Biden Privately Says He Wants to Avoid “Divisive” Investigations Into Trump: Report

President-elect Joe Biden has privately told advisers that he wants to avoid investigations into President Donald Trump, NBC News reports.

Biden has “raised concerns” that such probes would be politically divisive and would make his presidency about Trump.

He has said that he is especially “wary” of investigations into the president’s taxes or challenging any potential pardons Trump may give his aides before leaving office.

Biden "just wants to move on,” one source told NBC.

"He's going to be more oriented toward fixing the problems and moving forward than prosecuting them,” another adviser said.

Biden balancing pressure:

Biden has tried to balance his own desire to avoid investigations with pressure from Democrats.

Biden’s aides say he wants the Justice Department to be independent from the White House and is not going to dictate to law enforcement.

"His overarching view is that we need to move the country forward," an adviser said. "But the most important thing on this is that he will not interfere with his Justice Department and not politicize his Justice Department."

Another adviser added that anything Trump-related will be “very situational" and "depending on the merits."

Biden doesn’t want to signal that Trump is off the hook:

Biden is also “reluctant” to signal that the DOJ would not investigate Trump.

"While they're not looking for broad criminal indictments, they do want to make sure that people don't think there are no ramifications for any of their actions between now and the new presidency," one source told NBC.

But ultimately Biden may not be able to avoid investigations if Trump broke the law.

"There's also a strong school of thought that believes the law's the law," an adviser said.

 

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