New DOJ hire is former colleague of Hunter Biden defense attorney

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The newly selected acting head of the Justice Department's criminal division is a former colleague of the attorney now representing Hunter Biden in the face of a DOJ investigation.

Nicholas McQuaid joined the DOJ in January after spending the past several years as a partner in the New York office of law firm Latham & Watkins. Also a partner in that office is Christopher Clark, who was reported by Law.com in December to be representing the president's son.

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"They worked on the same cases right up until McQuaid took the job at the Department of Justice," said Fox News' Tucker Carlson, who first reported the news.

Court records show that McQuaid and Clark worked on some of the same cases. Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" reported Friday that on Jan. 21, Latham & Watkins filed a motion to withdraw McQuaid from a case Clark had been working on. According to the Justice Department, McQuaid was named as the head of the criminal division on Jan. 20.

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"So that means Joe Biden put at the head of the criminal division the partner of the guy his son had hired to defend him against the criminal division," Carlson said.

Hunter Biden, left, arrives in the Crypt of the US Capitol for President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration ceremony on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021 in Washington. (Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool Photo via AP)

Fox News asked Latham & Watkins and Clark if McQuaid was ever involved in the firm's work on Biden's behalf, but no one at the firm immediately responded.

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Now, as principal deputy assistant attorney general and named acting assistant attorney general for the criminal division, McQuaid will be overseeing criminal investigations, including any probe into the president's son. The Justice Department declined to comment on whether McQuaid will recuse himself from the investigation into Hunter Biden.

McQuaid's role leading the criminal division is temporary, as the president must nominate a permanent head of the division who would require confirmation by the Senate.