On January 12, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the appointment of a special counsel tasked with investigating the sensitive documents found at Vice President Biden’s Delaware home and office.
Robert Hur, a New York-born attorney who previously held the position of U.S. Attorney in Maryland and worked for the Trump administration, would be given “all the resources he needs” to look into the materials, according to Garland.
“I strongly believe that the normal processes of this department can handle all investigations with integrity,” Garland said at a brief news conference.
“But under the regulations, the extraordinary circumstances here require the appointment of a special counsel for this matter.”
Garland said the appointment displayed the Justice Department’s “commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters.”
The news broke just hours after the White House announced on Wednesday and Thursday that Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware’s garage and an adjacent room had both been found to have secret documents from his time serving as vice president.
According to the White House, the finding followed the November discovery of official documents at Biden’s office at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington.
According to a statement from Richard Sauber, Biden’s special counsel, the documents were discovered by Biden’s attorneys, and the Justice Department was alerted “immediately” in both cases.
As of right now, Garland has given special counsels permission to look into both Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump, with both inquiries centered around secret information.
Garland selected seasoned prosecutor Jack Smith in November to head the investigations into Trump’s handling of confidential documents and his inspiration for the murderous attack on the Capitol on January 6.
