complexity and the stage of the investigation.”

Em. Prof. Michael Mendle

University of Alabama

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Has any attorney general ever appointed as special counsel a subordinate who has already agreed to a plea bargain that included immunity for the offenses that are now to be investigated further? Which AG picked as special counsel a prosecutor who had already let the statute of limitations run on one of the most serious charges to be investigated? Which AG appointed a subordinate who had been accused by colleagues of questionable conduct in relation to the investigation he will now run with a free hand?

Eugene, Ore.