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Biden’s team bracing for special counsel’s report on classified docs.
President Biden‘s team is concerned that special counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents will hurt his re-election campaign.
Why it matters: Biden aides don’t expect criminal charges in the case, but they believe Hur’s report will include embarrassing details — possibly with photos — on how Biden stored documents.
- In late 2022, Obama-era classified documents were discovered in Biden’s garage at his home in Delaware and in a private office he used.
Zoom in: Hur, a former U.S. attorney nominated by Trump in 2017 and a former clerk for conservative Chief Justice William Rehnquist, is required to write a report about the investigation.
Even if there are no criminal charges, Biden aides expect the report’s details to be politically damaging.
- Biden has defended storing documents from his vice presidency in his garage, saying: “By the way, my Corvette is in a locked garage, so it’s not like they’re sitting out on the street.”
Zoom out: Garland’s appointment of Hur added to the tension between Biden’s team and Garland that’s been fueled by Garland’s appointment of the special counsel investigating Hunter Biden. Feelings that Garland was too slow to investigate Trump over Jan. 6, and other frustrations.
Some in Biden’s orbit have unflatteringly compared Garland to former FBI Director James Comey. Referring to his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email server.
- Comey ultimately cleared Clinton of criminal wrongdoing. But damaged her election campaign against Trump in July 2016 by making a public statement that she had been “extremely careless” in her security protocols.
What they’re saying: The White House and a spokesperson for Biden attorney Bob Bauer declined to comment.
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