AG Garland appoints special counsel to handle Biden classified documents probe

Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Attorney General Merrick Garland Thursday announced the appointment of Robert Hur as special counsel to investigate the discovery of classified documents found in a private office and a garage of President Joe Biden.

Garland laid out a timeline during a press conference explaining how the documents were discovered. He said on Nov. 4, the National Archives told the Justice Department the White House had notified them that the documents were discovered at the office of the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington, D.C.

"That office was not authorized for the storage of classified documents," Garland said. "The prosecutor was also advised that those documents had been secured in an archives facility."

On Nov. 9, Garland said, the FBI started an assessment consistent with standard protocols to determine whether the classified information had been improperly handled in possible violation of federal law.

Garland said he assigned U.S. Attorney John Lausch Jr. to do an initial investigation on Nov. 14. On Dec. 20, Biden's lawyer informed Lausch that additional classified documents were found in the garage of Biden's Delaware home.

Lausch briefed Garland on the initial results of his investigation on Jan. 5 and told him a special counsel was warranted.

"Based on Mr. Lausch's initial investigation, I concluded that, under the special counsel regulations, it was in the public interest to appoint a special counsel," Garland said.

Garland described Hur as a prosecutor with a long and distinguished career who has overseen some of the Justice Department's "more important national security, public corruption and other high-profile matters."

With Garland's order, Hur has been authorized to investigate whether any person or entity violated the law in connection to the documents.

"I will conduct the assigned investigation with fair, impartial and dispassionate judgement," Hur said in a statement following his appointment. "I intend to follow the facts swiftly and thoroughly, without favor and will honor the trust placed in my to perform this service."

The White House on Thursday confirmed the discovery of the second set of classified documents from Biden's time as vice president.

The documents were recovered from the garage of Biden's home in Wilmington, Del., after the president's lawyers conducted searches of his two residences in the state.

Garland said Thursday that the documents in question have been secured by the FBI and National Archives.

"During the review, the lawyers discovered among personal and political papers a small number of additional Obama-Biden administration records with classified markings," special counsel to the president Richard Sauber said Thursday.

"All but one of these documents were found in storage space in the president's Wilmington residence garage. One document consisting of one page was discovered among stored materials in an adjacent room."

In a statement read by White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre during a Thursday press conference, Sauber added that they have cooperated with the National Archives from the moment the documents were discovered and will continue to do so.

"We are confident that a thorough review will show that these documents were inadvertently misplaced and the president and his lawyers acted promptly upon discovering of this mistake," she said.

In a response to a question from reporters on Thursday, Biden acknowledged that lawyers discovered "a small number of documents in classified markings in file cabinets in my home and my personal library," adding that the Department of Justice was "immediately notified."

Biden said to his knowledge, the second set of documents was found in a locked garage where he stores his Corvette.

"People know I take classified documents and classified material seriously," Biden said, following a speech on the economy Thursday, adding that he continues to cooperate fully with a Justice Department review.

"As part of that process, my lawyers reviewed other places where documents from my time as vice president were stored and they finished that review last night."

Jean-Pierre reiterated Thursday that the president was surprised by the discovery of the documents and that he is unaware of their contents.

Asked if the White House finds the appointment of a special prosecutor warranted, she told reporters that Biden "believes in the independence of the Justice Department" and his administration is being "very, very careful" to not appear to be influencing its decision.

On Tuesday, the House oversight committee, chaired by Rep. James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, called on the National Archives and Records Administration as well as the White House Counsel's Office for more information on Biden's failure to return the documents.

The discoveries come amid a Justice Department investigation into former President Donald Trump's alleged months-long refusal to hand over more than 100 documents with classified markings found during an FBI search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago Florida resort in the summer after he failed to comply with a subpoena to hand them over to the government.