Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Garland Appoints Special Counsel to Investigate Biden Docs
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 years ago on
January 13, 2023

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday appointed a special counsel to investigate the presence of documents with classified markings found at President Joe Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, and at an office in Washington.

The announcement followed Biden’s acknowledgement Thursday morning that a document with classified markings from his time as vice president was found in his personal library, along with other documents found in his garage. Garland said Biden’s lawyers informed the Justice Department Thursday morning of the discovery of a classified document at Biden’s home, after FBI agents first retrieved other documents from the garage in December. It was disclosed on Monday that sensitive documents were found at the office of his former institute in Washington.

Former Trump-Appoinment Robert Hur Will Lead the Investigation

Robert Hur, the former Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in Maryland, will lead the investigation, taking over from the top Justice Department prosecutor in Chicago, John Lausch, who was earlier assigned by the department to investigate the matter and who recommended to Garland last week that a special counsel be appointed. Hur is to begin his work soon.

U.S. Attorney Robert Hur arrives at U.S. District Court in Baltimore on Nov. 21, 2019. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Jan. 12, 2023, appointed Hur as a special counsel to investigate the presence of documents with classified markings found at President Joe Biden’s home in Wilmington, Del., and at an office in Washington. (AP File)

“The extraordinary circumstances here require the appointment of a special counsel for this matter,” Garland said, adding that Hur is authorized to investigate whether any person or entity violated the law.

“This appointment underscores for the public the department’s commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters, and to making decisions indisputably guided only by the facts and the law.,” Garland said.

Biden Says He’s ‘Cooperation Fully and Completely’

Biden told reporters at the White House that he was “cooperating fully and completely” with a Justice Department investigation into how classified information and government records were stored. He did not say when the latest series of documents were found, only that his lawyers’ review of potential storage locations was completed Wednesday night.

Lawyers found the first set of documents in a locked closet in the offices of the Biden Penn Center in Washington on Nov. 2, just before the midterm elections, but publicly revealed that development only on Monday.

Richard Sauber, a special counsel to the president, said that after Biden’s personal lawyers found the initial documents, they examined other locations where records might have been shipped after Biden left the vice presidency in 2017.

Sauber said a “small number” with classified markings were found in a storage space in Biden’s garage in Wilmington, with one document being located in an adjacent room. Biden later revealed that the other location was his personal library.

Garland said Biden attorneys located documents in the Wilmington garage on Dec. 20 and that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents took custody of them shortly thereafter. The Justice Department was informed only on Thursday of the latest found by Biden’s lawyers.

Investigation Into Biden, Complicates Similar Investigation Into Trump

The appointment of yet another special counsel to investigate the handling of classified documents is a remarkable turn of events, legally and politically, for a Justice Department that has spent months looking into the retention by Donald Trump of more than 300 documents with classification markings found at the former president’s Florida estate.

Though the situations are factually and legally different, the discovery of classified documents at two separate locations tied to Biden — as well as the appointment of a new special counsel — would almost certainly complicate any prosecution that the department might bring against Trump.

Hur was a close ally of former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, a key figure in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election and contacts between then-candidate Trump’s associates and Russian officials. He also worked as an adviser to FBI Director Christopher Wray in the Justice Department.

New House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, said of the latest news: “I think Congress has to investigate this.”

“Here’s an individual that sat on ‘60 Minutes’ that was so concerned about President Trump’s documents locked in behind, and now we find that this is a vice president keeping it for years out in the open in different locations.”

Contradicting several fellow Republicans, he said, “We don’t think there needs to be a special prosecutor.”

The top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee has requested that intelligence agencies conduct a “damage assessment” of potentially classified documents. Ohio Rep. Mike Turner on Thursday also requested briefings from Attorney General Merrick Garland and the director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, on their reviews by Jan. 26.

“The presence of classified information at these separate locations could implicate the President in the mishandling, potential misuse, and exposure of classified information,” Turner wrote the officials.

 

DON'T MISS

Nations at UN Climate Talks Agree on $300B a Year for Poor Countries in a Compromise Deal

DON'T MISS

What to Know About Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump’s Pick for Labor Secretary

DON'T MISS

What to Know About Scott Turner, Trump’s Pick for Housing Secretary

DON'T MISS

Trump Taps Investor Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary

DON'T MISS

NATO Head and Trump Meet in Florida for Talks on Global Security

DON'T MISS

Why Cranberry Sauce Is America’s Least Favorite Thanksgiving Dish – and 5 Creative Ways to Use It

DON'T MISS

‘Get Somebody Else to Do It’: Trump Resistance Encounters Fatigue

DON'T MISS

Anti-Vax Activists Dominate RFK Jr.’s HHS Transition Team

DON'T MISS

Wing ‘Wizard’ Harry Potter to Play for Australia’s Rugby Team. Let the Puns Begin.

DON'T MISS

Tulare County Man Arrested After Allegedly Threatening to Kill Middle School Girls, Staff

UP NEXT

DOGE Is a Promising Step Toward Federal Efficiency: Fareed Zakaria

UP NEXT

Assemblymember Arambula Says He’ll Run for Fresno City Council

UP NEXT

Judge Delays Trump Hush Money Sentencing in Order to Decide Where Case Should Go Now

UP NEXT

Northern California Gets Record Rain and Heavy Snow. Many Have Been in the Dark for Days in Seattle

UP NEXT

Democrats Strike Deal to Get More Biden Judges Confirmed Before Congress Adjourns

UP NEXT

Newsom Gaslights on Potential Gas Price Hikes in Fresno Visit

UP NEXT

What Will Happen to CNBC and MSNBC When They No Longer Have a Corporate Connection to NBC News?

UP NEXT

Police Report Reveals Assault Allegations Against Hegseth, Trump’s Pick for Defense Secretary

UP NEXT

Gaetz Withdraws as Trump’s Pick for Attorney General

UP NEXT

‘Woke’ Terminology Not Commonly Used by Americans: YouGov Survey

Trump Taps Investor Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary

17 hours ago

NATO Head and Trump Meet in Florida for Talks on Global Security

18 hours ago

Why Cranberry Sauce Is America’s Least Favorite Thanksgiving Dish – and 5 Creative Ways to Use It

21 hours ago

‘Get Somebody Else to Do It’: Trump Resistance Encounters Fatigue

21 hours ago

Anti-Vax Activists Dominate RFK Jr.’s HHS Transition Team

21 hours ago

Wing ‘Wizard’ Harry Potter to Play for Australia’s Rugby Team. Let the Puns Begin.

21 hours ago

Tulare County Man Arrested After Allegedly Threatening to Kill Middle School Girls, Staff

1 day ago

Two Fresno, Clovis Trustee Races Remain Tight. Bond Measures Passing with Growing Margins

1 day ago

Richardson Close to Cementing Northeast Fresno Council Race

1 day ago

Visalia Motorcyclist Killed in Collision on Walnut Avenue

1 day ago

Nations at UN Climate Talks Agree on $300B a Year for Poor Countries in a Compromise Deal

BAKU, Azerbaijan — United Nations climate talks adopted a deal to inject at least $300 billion annually in humanity’s fight against cl...

10 hours ago

10 hours ago

Nations at UN Climate Talks Agree on $300B a Year for Poor Countries in a Compromise Deal

12 hours ago

What to Know About Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump’s Pick for Labor Secretary

17 hours ago

What to Know About Scott Turner, Trump’s Pick for Housing Secretary

17 hours ago

Trump Taps Investor Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary

18 hours ago

NATO Head and Trump Meet in Florida for Talks on Global Security

21 hours ago

Why Cranberry Sauce Is America’s Least Favorite Thanksgiving Dish – and 5 Creative Ways to Use It

21 hours ago

‘Get Somebody Else to Do It’: Trump Resistance Encounters Fatigue

21 hours ago

Anti-Vax Activists Dominate RFK Jr.’s HHS Transition Team

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend