House leaders are cool to the idea of a Hunter Biden Special Counsel — even as calls for one to be empowered continue to grow.
Hunter Biden and his father President Biden have both been the subject of a Republican-led House Oversight Committee probe since the 2022 midterms returned control of the chamber to the GOP.
Republican leaders believe a special counsel could short-circuit their momentum.
“A special counsel issues a report but as we have seen with [Special Counsel John Durham] you are basically beholden to waiting around for a report for years, rather than being able to actively engage in investigations. Special counsels are slow. They operate on their own time and rarely would that be in the best interest of Congressional oversight,” noted one senior House staffer close to GOP leadership.
On Wednesday, IRS whistleblower Joseph Ziegler publicly reiterated his call for a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden’s sweetheart deal with the Department of Justice, which allowed the First Son to skirt felony prosecution for tax evasion.
“I still think that a special counsel is necessary for this investigation, to further handle ancillary investigations that are spun off and relate to Hunter Biden but may not have venue in Delaware,” Ziegler testified before the House Oversight Committee.
One of the few top Republicans to call for a special counsel has been House Judiciary boss Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who said just weeks ago that if a special counsel is “not warranted here, when is it?” People close to Jordan, however, say he has reconsidered that position.