Probe into Biden’s handling of classified documents concludes

WASHINGTON: The special counsel investigating the alleged mishandling of classified documents by President Joe Biden has finished his inquiry, the US attorney general told Congress Wednesday, without specifying the outcome of the investigation.

Special Counsel Robert Hur was appointed by AttorneyGeneral Merrick Garland last year after classified material dating from Biden’s time as vice president was found in 2022 at his residence in Wilmington, Delaware, and in a former office.

A Washington Post article on Tuesday said that the investigation’s report is critical of the way the documents were handled by the Democratic president and his aides but does not recommend any criminal charges.

In a letter to members of Congress seen by AFP Wednesday, Garland said Hur handed him his report on Monday.

“I am committed to making as much of the Special Counsel’s report public as possible,” Garland said, noting that the White House was still reviewing the report.

Garland also said that he established that Hur had conducted the investigation appropriately.

Former president Donald Trump, Biden’s likely opponent in the November presidential election, is currently facing charges involving his alleged mishandling of classified documents.

Trump was indicted by another special counsel, Jack Smith, and accused of endangering national security by holding on to top secret nuclear and defense information after leaving the White House.

There were significant differences between the Biden and Trump investigations.

The number of documents involved in the Biden case was fewer than a dozen while the Trump probe found several hundred at his home.

Trump also allegedly sought to mislead investigators while Biden has cooperated and was interviewed by Hur, the special counsel, in October along with dozens of current and former staffers.

According to the Post, Biden aides said the documents unintentionally ended up at his home and office because of ‘sloppy staff work.’