Speaking to a reporter on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) offered fervent support for the idea of appointing a special counsel to look into the Bidens. In other words, in line with past investigative benders targeting prominent Democrats, the Great Republican Hand-Wringing has begun, no matter Republicans’ own dismissal of the glaring corruption concerns surrounding the Trump administration for essentially its entire runtime. On Wednesday, Graham suggested that the natural successor to support of the work of Special Counsel Robert Mueller would be support for a special counsel to look into the Bidens, but suggesting that there’s any kind of one-to-one relationship between the core issues is simply false.
Asked about whether he’d discussed the possibility with the president of a new special counsel to investigate the Bidens, Graham said that he had not, although he is “absolutely calling on a special counsel to look at all things Hunter Biden to see if he presents a conflict for the Biden administration regarding his business dealings in Ukraine, which is overrun with Russian agents, and any activity he had with the Chinese government.”
Graham further explained as follows:
‘I think it’s a good idea… if you believe a special counsel was needed to look at the Trump world regarding Russia, how can you say that there is no need for a special counsel regarding Hunter Biden? It’s [not just] the allegation of tax evasion, which is being looked at, and he’s presumed innocent, but his business dealings — these emails about setting up an office and giving a key to the vice president, Joe Biden, and his uncle. I don’t know if that’s accurate or not, but how far integrated into the Ukrainian economy did Hunter Biden get when he was on the board of Burisma?.. Somebody needs to look at his business dealings with China and see if any crimes were committed, but mainly, I think, to just see what kind of conflicts, if any, the Biden administration may have.’
Check out Graham’s comments below:
“If you believe a Special Counsel was needed to look at the Trump world regarding Russia, how can you say that there is no need for a Special Counsel regarding Hunter Biden?” — @LindseyGrahamSC pic.twitter.com/2dv9YRGmyF
— Kevin Bishop (@KevinDBishop) December 16, 2020
There’s no credible suspicion of any kind of Biden collusion with Russia, or any other foreign country, for that matter, although the Russia collusion scandal drove Mueller’s work. Mueller didn’t investigate the Trumps on the basis of some kind of political suggestion based on circumstantial evidence from Senators of a rival political party.
Issues like potential conflicts of interest don’t automatically demand the investigative work of a special counsel. Besides, entirely unlike the Trumps’ case, there’s no apparent legitimate proof of a connection between President-elect Joe Biden and the business that his family members have been involved in. Biden campaign spokesperson Andrew Bates has insisted that the now president-elect “has never even considered being involved in business with his family, nor in any overseas business whatsoever.”
During a recent post-election interview, Biden insisted that his family “will not be involved in any business, any enterprise, that is in conflict with or appears to be in conflict, with the appropriate distance from the presidency and government.” In sharp contrast, Trump himself has maintained a financial stake in his globe-spanning business for his entire presidency.
