Today, Thursday, US Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Robert Hark as a special counsel to investigate the discovery of classified documents in the home of President Joe Biden and an office he used when he was vice president during the Barack Obama administration between 2009 and 2017, while President Biden said that he would deal with the classified documents that were found. on it "seriously".
At a news conference, Secretary Garland said the Special Counsel has the authority to investigate any person or entity who may have broken the law in this case, and added that Special Counsel Hark "will not be subject to day-to-day oversight from the Department but will comply with regulations.
" Maryland
The Department of Justice sometimes appoints special counsels to investigate politically sensitive cases, and they carry out their responsibilities with a degree of independence from Department leadership, including Secretary Garland, who was appointed by Biden.Special counsels sometimes, but not always, bring criminal charges.
President Joe Biden said today, Thursday, that he deals seriously with the confidential documents that were found in his office and in his home, and the US President made it clear in an interview with reporters that he was cooperating with the review conducted by the Ministry of Justice regarding these materials, indicating that his lawyer team notified the Ministry of Justice as soon as it was found. On a limited number of classified documents at his home and at the Ben Biden Center in Washington.
Biden added that his legal team discovered a small number of classified documents in storage areas and filing cabinets in his personal library at his home in Wilmington, and a library attached to his garage, which Biden said was closed.
The announcement of the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the file of secret documents found in Biden's home and office came hours after the White House attorney revealed today, Thursday, that Biden's legal team had found a second set of classified papers dating back to the period when he was serving as Vice President Obama in a warehouse. At home in Delaware.
And the White House said last Monday that secret documents dating back to that period (when Biden was Obama's deputy) were found in November 2022 at a research center in Washington.
It is expected that Biden, 80, will officially launch his re-election campaign in the coming months in the 2024 presidential elections, and the disclosure of these documents may cast a shadow on his campaign.
Commenting on finding secret documents in Biden's home and office, former US President Donald Trump asked, "When will the FBI raid Joe Biden's many headquarters, and even the White House?"
And elements of the FBI had searched Trump's residence in Florida in August 2022, and found secret documents that were transferred to the headquarters after Trump left the White House in January 2021, following his defeat in the presidential elections against Biden. .
In November 2022, US Secretary of Justice appointed Jack Smith as a special advisor to oversee the ministry's investigations into former President Trump's handling of classified documents found at his residence.
And US media quoted the new Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, describing finding secret documents in an office that belonged to Biden as a very disturbing matter.
McCarthy added, sarcastically, "These secret documents were in Biden's possession, so what did he say then about the other president who had confidential documents?", referring to Trump.
"It's obvious. Everyone can see it," Republican Representative Mike Johnson said.