On January 12, 2023, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed NAFUSA member Robert K. Hur, a partner in the Washington D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, to lead an investigation into the handling of classified documents by President Biden. The appointment as Special Counsel followed information revealed by the White House that documents from Mr. Biden’s time as Vice President in the Obama Administration were found in two locations.

Mr. Hur, a former federal prosecutor and senior Justice Department official, was the United States Attorney in Maryland under the Trump administration from 2018 to 2021. He graduated from Stanford and Harvard and clerked for then Chief Justice William J. Rehnquist, following law school. His experience in the Department of Justice includes working as the Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General under Rod Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney General under Donald Trump, and before that as special assistant
to Christopher Wray who was then leading the DOJ’s Criminal Division.

In remarks delivered on the appointment of Robert Hur as Special Counsel, Attorney General Merrick praised Mr. Hur’s long and distinguished career as a prosecutor. He expressed confidence in Mr. Hur’s ability to carry out his responsibility “in an even-handed and urgent manner” and promised to ensure that he receives all the resources he needs to conduct his work.