President Joe Biden has yet to respond to the appointment on Friday of a special counsel in the federal investigation of his son. But Biden has for years lashed out at reporters who have suggested Hunter Biden's influence-peddling might be problematic.

As recently as Wednesday, Joe Biden reprimanded Fox News's Peter Doocy for asking him about testimony last week that he had often spoken with Hunter Biden's foreign business partners.

"I never talked business with anybody. I knew you'd have a lousy question," Joe Biden said.

Now that Hunter Biden has his own special counsel, it could be harder for Biden to angrily dismiss questions about his son as irrelevant. But, according to critics, the move does not prove his administration is taking the scandal seriously.

Former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy told Fox News on Friday: "This is the Biden Justice Department's vehicle for maintaining control of an investigation that they are not pursuing."