United States Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Thursday that he would be appointing a special counsel to look into classified documents that were found in a private office and in the garage of President Joe Biden’s home. It’s about time. This should have been done immediately upon the discovery of the documents, especially since the announcement that Garland made about the special counsel investigating former President Donald Trump’s classified documents from Mar-a-Lago came two weeks after the files were found.
The Daily Wire is reporting, “Garland appointed former U.S. Attorney Robert Hur — who served during the Trump administration — to serve as special counsel in the investigation after the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch, who was assigned to do an initial review of the case, recommended to Garland that a special counsel be appointed.”
“On January 5th, 2023, Mr. Lausch briefed me on the results of his initial investigation and advised me that further investigation by 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 remarked. “In the days since, while Mr. Lausch continued the investigation, the department identified Mr. Hur for appointment as special counsel.”
The order signed by the attorney general went on to say that Hur would be investigating the “the possible unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or other records discovered.”
“The document authorizes him to investigate whether any person or entity violated the law in connection with this matter,” Garland commented during the press conference. “The special counsel will not be subject to the day-to-day supervision of any official of the department, but he must comply with the regulations, procedures and policies of the department.”
#BREAKING: Attorney General Merrick Garland has named Robert Hur as Special Counsel regarding the investigation of classified documents found at the Penn Biden Center and his Wilmington home. pic.twitter.com/ph0MAohEdk
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 12, 2023
“The review began sometime after Biden’s personal attorney found 10 classified documents stashed in an envelope in the president’s private office at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington. The attorney discovered the envelope on November 2, though the discovery was not made public until earlier this week. The documents were immediately turned over to the National Archives for storage, Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president said on Monday,” the report said.
Sauber released a statement pointing out that a review of Biden’s currently known offices, quarters, and other spaces has uncovered a second set of documents of a classified nature, these being located at his private home in Wilmington, Delaware, according to a report that was published by The New York Times.
The president issued a response to the discovery of the second batch of documents found in his garage by telling reporters they were “locked” up next to his Corvette. Hey, you know, Trump also had his documents locked up and secured, but you know, that didn’t stop the president from calling him “irresponsible.”
“Classified material next to your Corvette?” Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy went on to ask Biden during a press conference. “What were you thinking?”
“Let me, I’m going to get a chance to speak on all this, God willing soon, but as I said earlier this week, people and, by the way my Corvette’s in a locked garage, OK?” Biden replied to Doocy. “So it’s not like they’re sitting out in the street.”
When the president was asked by Doocy to confirm that the classified documents were indeed locked in his garage, the president said, “Yes, as well as my Corvette.”
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