A rare instance where I largely agree with Bill Barr!
Actually, this is a situation where Barr, that insidious agent of the Deep State, has outflanked me on the left. I think there probably should be a special counsel to deal with the investigation of Hunter Biden. Not because Hunter's possible tax offenses are so important (they likely aren't), but because I doubt that any administration can be trusted to do an objective investigation of the president's own son (or the president himself, or any other close family member). FWIW, I supported the appointment of Mueller for similar reasons.
If the special counsel concludes Hunter Biden did nothing wrong, or that he only committed minor violations that can be dealt with in a civil settlement, that finding will be more readily accepted by skeptics than if a regular Biden DOJ investigator concluded the same thing.
If Biden's new AG chooses not to appoint a special counsel, the new administration still won't be nearly as bad as Trump's when it comes to egregious conflicts of interest. But "not as bad as Trump" is a very low standard to aspire to. To adapt Biden's own slogan, we should build back better than that!
