We’re being told that Hunter Biden facing a special counsel is creating „optics“ that are „problematic“ for the White House. But what does that mean?
David Weiss has been investigating Hunter Biden for several years, and after Joe Biden began his presidency, the Democratic administration made a point to leave Weiss in place. The Trump-appointed prosecutor was pursuing a case against the president’s son, but Joe Biden and Justice Department officials agreed that the right thing to do was to allow Weiss to continue his work.
Today, Attorney General Merrick Garland elevated Weiss from the role of a U.S. attorney investigating the president’s son to a special counsel investigating the president’s son. It’s ostensibly what Republicans wanted — a Trump-appointed prosecutor going after someone whose last name is Biden — but much of the GOP is complaining anyway.
It’s against this backdrop that The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman noted this afternoon:
“Many Republicans are sticking to the line that this appointment is somehow evidence that the Biden administration is helping Hunter Biden, but in private many are quite clear they know it isn’t a helpful development for the president. The optics are problematic for the White House.”
My point is not to pick on Maggie, whose observation has been echoed many times today by a great many observers. What I don’t understand, however, is why, exactly “the optics are problematic for the White House.
