Washington: US Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed a special counsel to investigate President Joe Biden’s handling of documents after a second batch of classified material from his time as vice president were found in his private home.

Days after it was revealed that an earlier batch of documents had been discovered in a think tank office Biden had used after leaving the Obama administration, the President has confirmed that a separate set of material had been found in a storage space in the garage of his Wilmington residence, along with a document found in his personal library.

Joe BidenCredit:AP

The issue has become a political headache for the White House, in view of the criticism Biden levelled at former president Donald Trump over the classified documents seized by the FBI at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

In a 60 Minutes interview last year, Biden had described Trump as “irresponsible” for keeping hundreds of classified records at his private Florida residence.

The White House is also under fire after it was revealed the first batch of documents found at the office Biden had previously used were discovered on November 2 – six days before the midterm elections – but this was not made public until the media broke the story.

While there are distinct differences between the two cases – both in terms of the smaller number of documents in Biden’s possession compared to Trump’s, and the fact that the president’s lawyers handed over the material as soon as they were found – Republicans, who now control the House of Representatives, have nonetheless seized on the matter.

“I think Congress has to investigate this,” new Speaker Kevin McCarthy said today.

In a bid to get to the bottom of the matter – and to ensure a level of independence in the investigation – Garland, who was appointed by Biden, picked Robert Hur, a former US attorney for Maryland, to probe the matter.

“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 said.

More to come

Most Viewed in World

Source: Read Full Article