U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed Thursday a special counsel, Robert Hur, as investigator in the case of classified documents that have appeared in various places used by U.S. President Joe Biden during his time as ‘number two’ in the Barack Obama Administration.
«This appointment underscores for the public the commitment of the Department (of Justice) to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters,» Garland said at a press conference, as reported by CNN.
Hur, a lawyer at a firm in Washington D.C. and former federal prosecutor of Maryland during the Donald Trump Administration, said in a statement that he will perform the duties assigned by Garland in a «fair» and «impartial» manner.
Richard Sauber, President Biden’s lawyer, has specified that he is confident that «a thorough review will show that these documents were misplaced without him realizing it.» «We have cooperated closely with the Department of Justice throughout their review,» he added, according to NBC News.
For his part, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said that Secretary of State Antony Blinken was «surprised» to learn that there were classified documents in Biden’s Washington office.
In this regard, he has alleged that neither he himself nor Blinken knew of the existence of those files. «This is a matter that is being investigated by the Justice Department. We are going to let them pursue it,» he added.
The appointment comes hours after the White House confirmed that Biden aides had located a second batch of classified Obama-era documents in the garage of his Wilmington home.
The case dates back to early November, when the National Archives contacted the Justice Department to report the existence of classified documents in Biden’s private Washington office. In total, according to CNN, there are no less than ten of them.
This controversy has led to criticism of Biden by the Republican Party, as well as by former President Trump, who has denounced an alleged double standard by the authorities. The FBI searched Trump’s mansion in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, last year.
Special counsel Jack Smith is in charge of conducting investigations into the possible mishandling of documents — more than 325, including 60 labeled ‘Top Secret’ — by former President Trump.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
