The former Trump-appointed special prosecutor in the Biden classified documents investigation is testifying before Jim Jordan’s Judiciary Committee today. Robert Hur arranged his departure from the Department of Justice to be official as of Monday, March 11, one day before he was scheduled to appear on Capitol Hill.
Instead of appearing as a DOJ employee who is bound by the ethical guidelines which govern the behaviour of federal prosecutors, he will appear as a private citizen with no constraints on his testimony.
The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10:00amEST.
From the Independent:
Citizen Hur has surrounded himself with Republican partisans and notorious figures linked to Trump. Serving as Hur’s counsel during the hearing will be William Burck, a veteran Washington lawyer with deep ties to the Republican political establishment.
A former federal prosecutor from the SDNY, Burck served on the team that prosecuted Martha Stewart, then later in George W. Bush’s White House.
During 2016’s DOJ investigation of Russian election interference, Burck represented Don McGahn, Reince Priebus, and Steve Bannon.
He is also a board member of Fox Corporation.
From the Washington Post:
Hur’s report concluded that a jury might see Biden as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” not a criminal trying to break the law.
Biden and his top aides exploded at the report, saying Hur’s swipes at the President were gratuitous and inappropriate, and pointed at AG Merrick Garland’s use of special counsels in Joe and Hunter Biden’s investigations.
DOJ says Garland followed protocol and had no choice. Hur had been working in private practice when Garland chose him as special counsel in January 2023. While a special counsel has more independence from DOJ leaders than other federal prosecutors, he still ultimately answers to the attorney general.
Upon the completion of the 345-page report, Hur first sent the report to Biden lawyers, who asked Hur to remove the details about Biden’s memory. Hur refused.
The report then went to the top DOJ staffer — who is not a political appointee — who determined the report was appropriate and contained no violations of DOJ regulations.
Garland reviewed what Hur’s team had written and agreed. He prepared to submit the report to Congress and then make it public with no redactions.