“Biden was grossly incompetent, and the 2020 election was a total FRAUD!” Trump said in a social media post in which he also sought to favorably contrast his immigration enforcement approach with that of the former president. “The evidence is MASSIVE and OVERWHELMING. A Special Prosecutor must be appointed. This cannot be allowed to happen again in the United States of America! Let the work begin!”
It was unclear what Trump had in mind when he called for a special prosecutor, but if Attorney-General Pan Bondi heeds his call, she may face pressure to appoint someone who has already been confirmed by the Senate. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment Friday.
The Justice Department in recent years has appointed a succession of special counsels— sometimes, though not always, plucked from outside the agency — to lead investigations into politically sensitive matters, including into conduct of Biden and by Trump.
Last year, Trump's personal lawyers launched an aggressive, and successful, challenge to the appointment of Jack Smith, the special counsel assigned to investigate his retention of classified documents at his Florida home. A Trump-appointed judge agreed, ruling that then Attorney-General Merrick Garland had exceeded his bounds by appointing a prosecutor without Senate approval and confirmation, and dismissed the case.
