Published October 13, 2023
This month, the sudden appearance of Special Counsel Robert Hur caused as much of a stir as Bigfoot suddenly appearing on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Unlike his counterpart, Special Counsel Jack Smith, who has been aggressively prosecuting former president Donald Trump, Hur has virtually disappeared since his appointment to investigate President Joe Biden. Hur surfaced to interview Biden over his possession of classified documents, including some that go back to his time as a U.S. senator.
I have referred to Hur as a “neutron prosecutor” — a special counsel with no possible charge, under Justice Department policy barring the indictment of a sitting president. If that was not enough of a problem, Hur may have growing evidence that accounts offered by the White House over the discovery of the documents are false.
The new evidence could prove transformative, not only for the criminal but the impeachment investigation of the president.
This week, the House Oversight Committee released a new timeline on the discovery of classified documents in various locations associated with Biden. From the outset, many of us flagged problems with the account that had been given by Biden, who insisted that he had no knowledge or involvement in the removal or use of the documents.
The most glaring problem is that, after they were removed at the end of his term as vice president, the documents were repeatedly moved and divided up. Some were found in the Penn Center office used by Biden in Washington, D.C. Others were found in his garage and reportedly in his library.
Biden made clear from the beginning that he expected the investigation to be perfunctory and brief. He publicly declared that he has “no regrets” over his own conduct and told the public that the documents investigation would soon peter out when it determined that “there is no ‘there’ there.”
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SOURCE: https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/4254963-new-evidence-may-destroy-bidens-defense-in-his-classified-documents-case/
RELATED: Special counsel probe into Biden’s handling of classified documents appears to be nearing end
Published October 11, 2023
Special counsel Robert Hur’s interview of President Joe Biden is a sign that the classified documents investigation is nearing conclusion after casting a wide net that included dozens of witnesses during the ten-month long probe, multiple sources told CNN.
The White House announced this week that Biden was questioned by Hur and his team over two days in a voluntary interview that CNN has reported was scheduled weeks earlier. While the White House has declined to discuss details of the questioning, including whether Biden invoked executive privilege, the interview is the first public development in months.
One source told CNN that investigators have indicated they hope to wrap by the end of the year. As of now, it’s unclear if the probe will result in charges being filed, but sources familiar with the investigators’ line of questioning said they got the impression that’s unlikely, and there has been no discernible grand jury activity.
The Justice Department has said that Hur will produce a final report explaining his findings from the investigation, a standard part of a special counsel’s work.
“The breadth and depth of Hur’s work suggests that he is going to compile a detailed report to explain exactly how he conducted this investigation,” one source familiar with the investigation told CNN.
Hur was appointed in January to investigate after classified documents were found at Biden’s former office at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, DC, and at his Wilmington, Delaware, home.
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SOURCE: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/11/politics/special-counsel-probe-hur-biden-classified-documents-nearing-end/index.html
RELATED: Biden Interviewed in Classified Documents Investigation
FILE – U.S. President Joe Biden pauses after speaking in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Oct. 4, 2023.
Published October 9, 2023
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has been interviewed as part of an independent investigation into his handling of classified documents, the White House said late Monday.
Spokesperson Ian Sams said in a statement that the interview was voluntary and conducted at the White House on Sunday and Monday. The interview concluded Monday, Sams said.
The investigation is being led by special counsel Robert Hur, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to oversee the politically sensitive matter to avoid conflicts of interest.
Sams reiterated that Biden and the White House are cooperating. He referred questions to the Justice Department.
“As we have said from the beginning, the President and the White House are cooperating with this investigation, and as it has been appropriate, we have provided relevant updates publicly, being as transparent as we can consistent with protecting and preserving the integrity of the investigation,” Sams said. “We would refer other questions to the Justice Department at this time.”
It is hardly unprecedented for sitting presidents to be interviewed in criminal investigations.
President George W. Bush sat for a 70-minute interview as part of an investigation into the leak of the identify of a CIA operative. President Bill Clinton in 1998 underwent more than four hours of questioning from independent counsel Kenneth Starr before a federal grand jury.
