The news on Hunter Biden is not good, or at least it’s not good if your name is Joe Biden. After years of various reports, it has been confirmed that the son of the (trigger warning for Chris Wallace) former vice president is under federal investigation. And while Hunter and his dad tried to spin this as a routine tax matter, the real story is that they are looking into money laundering and other serious crimes.

Given that, and given that Joe Biden is probably going to be the next president (at least for a little while), the next question becomes how exactly this investigation should be handled. Tom Cotton has one idea, and I believe he’s exactly correct.

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Here we go.

Cotton calls for special counsel to investigate Hunter Bidenhttps://t.co/6UK88JF2O9

— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) December 10, 2020

Sen. Tom Cotton (Ark.), a Republican with his eye on a potential White House run in 2024, on Thursday said a special counsel should be appointed to investigate Hunter Biden, President-elect Joe Biden’s son.

Cotton alleged during a Fox News interview that Hunter Biden appears to be the subject of a far-ranging investigation and cited allegations of securities fraud, money laundering and “a crooked hospital deal with Jim Biden, Joe Biden’s brother” in Western Pennsylvania.

“These investigations span multiple jurisdictions and if Joe Biden becomes president then all of those prosecutors are in line to be fired next month. If there were ever circumstances that created a conflict of interest and called for a special counsel, I think those circumstances are present here,” Cotton said.

“The Biden family has been trading on Joe Biden’s public office for fifty years,” he added. “Do we really think that that will change if Joe Biden becomes president, the highest office in the land?”

There is no other play here if you think about it. If Biden takes office, he would appoint the next Attorney General. Further, he would have direct control over the DOJ and the ability to dictate matters to that AG. If Biden wants them to back off his son, all he’d have to do is say the word. Further, as Cotton points out, Biden will also likely fire every federal prosecutor when he takes office. That would include the U.S. Attorney in Delaware that is currently heading up the inquiry into Hunter Biden. All it would take is a Biden loyalist being put in that position and the investigation is made moot.

These are things that can’t be allowed to happen. At no point during the Trump presidency was there ever a possible conflict of interest this bad, yet the media lost their minds constantly. They should be doing so now, though we know that’s not going to happen.

AG Bill Barr needs to act now. There’s absolutely nothing to lose here by appointing a special counsel and tying Joe Biden’s hands. But this isn’t about political payback and just handcuffing Biden to punish him, though that’d be more than fair given how Trump was treated. This is about a serious criminal inquiry that should be protected. Barr can not leave office without dealing with this.

That more Republicans aren’t screaming about this is discouraging. Tom Cotton always does the right thing. Where’s Ben Sasse? Mitt Romney? Lindsey Graham? This is an easy call.

If you supported the Mueller investigation because of conflicts of interest, you should be screaming from the rooftops for a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden. Joe Biden can't investigate his own son. Where are all the pro-Mueller GOPers who couldn't shut up for 3 yrs?

— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) December 10, 2020

I mean really, where's Ben Sasse and Mitt Romney on Hunter Biden and a special counsel? They can't stop putting out statements when they get to sneer at Trump but they are going to sit idle with Joe Biden possibly overseeing his own son's investigation?

— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) December 10, 2020

Trump has to force Barr’s hand here if it comes down to that. Again, there is absolutely nothing to lose by taking action and doing what is obviously the right, ethical thing. Joe Biden can not be allowed to oversee his own son’s investigation, period.

(Please follow me on Twitter! @bonchieredstate)