We’ve harbored an antipathy for special prosecutors ever since Justice Antonin Scalia, dissenting in Morrison v. Olson, underscored how such appointments might threaten the boldness of the president. Yet it adds insult to injury, as it were, to assign too narrow a scope of inquiry to a special prosecutor once named. It’s by no means clear to us how broad a remit has been given to Special Counsel David Weiss in respect of the Bidens’ corruption.

Attorney General Garland, in his remarks today announcing the appointment of the United States Attorney for Delaware to the job, was careful not to suggest any constraints on the special counsel’s work. Mr. Weiss, who has been leading the investigation of the president’s son, “will continue to have the authority and responsibility,” Mr. Garland said, “to oversee the investigation and decide where, when, and whether to file charges.”