Attorney General Merrick Garland informed members of Congress that Special Counsel Robert Hur has filed a final report after a months-long investigation into President Biden’s alleged improper retention of classified records.
Garland said in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, Ranking Member Jerry Nadler, Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, and Ranking Member Lindsey Graham that Hurr will issue a final report on Monday. He said he had submitted it to the Ministry of Justice.
The Biden campaign is reportedly concerned that photos from the special counsel’s classified documents investigation could have a devastating impact on his re-election bid.
“Prior to submitting the report to me, Special Counsel Hur worked with the White House Counsel’s Office and the President’s Personal Counsel to allow comment on the report,” Garland wrote. “This included a review by the White House Office of Counsel for executive privilege consistent with the president’s constitutional privilege.”
But Garland said the White House’s privilege review “is far from over.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“As I have made clear with each special counsel I have served since taking office, I am committed to making the special counsel’s report as public as possible, consistent with legal requirements and Department policy.” Garland wrote.
Garland vowed that “once the White House privilege review is complete, I will submit the report, its appendices, and a letter from my attorney to Congress.”
White House Press Secretary Ian Sams told FOX that the White House expects a privilege review of Special Counsel Hur’s report to be completed by the end of this week.
Mr. Hsu has been investigating Mr. Biden’s improper retention of classified records since last year. Reports say no charges will be filed against the president.
The classified records were first discovered on November 2, 2022, inside the Washington, D.C. offices of the Penn Biden Center think tank, but were not made available to the public until early January 2023.
A second cache of classified documents was also discovered in the garage of the president’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, in December 2022, and Attorney General Merrick Garland arrested former federal prosecutor Rob Herr in January 2023. He was appointed as a special prosecutor.
President Biden speaks at the United Auto Workers Conference on January 24th at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, DC. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
Several days later, additional classified documents were discovered at the president’s home in Delaware. The FBI searched Biden’s Delaware home for more than 12 hours and seized additional classified records.
Biden has defended the preservation of classified documents in the past.
“By the way, my Corvette is in a locked garage, so it’s not sitting on the street,” he once said.
However, on November 18, 2022, Garland appointed former Justice Department official Jack Smith as special counsel to investigate whether Trump improperly kept classified records at Mar-a-Lago. did.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert Herr speaks at the funeral service for Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein at the Robert F. Kennedy Hon. Judge Building in Washington, DC, on May 9, 2019. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
When Mr. Smith was appointed to investigate Mr. Trump, Mr. Garland and senior Justice Department officials were simultaneously conducting an internal investigation into President Biden’s mishandling of classified records. That review and the discovery of classified records in Biden’s office were not made available to the public until January.
Biden to be questioned by special counsel about classified documents
Republicans and allies of former President Trump were furious, accusing the Justice Department of double standards.
Trump claims innocence for all 37 felonies resulting from Smith’s investigation. Charges include knowingly retaining national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and making false statements.
Special Counsel Jack Smith (left) and Special Counsel Robert Hur. (Getty Images)
Trump, the 2024 Republican front-runner, was later charged with an additional count of knowingly retaining national defense information and two additional counts of obstruction as part of an indictment superseding the Smith investigation. Mr. Trump has maintained his innocence.
The trial is scheduled to begin on May 20th.
Biden aides told Axios earlier this week that they fear the former president’s campaign will use the photo against the Democratic incumbent in a possible 2024 rematch.
Comer demands answers on whether Biden’s confidential records list countries linked to family business transactions
Anthony Cawley, Garland’s former senior adviser, accused Biden’s team of making slow progress in discovering the president’s classified records case compared to how Trump handled the investigation.
“The findings are made even more damning by the Biden team’s flurry of disclosures in the context of former President Trump’s indictment on charges of knowingly preserving classified documents,” he wrote in an op-ed. .
Reports this week suggested that the Biden campaign was concerned about embarrassing photos that could be included in Mr. Xu’s prospective report.
The campaign feared the images could reveal how Biden stored classified materials. The classified documents were inherited from Biden’s time as former President Barack Obama’s vice president.
Mr. Heo interviewed Mr. Biden at the White House, and the interview lasted for two days. The White House said the president’s meeting with Xu was “voluntary.”
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House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, who is co-leading President Biden’s impeachment inquiry, said last year that sensitive people confidential document Mr. Biden was involved with certain countries and individuals who had financial transactions with Mr. Biden’s family and related companies.
Comer questioned why Biden kept certain classified materials, including documents with classified markings recovered from Biden’s residences, including his garage and the Penn Biden Center in Wilmington, Delaware. requested the Commission to provide a list of the countries mentioned in the document. ; and a list of all individuals named in the document with the classification mark. All documents marked confidential were found.
It is unclear whether Mr. Xu cooperated with Mr. Kamel’s request.
FOX News’ Patrick Ward contributed to this report.
