Who is Robert Hur? A look at the special counsel due to testify on Biden classified documents case

WASHINGTON — The special counsel who questioned the president’s age and competency in his report on Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents will be questioned himself this week.

Robert Hur will testify before a congressional committee on Tuesday as Republicans in the House of Representatives try to keep the spotlight on unflattering assessments of Biden.

Some Biden aides and allies have suggested that Hur, a Republican appointed by Donald Trump to his role as U.S. attorney, is a political partisan. Hur’s defenders say he has shown throughout his career that his work is guided only by facts and the law — and not by politics.

An overview of Hur’s professional life shows that he is no stranger to politically charged investigations. He prosecuted former elected officials as head of federal law enforcement in Maryland. And as a Justice Department official, he helped monitor special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

A look at Hur’s career and why he’s in the spotlight now:

Hur determined in a report made public last month that no criminal charges were warranted in connection with the president’s handling of classified documents after he left the vice presidency.

But in explaining how he reached his decision, Hur wrote that Biden would likely present himself to a jury “as a likable, well-meaning, older man with a bad memory.” adult son Beau had died.

Democrats have lashed out at Hur for comments about Biden’s age and mental acuity. They argue the digs were unnecessary and could help Republicans in their bid to unseat Biden in 2024.

Some also suggested that Hur quickly accepted the invitation to speak before the House Judiciary Committee. The panel, led by Trump loyalist Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, has led many of the congressional investigations into the president, including the troubled effort to impeach him.

But Hur’s report also carefully laid out how the criminal case accusing Trump of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort raises far more serious allegations. Hur noted that Biden cooperated with investigators and consented to searches of his homes. Trump, on the other hand, is accused of not only possessing sensitive documents but also obstructing justice “by enlisting others to destroy evidence and then lying about it,” Hur wrote.

Hur was picked to lead the Biden investigation by Attorney General Merrick Garland, who was aware of both Hur’s career history and his political leanings. Garland is determined to lead an apolitical Justice Department as the agency investigates not only Biden and Trump, but also Biden’s son Hunter.

“I think Merrick Garland probably recognized that Rob was someone who was a Republican but had a track record of making impartial law enforcement decisions and was respected by people on both sides of the aisle,” said former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein , who was once Hur’s boss.

Hur held one of the most powerful jobs at the Justice Department during a tumultuous time under the Trump administration, serving as a top aide to Rosenstein, the department’s second-in-command.

As chief deputy attorney general, Hur helped run the department’s day-to-day operations in 2017 and early 2018. He also helped Rosenstein stay abreast of Mueller’s progress in the Russia investigation. Hur held biweekly meetings with the special counsel’s team and reported to Rosenstein, the former deputy attorney general said in an interview.

Rosenstein said he hired Hur because he knew he would maintain a calm and steady demeanor and “approach matters in an impartial manner.”

In 2017, Hur joined then-acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Thomas Homan at a White House press conference on the violent street gang MS-13, a move that was criticized by some as inconsistent with ethical standards.

Some former Justice Department officials said at the time that it was unwise for Hur to discuss law enforcement matters from the White House briefing room because it could call into question the department’s independence.

Trump nominated Hur in 2017 to take Rosenstein’s old job as U.S. attorney in Maryland, and Hur was unanimously approved by the Senate the following year.

Hur’s office prosecuted a number of political figures during his time in office, including former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, a Democrat. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion for selling self-published children’s books to nonprofits to promote her political career.

In another case, Hur’s office prosecuted a Coast Guard lieutenant accused of stockpiling weapons and plotting politically motivated killings inspired by a far-right mass murderer. Christopher Hasson was accused of having a so-called hit list of names of Democrats, including then-Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.

According to a book published by the former Manhattan federal prosecutor, Hur declined to file a case against former Democratic Secretary of State John Kerry. Former U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman wrote in his book “Holding the Line” that Justice Department officials referred an investigation into Kerry to his office in 2018 after Trump withdrew the U.S. from a nuclear deal with Iran. Kerry helped negotiate the deal during the Obama administration.

After Berman declined to pursue a case, Berman said, the investigation was assigned to Hur’s office. Berman said he told Hur why he was dismissing criminal charges and urged Hur to do the same.

“Hur would come to the same conclusion as we did, and the Kerry investigation died quietly – as it should have,” Berman wrote.

After leaving the U.S. attorney’s office in 2021, Hur joined the Washington office of the Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher Law Firm.

Shortly before Garland appointed him special counsel in January 2023, Hur was hired to defend the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell in a lawsuit brought by the District of Columbia. The Football League and the Washington Commanders team were accused of conspiring to deceive fans by lying about a sexual misconduct investigation and a hostile work environment within the team.

Hur also served on Facebook’s legal team in a case brought by the D.C. attorney general. The case was intended to punish the social networking company for unlawfully giving data mining company Cambridge Analytica access to data of as many as 87 million users. The company, which supported Trump’s 2016 campaign, managed to extract potentially valuable information about American voters from Facebook profiles.

Hur was the lead author of the brief for Facebook that led to the judge dismissing the case last year. The DC Attorney General has appealed this ruling.

Hur was also listed as one of several attorneys for former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones in several lawsuits arising from a $60 million bribery scheme aimed at securing a legislative bailout package for two Ohio nuclear power plants with the help of then- speaker of Ohio House.

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Richer reported from Boston.