# How many active special counsels will there be on 1/20/2021? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 14, 2020, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-active-special-counsels-will-there-be-on-1-20-2021/928058 "2020-12-14T23:14:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-active-special-counsels-will-there-be-on-1-20-2021/928058/1 "2020-12-14T23:14:39Z")
_Poll ([view on site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-active-special-counsels-will-there-be-on-1-20-2021/928058/1))_ With the firing of William Barr, my guess is that Trump intends to muck things up with naming special counsels to investigate various things. We have at least one, the John Durham “investigation of the investigators” regarding the 2016 Russian election interference. Will this be the only one, or do you all think Trump will try to bury Biden in special investigations before Biden even takes office? Here’s some potential areas of investigation. 1. The 2020 election, whether as a whole, each individual swing state, or specific aspects such as the voting machines or mail in ballots. 2. Hunter Biden and his taxes. 3. William Barr and why he didn’t tell Trump about the ongoing Hunter Biden tax investigation. 4. Who knows what else Trump and his fevered imagination might come up with? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-active-special-counsels-will-there-be-on-1-20-2021/928058/2 "2020-12-15T00:20:39Z")
I’m guessing no further SCs before Inauguration Day (i.e. 1). One issue is that it appears that Special Counsels are appointed by the AG, not directly by the President, and, ethics aside, neither the current AG nor his likely replacement have much incentive to do Trump’s bidding just to hang onto a job that might last a month, tops. Not to mention I find it hard to believe Barr would ever consider launching an investigation into himself. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-active-special-counsels-will-there-be-on-1-20-2021/928058/3 "2020-12-15T00:24:51Z")
No option for “0”? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-active-special-counsels-will-there-be-on-1-20-2021/928058/4 "2020-12-15T01:36:08Z")
I thought there were currently 2 of them – The Durham “investigation of the investigation”, and the secretive Hunter Biden investigation that we just learned about. (Is that a Special Counsel, or just a plain old investigation?) ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-active-special-counsels-will-there-be-on-1-20-2021/928058/5 "2020-12-15T06:22:20Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > No option for “0”? Zero is unlikely unless you expect the Durham “investigation of the investigators” to wrap up by then. > [@Senegoid](#): > > I thought there were currently 2 of them – The Durham “investigation of the investigation”, and the secretive Hunter Biden investigation that we just learned about. (Is that a Special Counsel, or just a plain old investigation?) The Hunter Biden investigation is (currently) a plain old fashioned investigation.