Trump's new attorney general won't say if he'll order a special counsel probe into Hunter Biden, despite pressure from the White House

• Jeffrey Rosen, the new attorney general, declined to say whether or not he'd be ordering a special counsel probe into Hunter Biden's tax affairs and baseless allegations of election fraud.
• President Trump is reportedly determined to launch the investigations before leaving office in order to damage the incoming Biden administration.
• Rosen replaces Bill Barr, who resigned as attorney general on Monday.
• Trump was furious that Barr had kept silent about a US attorney investigation into Hunter Biden during the US presidential election.

Jeffrey Rosen, who will replace Bill Barr as US attorney general next week, has declined to say whether or not he'll order a special counsel investigation into the tax affairs of Hunter Biden, President-elect Joe Biden's son.

In an interview with Reuters Wednesday, his first since being named Barr's successor at the Justice Department, Rosen declined to comment on appointing special counsels to investigate Hunter Biden or President Donald Trump's allegations that widespread election fraud tainted the election.

Trump has not provided any convincing evidence to substantiate his election fraud claims.

Rosen told the agency he would continue "to do things on the merits and to do things on the basis of the law and the facts. That's how I thought about it from the beginning and that's how I'll think about it through the end."

Trump is reportedly determined to damage the incoming Biden administration by launching the probes ahead of Inauguration Day on January 20.

Sources close to the White House have told the Associated Press that Trump has even discussed the prospect of firing and replacing Rosen if he does not comply with his demands, and has asked whether he can appoint special counsels himself.

In a tweet Thursday, Trump denied seeking an investigation of Hunter Biden.

It was revealed last week that Hunter Biden has been under investigation for months by the US attorney's office in Delaware over potential tax crimes.

The Wall St Journal reported that Trump was furious when he learned that Barr had known of the investigation for months yet not gone public about it during the election.

Of the weeks in which he'll serve in the position ahead of Biden appointing his attorney general, Rosen said, "I think of it a little bit like a developer with a punch list. We're going to try to finish the work we're here to do."

Rosen added: "Let's continue on the course we've had."