After lawyers representing Joe Biden released information saying additional classified documents were discovered at multiple locations associated with Joe Biden, the investigation that was being handled by USAO John Lausch has been turned over to a new special counsel, Robert K Hur.
Attorney General Merrick Garland made the announcement yesterday
(DOJ Press Release) – Attorney General Merrick B. Garland announced today the appointment of a former career Justice Department prosecutor and former U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur to serve as special counsel to conduct the investigation of matters that were the subject of the initial investigation by U.S. Attorney John R. Lausch Jr. related to the possible unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or other records discovered at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement and the Wilmington, Delaware, private residence of President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
“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. In the days since, while Mr. Lausch continued the investigation, the Department identified Mr. Hur for appointment as Special Counsel.
“This appointment underscores for the public the Department’s commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters, and to making decisions indisputably guided only by the facts and the law.
I am confident that Mr. Hur will carry out his responsibility in an even-handed and urgent manner, and in accordance with the highest traditions of this Department.” (Source Link)
Robert K Hur was in private practice with the Gibson Dunn law firm. Prior to private practice, Mr. Hur served as the 48th U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland.
Presidentially appointed by Donald Trump and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Mr Hur served as U.S. Attorney from 2018 to 2021 as the chief federal law enforcement officer in Maryland. Before serving as U.S. Attorney, Mr. Hur served as the Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General with the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. from 2017 to 2018.
Essentially it looks like AG Merrick Garland is appointing a special counsel, because (a) he has to deflect political criticism given the issues and the growing scale; and (b) because a special counsel appointment will now throw the bag of “a current investigation” over any efforts from the Republican House of Representatives to investigate the office of the presidency.
Unlike the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith, the appointment order for special counsel Robert Hur was not available at the time the press release of the special counsel appointment was made. The appointment order was released tonight, a two-page pdf, which is essentially the initiating scope of authorization for the special counsel to follow. [Link to pdf]
The Robert Hur appointment order is interestingly worded to encompass the origination of the John Lausch “initial investigation”, we have not seen any documents associated with that initial appointment on November 14, 2022.
Additionally, the appointment order seems to limit the investigation to only records discovered in two locations, “the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement and the Wilmington, Delaware, private residence of President Joseph R Biden, Jr.” The next part “any matters that arose from the initial investigation,” again puts the emphasis on the John Laush original investigative authority as given by AG Merrick Garland.
