The US Justice Department won’t file charges against US President Joe Biden over his handling of classified documents found in his private home and office, but an investigative report will be critical of his actions, a person familiar with the matter said.
Special Counsel Robert Hur, who was appointed last year by Attorney General Merrick Garland to lead the Biden documents probe, has wrapped up the investigation, according to the person, who asked not to be identified disclosing non-public information. Findings in the investigation report could be released this week, the person said on Tuesday.
The development removes a major legal and political weight hanging over Biden as he runs for re-election. Meanwhile, former president Donald Trump, who is the front runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is facing felony charges related to his retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
The decision not to charge Biden isn’t surprising because it involved seemingly innocent mishandling of classified papers that were uncovered and immediately handed over for investigation, according to Barbara McQuade, a former federal prosecutor.
“Trump’s case is completely different because of his wilful refusal to return the documents,” McQuade said. “And the cover up.”
Hur was appointed to investigate the circumstances surrounding the discovery of documents with classified markings found at Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware, home as well as at the Penn Biden Centre for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington, which Biden used as an office after his vice presidency.
Appeals court rejects Trump claim of immunity from prosecution
Appeals court rejects Trump claim of immunity from prosecution
Biden aides told The Washington Post that the documents unintentionally ended up at his home and office because of “sloppy staff work”.
The decision is sure to fuel Trump’s claims that the Justice Department is stacked against him. He faces charges in four different criminal prosecutions, including charges in two federal cases like the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case.
Hur, a Republican, is a former US attorney for Maryland nominated by then-President Trump.
White House officials have argued the Biden case is different because the president’s staff turned over classified documents voluntarily when they were discovered and invited the search of his Delaware home. Biden conducted a voluntary interview with investigators in early October.
“The voluntary interview was conducted at the White House over two days,” White House spokesman Ian Sams said in a statement at the time. “As we have said from the beginning, the president and the White House are cooperating with this investigation.”
Garland gave Hur the power to explore the “possible unauthorised removal and retention of classified documents or other records”.
The Justice Department also previously closed a review into whether Vice-President Mike Pence mishandled classified documents with no charges filed. The department sent Pence’s lawyer a letter in June saying he’d been cleared in the review.
Another special counsel, Jack Smith, was appointed by Garland in November 2022 to investigate classified materials found at Trump’s Florida home.
Prosecutors have charged Trump with obstructing the government’s efforts to reclaim classified material improperly removed from the White House after his term ended in early 2021.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse