{...
Current regulations
Since the expiration of the independent counsel statute in 1999, there has been no federal statutory law governing the appointment of a special counsel. Upon the law's expiration in 1999, the Justice Department, under Attorney General Janet Reno, promulgated procedural regulations governing the appointment of special counsels.
In 1999, these regulations were used by Reno to appoint
John Danforth special counsel to investigate the FBI's handling of the
Waco siege.
[18]
In 2003, during the
George W. Bush administration,
Patrick Fitzgerald was appointed special counsel to investigate the
Plame affair by
Deputy Attorney General James Comey after the
recusal of Attorney General
John Ashcroft.
On May 17, 2017, former
FBI Director Robert Mueller was
appointed special counsel to take over the previous FBI investigation of
Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election by Deputy Attorney General
Rod Rosenstein after the recusal of Attorney General
Jeff Sessions.
[19]
In December 2020,
Attorney General William Barr revealed to Congress that
John Durham's investigation had been granted special counsel status on October 19.
On November 18, 2022,
United States Attorney General Merrick Garland named
Jack Smith special counsel to investigate
Donald Trump's actions regarding the
January 6 United States Capitol attack and
handling of classified documents.
[20]
On January 12, 2023,
Merrick Garland appointed
Robert Hur special counsel to investigate
Joe Biden's
storage of classified materials.[21]
On August 11, 2023
Merrick Garland appointed
David C. Weiss special counsel to investigate
Joe Biden's son
Hunter Biden stemming from nearly five years of federal investigations into felony tax evasion, illegal foreign lobbying, money laundering, and other possible crimes.
[22] This development came shortly Republicans alleged that Hunter received a "sweet heart" deal in Delaware where he was facing several criminal charges relates to tax evasion and firearm offenses.
[23]
The current regulations can be found in
Part 600 of Title 28 of the
Code of Federal Regulations.
...}
So I am unsure.
Seems like there is precident?
I will have to look up
Part 600 of Title 28 of the
Code of Federal Regulations.