WASHINGTON: US Attorney General Merrick Garland has announced the appointment of a special counsel to probe the issue of classified documents found at the private office and residences of President Joe Biden.
In a statement, US Justice Department said the investigation would be carried out by former career Justice Department prosecutor and former US Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert Hur.
“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,” Garland was quoted as saying by CNN.
“This appointment underscores for the public the department’s commitment to independence and accountability, and particularly sensitive matters and to making decisions indisputably guided only by the facts and the law.”
Garland said that Hur will receive “all the resources he needs to conduct his work.”
“I will conduct the assigned investigation with fair, impartial, and dispassionate judgment. I intend to follow the facts swiftly and thoroughly, without fear or favour, and will honour the trust placed in me to perform this service,” Hur said in a statement, as quoted by CNN.
On Monday, US media reported Biden’s personal attorneys discovered 10 classified documents pertaining to Ukraine, Iran and the United Kingdom at a Biden think-tank office, prompting a federal probe into the matter.
Several of President Joe Biden’s aides from his vice presidency have been interviewed by US federal authorities in connection to the ongoing review of his mishandling of classified government documents, NBC reported citing two people familiar with the matter.
The report said those aides who were asked to be interviewed by federal authorities complied immediately. The report said, according to a source, that the people who boxed up Biden’s office at the end of his vice presidency were not aware there was anything in there that should not have left the White House.
One of Biden’s former aides who was interviewed by federal authorities is Kathy Chung, who now serves as the deputy director of protocol for US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the report said.
On Thursday, the White House confirmed that his lawyers found a “small number” of classified documents at his home and personal library in Wilmington, Delaware. (ANI)