The Biden administration will ask U.S. attorneys appointed by President Trump to resign from their posts, but the prosecutor overseeing the tax probe tied to Hunter Biden, the president’s son, will remain in place, a senior Justice Department official told Fox News late Monday.
The fate of U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who runs the office in Delaware, has been the source of some speculation. It is standard procedure for new presidents to ask for the resignation of all U.S. attorneys once they enter the office. But Fox News peppered the Biden transition team with questions about Weiss’ future and his team did take an official stance. Biden has promised to restore the Justice Department’s independence from the White House.
The senior official also told Fox that John Durham, the U.S. district attorney in Connecticut who was named special counsel to investigate the origins of the FBI probe into the 2016 election, will resign from his position, but he will stay on as special counsel, the source said.
The transition is expected to begin on Tuesday and could take weeks to complete.
The DOJ has been investigating the finances of Hunter Biden, including scrutinizing some of his Chinese business dealings and other transactions. The tax investigation was launched in 2018, the year before the elder Biden announced his candidacy for president. Hunter Biden confirmed the existence of the investigation in December after a round of subpoenas was issued in the case.
Trump and his allies have accused Hunter Bidden of profiting off his political connections, and have also raised questions about his work in Ukraine at the time his father was vice president and leading the Obama administration’s dealings with the Eastern European nation.
Sources familiar with Durham’s investigation told Fox News last week that the prosecution of high-level FBI officials, like former Director James Comey, is “unlikely.” Durham completed the CIA portion of his investigation last year — and has now shifted his focus to activities of the FBI, the sources said.
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Sen. Lindsey Graham, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, urged acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson to “refrain from interfering” in Durham’s investigation and the federal investigation into Hunter Biden’s “tax affairs” while the Senate works to confirm Biden’s nominee to lead the Justice Department.
Fox News’ David Spunt, Brooke Singman and the Associated Press contributed to this report
