A Biden family-connected U.S. attorney faced accusations of retaliation after an alleged “power trip” blocked a federal prosecutor assigned to the president’s son from his own office.
The ongoing investigations of President Joe Biden’s alleged criminal bribery, his son Hunter Biden’s foreign business deals and his varied federal charges dredged up new concerns over a potentially weaponized Justice Department.
A new report from the New York Post detailed allegations of retaliation from the Biden-appointed U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Jacqueline C. Romero against her own Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Hines after he accepted a temporary role to investigate and prosecute the president’s son.
The newspaper reported, “After Hines accepted the Hunter Biden detail, a move Romero ultimately did not block, the Philadelphia US Attorney’s Office terminated Hines’ access to his downtown office building, typically gained through a badge known as a Personal Identity Verification card, the three sources said.”
According to the outlet, Romero, who had previously been named on a list of Biden administration officials House Republicans sought testimony from, had worked with the president’s son Beau Biden at the same office in the years before his 2015 death.
Here are 42 Biden admin. officials who made it on House Republicans’ accountability list https://t.co/mLhWElqLQ8 pic.twitter.com/LZ1wmxdC7k
— BPR (@BIZPACReview) November 28, 2022
The sources that spoke with the Post expressed that, in addition to her connection to the deceased Biden, the U.S. attorney “left little doubt that she believed Hunter shouldn’t face charges.”
A representative for Romero denied those allegations to the newspaper along with a claim that First Assistant U.S. Attorney Nelson Thayer, Romero’s lieutenant, had expressed that Hines had been “banned” from the office.
“AUSA Thayer did not communicate to colleagues that AUSA Hines was ‘banned’ from the office,” the spokeswoman said.
Reports from the office differed as one current employee told the Post that Hines would have “to go up and sign in like any other visitor” even though he was still employed by the office while another individual told the outlet the situation was “absolutely symbolic of [Romero] being on a power trip and thinking she can get away with anything.”
“The representations about AUSA Hines’ details are inaccurate. US Attorney Romero never discouraged Derek Hines from accepting the details. In fact, she did support, authorize, and sign off on his detail,” the spokeswoman claimed to the Post. “Members of this office had relationships with Beau Biden, as colleagues, friends, and supervisors, when he was an Assistant US Attorney here. USA Romero does not have a relationship with the Biden family and didn’t express any view on the merits of the Hunter Biden investigation.”
“AUSA Hines’ office was not taken away. It sits untouched, awaiting his return. When his detail is concluded, the office looks forward to him resuming his duties here as an Assistant US Attorney,” the statement added, but sources also suggested to the newspaper that the reason was because many were still working from home.
Reacting to the alleged retaliation, House Oversight and Accountability chair Kentucky Rep. James Comer (R) told the Post “the latest allegation that a Biden-appointed US attorney retaliated against an employee for accepting a detail to prosecute Hunter Biden is concerning and warrants further investigation.”
“The House Committees on Oversight and Accountability, Judiciary, and Ways and Means will continue to investigate the Department of Justice’s misconduct in the Hunter Biden criminal investigation and will hold bad actors accountable,” added the congressman.
“Congress should be digging into it immediately,” former Utah U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman expressed to the newspaper, “and request a closed-door question-and-answer [session] so that you at least get to the bottom of whether or not she was running a protection effort for the Bidens.”
“If you inject politics or personal sentiment into making decisions on who should be prosecuted, you should lose your position immediately,” he continued. “That’s not a gray area — if you tell someone you don’t think a certain person should not be investigated and you don’t know the facts and you don’t know the law in terms of what they would be investigated for, you should lose your job.”
Likewise, three-time past president of the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven Cook contended, “I can think of no legitimate reason to bar a career assistant US attorney from the office. I can’t imagine why you would pull somebody’s access card.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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