Special Counsel Appointed To Investigate Biden Classified Documents

Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to investigate the presence of classified documents at President Joe Biden’s home Thursday in Wilmington, Delaware, and at an office in Washington dating from his time as vice president.

Thursday, January 12th 2023, 6:11 pm



Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to investigate the presence of classified documents at President Joe Biden’s home Thursday in Wilmington, Delaware, and at an office in Washington dating from his time as vice president.

Robert Hur, a former U.S. attorney, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, will lead the investigation. 

His appointment marks the second time in a few months that Garland has appointed a special counsel to probe the potential mishandling of classified material. 

In November, he appointed Jack Smith, the former chief of the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section, to lead the DOJ's investigation into the presence of scores of classified documents at Trump's Florida home and to handle aspects of the DOJ's Jan. 6 investigation.

Garland’s decision caps a tumultuous week at the White House, where Biden and his team opened the year hoping to celebrate stronger economic news ahead of launching an expected reelection campaign. But the administration faced new challenges Monday when it acknowledged that sensitive documents were found at the office of Biden’s former institute in Washington. 

The situation intensified by Thursday morning when Biden’s attorney acknowledged that an additional classified document was found in a room in his Wilmington home — later revealed by Biden to be his personal library — along with other documents found in his garage.

Biden told reporters at the White House that he takes classified documents "seriously" and was “cooperating fully and completely” with the Justice Department’s investigation into how classified information and government records were stored.

Last August, the FBI raided and seized documents from Mar-a-Lago, Trump's Florida estate, after the former president allegedly failed to cooperate with authorities’ efforts to store documents from his presidency in the National Archives.

Republicans see a double standard and set up an oversight committee in the House this week that they said will get to the bottom of it.

"Because they treat people differently based upon their philosophical or political party," Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) told reporters, "and that is wrong and America dislikes that."

In a statement Thursday afternoon, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) said: "The politicization of the Justice Department has gone on for far too long. I'm glad to see a special counsel finally appointed to investigate at least one of Joe Biden's wrongful actions. The DOJ should be working every day to restore the trust of the American people. We can hope this is only the start."

logo

Get The Daily Update!

Be among the first to get breaking news, weather, and general news updates from News on 6 delivered right to your inbox!

More Like This

January 12th, 2023

June 26th, 2023

February 14th, 2023

January 20th, 2023

Top Headlines

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024