(Trends Wide) — The US Secretary of Justice, Merrick Garland, appointed a special prosecutor on Thursday to be in charge of the investigation of the classified documents found in the Wilmington house and in the former private office of President Joe Biden.
Garland said Thursday that “extraordinary circumstances” required the appointment. “I firmly believe that the normal processes of this department can handle all investigations with integrity. But according to the regulations, the extraordinary circumstances present here require the appointment of a special prosecutor for this matter.”
And he added: “This appointment seeks to highlight, before the public, the department’s commitment to independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters. Decision-making is indisputably guided only by the facts and by the law.”
Who is Robert Hur?
The special prosecutor appointed by Garland is Robert Hur, who served as a federal prosecutor in Maryland during the Donald Trump administration. Most recently, the well-known former prosecutor worked as a lawyer at Gibson Dunn, a large corporate defense firm. Early in his career, Hur worked in the Justice Department with FBI Director Christopher Wray.
“In 2017, Hur rejoined as the first Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice In 2018, he was nominated and confirmed to serve as the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland. In that capacity, he oversaw some of the department’s most important functions such as national security, public corruption and other high-profile matters,” Garland added.
Garland promised that Hur will have access to “all necessary resources.”
Following his appointment, Hur issued a statement stating: “I will conduct the assigned investigation with a fair, impartial and dispassionate trial. I intend to follow the facts quickly and thoroughly, without fear or favor, and I will honor the trust placed in me to perform this service.”
Robert Hur, the special prosecutor appointed to investigate Biden.
John Miller, police chief and Trends Wide intelligence analyst, said Hur’s selection is “particularly well thought out.”
Hur “made a name for himself as a federal prosecutor in Maryland, prosecuting a former Baltimore mayor, a former Baltimore police commissioner, delegates, and a state senator… He did two major investigations into the NSA—two employees, both of those who removed large amounts of classified NSA documents—” Miller added.
“He’s very adept at how to properly handle classified information and where the lines lie between crime,” he said.
Hur attended Harvard and Stanford Law Schools. He is a member of the Maryland and District of Columbia bar associations.
Why Hur’s appointment matters
The appointment is relevant to Biden, who has largely managed to avoid legal trouble during his time in the White House. The special counsel investigation, along with the new Republican-led House of Representatives, could put Biden on the defensive for the next two years.
In addition, the announcement elevates the importance of the existing investigation, which began as a review by the US attorney in Chicago. It also increases legal exposure for Biden, his aides and his lawyers, who handled confidential government materials during his time as vice president.
El presidente de EE.UU., Joe Biden (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
By appointing a special prosecutor, Garland is walking away from a case that is politically sensitive, although he will have the final say on whether to file charges. The timing of that decision, no matter what the outcome, will surely become a critical point in the 2024 presidential race.
Richard Sauber, the White House counsel, issued a statement following the designation: “We are confident that a thorough review will show that these documents were inadvertently misplaced, and the President and his attorneys acted promptly upon discovering this error.”
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