US Attorney General Appoints Counsel To Investigate President Joe Biden

Merrick Garland, the United States Attorney General, has appointed a special counsel on Thursday, January 12, to investigate classified papers discovered at President Biden’s home in Delaware and an office in Washington.

According to Garland, Robert Hur, a New York-born attorney who previously held the position of U.S. Attorney in Maryland and worked for the Trump administration, would be given “all the resources he needs” to look into the documents.

Garland said during a brief news conference, “I strongly believe that the normal processes of this department can handle all investigations with integrity.

“But under the regulations, the extraordinary circumstances here require the appointment of a special counsel for this matter.”

In Garland’s words, the appointment demonstrates the Justice Department’s “commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters,” he said.

The news broke just hours after the White House acknowledged on Wednesday and Thursday that Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware’s garage and an adjacent room had both been found to contain classified documents from his time serving as vice president.

According to the White House, that discovery followed the November discovery of official documents in Biden’s office at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington.

The papers were discovered by Biden’s lawyers, and the Justice Department was notified “immediately” in both cases, according to a statement from Biden’s special counsel, Richard Sauber.

Garland has now given special counsels permission to investigate both Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump, with both investigations centred on classified materials.

Garland appointed veteran prosecutor Jack Smith in November to lead investigations into Trump’s handling of classified documents and his role in inciting the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Until the investigations are over, then we will know what is going on and how serious the matter is.