Biden names Hunter Biden’s old colleague to helm Office of the Special Counsel

News

By Ryan King

President Biden selected an old legal colleague of his son Hunter Biden to helm the US Office of Special Counsel, whose primary purpose is protecting whistleblowers — like the ones who have alleged political interference in the five-year-old probe of the presidential scion.

Hampton Dellinger, nominated by Biden for the post of US Special Counsel Wednesday, worked on the Crisis Management and Government Response team at Boies Schiller Flexner in 2014.

Hunter Biden tapped that firm to assist Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings in 2014 and had dinner with Dellinger and others in March that same year, emails from his abandoned laptop show.

The younger Biden served on the board of Burisma from 2014 to 2019. It is unclear whether Dellinger did any legal work on Burisma’s behalf.

Back in July, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), and other Republicans urged current Special Counsel Henry Kerner to probe claims of retaliation by IRS supervisory agent Gary Shapley and agent Joseph Ziegler.

Those whistleblowers have accused the Justice Department of meddling and favoritism in the sprawling inquiry of Hunter Biden.

Kerner has served in his role since late October 2017 and heads of the OSC serve five-year terms.

Dellinger was confirmed by the Senate in late 2021 to serve as the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general to oversee the Office of Legal Policy.

He worked in that capacity until June 2023, according to the White House.

“[Dellinger] work has led to taxpayer savings by overturning unnecessarily costly bid awards. His writings on a range of topics include criticism of government actions and proposals for public sector improvements,” the White House said in a statement.

Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty Tuesday to three federal gun charges after a tentative plea deal with federal prosecutors imploded dramatically during a July court hearing.

Last month, House Republicans opened an impeachment inquiry against the president to examine whether he benefited from his family’s business activities.

Biden has been adamant that he was not involved in his son’s overseas interests, despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary.