WILMINGTON, Del. — The revelation that federal prosecutors have launched a tax investigation into president-elect Joe Biden's son Hunter is now looming over the incoming administration's transition efforts.
Reports Wednesday that federal authorities are investigating Hunter Biden's business in China is reviving distracting storylines and complicating the choice of an attorney general who would have to oversee a probe into Biden's son.
The Associated Press has reported that Biden transition officials were considering nominating outgoing Sen. Doug Jones, D-Alabama, or Merrick Garland — President Barack Obama's nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court in 2016.
But because Jones and Garland have longtime ties to Biden, the president-elect may choose to nominate someone else in the hopes of eliminating accusations of bias.
President Donald Trump's initial public response was surprisingly muted, just a pair of tweets about a Fox News segment. But privately, he was demanding to know why the investigation was not revealed ahead of Election Day.
Other Republicans, including possible presidential contenders, were anything but shy in piling on, questioning the integrity of the president-elect as well as his son.