The Justice Department’s special counsel investigating how President Joe Biden handled Obama-era classified materials is expected to release his final report in the coming months, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, which is likely to include “harsh criticism” of the president—but is not expected to result in any criminal charges being brought.
Since his appointment in January, Special Counsel Robert Hur has interviewed roughly 100 of Biden’s aides, colleagues and family members, including his son, Hunter, culminating in a two-day interview with the president last month. The documents in question date to Biden’s time as vice president during the Obama administration as well as his days in the U.S. Senate. The number of interviews Hur’s team has conducted indicates it cast a wide net in trying to answer questions about how the material was packed and handled and wound up at an office Biden used at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, a Washington-based think tank, and in the garage of his home in Wilmington, Del., alongside his vintage Corvette.
The investigation has focused on who handled the documents and what procedures they followed in doing so, the people said. Hur is expected to release a lengthy report in the next couple of months, potentially before the end of this year.
‘Whatever Access You Need’: How Biden Handled Early Days of Classified Documents Probe
When National Archives officials approached attorneys for President Joe Biden in the fall of 2022 seeking access to government records he still had in his possession — some of which, they had learned, might contain classified information — the archivists appeared to face little resistance.
“In terms of taking custody to any papers, yes, we are prepared to facilitate whatever access you need to accomplish NARA taking custody of whatever materials it seems appropriate,” wrote Patrick Moore, a onetime personal attorney for the president, at the time.
Other correspondence between Biden’s lawyers and the National Archives in November 2022 includes equally cooperative sentiments: Moore repeatedly used expressions such as “at your convenience,” and “I can be reached any time on my cell.”
