News
Merrick Garland Appoints Special Counsel to Investigate Biden Handling of Classified Documents
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has announced he is appointing Robert Hur as Special Counsel to investigate the handling of classified documents by President Joe Biden, after a small number of classified documents were found in a locked closet in an office at a think tank in Pennsylvania that Biden used, and later, in the President’s Delaware home.
Unlike the case against Donald Trump, who repeatedly refused to return hundreds of classified documents and other items belonging to the federal government, ignored a lawful subpoena, and caused a false statement to be made to DOJ about classified documents in his possession, President Biden’s team immediately notified the Dept. of Justice and National Archives, and returned them.
NBC News White House Correspondent Mike Memoli published the timeline of events.
New Timeline:
Nov. 9: DOJ launches assessment of review
Nov. 14: U.S. Atty Lausch asked to oversee review of whether to name special counsel
Dec. 20: Biden counsel informed Lausch that other docs discovered— Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) January 12, 2023
Hur is a former U.S. Attorney who was appointed by then-President Donald Trump. He is “an attorney at Gibson Dunn, which happens to be the former firm of U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon,” according to Politico’s Kyle Cheney.
Cheney adds, Cannon “had a, uh, notable role in Trump’s documents case.”
Sawyer Hackett, a senior advisor to former HUD Secretary Julian Castro notes the difference in time it took Garland to appoint special counsels.
Days it took DOJ to appoint a special counsel, after the government learned classified documents being held:
Trump: 557 days
Biden: 71 days— Sawyer Hackett (@SawyerHackett) January 12, 2023
Watch Garland’s short announcement below or at this link:
AG Garland says he is appointing Rob Hur to serve as special counsel to review classified material found in President Biden’s Delaware residence and a Washington office he used. https://t.co/ZDDMxk4PQJ pic.twitter.com/wgxsHUTNHE
— NBC News (@NBCNews) January 12, 2023
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