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Garland Appoints Special Prosecutor to Investigate Classified Biden Docs

Special Prosecutor Robert Hur (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images).
January 12, 2023

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday appointed a special counsel to oversee the investigation into classified records found at President Joe Biden’s personal office and home in Delaware.

Garland appointed Robert Hur, a former U.S. attorney for Maryland, to serve as the special prosecutor. Hur, a partner at the white shoe law firm Gibson, Dunn, & Crutcher, will investigate 'whether any person or entity violated the law in connection with this matter," Garland said.

The surprising development comes after Biden aides discovered classified records at the office for his Washington, D.C., think tank, the Penn Biden Center, on Nov. 2. Biden staffers found additional classified material in the garage of his home in Wilmington, Del., the White House said on Thursday. Some of the records are classified as Top Secret, and involve intelligence about Iran, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

Republicans have questioned why the White House waited for two months—and until after the midterm election—to disclose the discovery of the classified records.

Garland appointed Hur after a preliminary inquiry conducted by John Lausch, the U.S. attorney for Chicago. Garland tasked Lausch with looking into Biden’s records on Nov. 14. While that inquiry was kept secret, Garland on Nov. 18 appointed veteran prosecutor Jack Smith to oversee an investigation into President Donald Trump’s handling of classified material found at his home in Florida.