Special Counsel Robert Hur's investigation into President Biden's handling of classified documents from his tenure as a US senator culminated after nearly 13 months, as Attorney General Merrick Garland informed lawmakers on Wednesday evening.
Garland's letter to the leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary committees disclosed that Hur, a former Maryland US attorney, had submitted his report on Monday, pending a "privilege review" by the White House counsel's office before release.
Biden special counsel has completed classified documents probe, Garland reveals https://t.co/OSZjxz9y83 pic.twitter.com/qwoYFBAVD5
— New York Post (@nypost) February 7, 2024
Garland reiterated his commitment to transparency, vowing to make as much of the report public as possible within legal requirements and Department of Justice policy.
“I am committed to making as much of the Special Counsel’s report public as possible,” Garland wrote, “consistent with legal requirements and [Justice] Department policy.”
Although expectations suggest Hur's report may not recommend charges against Biden or his associates, concerns within the president's reelection campaign about potential embarrassing disclosures persist, particularly regarding the handling of sensitive national security information.
The appointment of the special counsel on January 12, 2023, followed revelations from the White House concerning classified document discoveries at Biden's residences in Wilmington, Delaware, and his post-vice presidency office in Washington, D.C., provided by the University of Pennsylvania.
Initial discoveries on November 2, 2022, were disclosed just days before the midterm elections, with CBS News breaking the story in January of the following year.
Subsequent findings of documents, including those in Biden's Wilmington garage on December 20, 2022, prompted searches by FBI investigators at his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, vacation home.
Biden underwent questioning by Hur's team in October, about a year after criticizing former President Trump for retaining national security documents at Mar-a-Lago.
Attempting to mitigate the controversy, Biden characterized the discovered documents as "stray papers" from 1974.
He publicly acknowledged the November 2022 discovery during a January 10, 2023, press conference in Mexico City.
However, he initially omitted the existence of a second cache found in his Wilmington garage days earlier.
On the day Hur was appointed, Biden defended his handling of classified materials, asserting that they were stored in a locked garage adjacent to his classic Corvette, refuting any suggestion of recklessness with national security secrets.
The report shows that little is expected in terms of consequences against the president as he continues his reelection campaign that will likely feature a rematch with former President Donald Trump in November.
