Trump says it would be ‘appropriate’ to talk to attorney general about opening investigation into Joe Biden

‘Does anyone doubt that this could have catastrophic consequences for democratic and electoral legitimacy?’ says legal expert

(AFP/Getty)

US president Donald Trump has said he thinks it would be “appropriate” for him to talk to attorney general William Barr about opening an investigation into Joe Biden, the current frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination.

In an interview with Politico, Mr Trump said he and Mr Barr had not considered an inquiry into his potential 2020 election opponent – but he did not rule it out either, saying “certainly it would be an appropriate thing to” discuss.

“Certainly it is a very big issue and we’ll see what happens,” the president told the website.

“I have not spoken to him about it. Would I speak to him about it? I haven’t thought of that. I mean, you’re asking me a question I just haven’t thought of.”

The suggestion that Mr Trump would contemplate directing his Justice Department to investigate Mr Biden drew condemnation from some legal experts, who said the idea smacked of an abuse of power.

“Does anyone doubt that this could have catastrophic consequences for democratic and electoral legitimacy?” tweeted Susan Hennessey, executive editor of legal website Lawfare.

“Yet we seem to be hurtling towards this possibility with no one, certainly not congressional Republicans, drawing the line.”

In the Politico interview, Mr Trump weighed the idea of an investigation into Mr Biden in response to allegations that the former vice president had inappropriate interactions with the Ukrainian government while his son Hunter Biden was working for a gas company run by one of the country’s oligarchs.

There is no evidence that Mr Biden’s conduct was improper and at least one expert has said the accusations did not hold up.

Yet that didn’t stop Mr Trump from saying it “could be a very big situation” for Mr Biden.

“Because he’s a Democrat it’s about 1/100 the size of the fact that if he were a Republican, it would be a lot bigger,” he told Politico.

Mr Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, also said on Friday that he had been travelling to Kiev to urge Ukrainian officials to open an investigation of their own.

“Explain to me why Biden shouldn’t be investigated,” Mr Giuliani said, responding to criticism from Democrat senator Chris Murphy.

Some on the left have seized on the president’s comments, saying they bolster Democrats’ case for impeachment.

Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe argued Mr Trump is “all but certain to abuse his powers as president to undermine the campaign of whoever his opponent turns out to be”.

Longtime Democratic adviser Ronald Klain warned: “If he can do this to Joe Biden, he can do this to any other Democrat. If he can do this to any Democrat, he can do this to any Republican in Trump’s way. If he can do this any political rival, he can do this to any American.”

Mr Trump’s comments come the week after William Barr appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee and seemed to stumble over his answer to questions from Kamala Harris about Trump-directed investigations.

Ms Harris asked Mr Barr whether the president or any other White House official had ever suggested that he open an investigation into someone.

After an exchange, the attorney general told Ms Harris: “I don’t know.”

The Washington Post