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Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday named a special counsel to oversee the Justice Department‘s review of classified documents found in a garage at President Biden‘s home and at a Washington university office Mr. Biden once used.
Robert Hur, a former federal prosecutor will take on the new role, an uncomfortable one that requires him to investigate Mr. Garland‘s boss.
“I am confident that Mr. Hur will carry out his responsibility in an even-handed manner in accordance with the highest traditions of this department,” Mr. Garland said at the Justice Department when announcing the appointment.
The announcement launches a new phase in the probe of Mr. Biden, who has harshly criticized former President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents.
Mr. Garland had tasked John Lausch, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, to look into the situation in November, after a first batch of Obama-era documents were discovered in a former office used by Mr. Biden.
Though those top-secret materials were found just days before the November midterm elections, the discovery was not made public until this week when uncovered by CBS News.
SEE ALSO: Biden says classified documents at his home are as safe as his prized Corvette Stingray
Mr. Lausch’s investigations had failed to appease congressional Republicans, who demanded Mr. Garland name a special counsel in the Biden case. He had appointed a special counsel to look into the classified documents found when the FBI raided former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
“Where’s the raid? Where’s the pictures of the classified documents? Where’s the special counsel?” House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican, tweeted.
Sen. Josh Hawley, Missouri Republican, wrote a letter to Mr. Garland demanding that he appoint a special counsel in the case. Mr. Hawley said Mr. Biden appeared to have done “exactly what President Trump did.”
In November, Mr. Garland appointed Jack Smith, a career Justice Department prosecutor, to investigate whether Mr. Trump violated federal law when he brought documents to Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House in early 2021.
The White House revealed Thursday that a second set of classified documents from Mr. Biden‘s time as vice president were discovered at a storage space in the garage of his Wilmington, Delaware, home.
