(Headline USA) A Philadelphia U.S. Attorney with ties to the Biden family allegedly retaliated against a prosecutor in her office after he accepted a position to investigate Hunter Biden, according to the New York Post.
Jacqueline Romero, who was nominated to her post by President Joe Biden in the spring of 2022, allegedly told assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Hines that she did not approve of him joining what was then a pre-indictment criminal investigation into Hunter Biden’s finances.
According to sources familiar with the conversation, Romero explained that Beau Biden, Joe Biden’s late son, once worked in the office, and she claimed that Hunter Biden, Beau’s younger brother, was being unfairly targeted.
Hines agreed to join the Hunter Biden investigation anyway, leading Romero to terminate Hines’s access to their downtown office building. Even though Hines is still an employee of the Philadelphia U.S. Attorney’s Office, he now has to “go up and sign in like any other visitor,” one current employee said.
Through a spokesperson, Romero denied that she took issue with Hines’s role in the Hunter Biden investigation, though she did not address the allegations that his security clearance was revoked because of it.
“The representations about Hines’ detail are inaccurate. US Attorney Romero never discouraged Derek Hines from accepting the detail,” the spokesperson claimed.
“In fact, she did support, authorize, and sign off on his detail,” the spokesperson said. “Romero does not have a relationship with the Biden family and didn’t express any view on the merits of the Hunter Biden investigation.”
But one source said the situation was “absolutely symbolic of [Romero] being on a power trip and thinking she can get away with anything.”
In a statement, House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., vowed to look into whether Romero retaliated against Hines.
“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,” Comer said.
