Special Counsel in Biden Document Case Is Former Trump Appointee Who Previously Worked Under Christopher Wray

Described as 'a prosecutor of the highest caliber and integrity'

United States Attorney Robert Hur speaks at a news conference at the U.S. Attorney's Office, on Sept. 19, 2018 in Baltimore, MD. Zach Gibson/Getty Images

A Trump-appointed former federal prosecutor experienced in dealing with litigation involving classified information has been tapped to lead the federal probe into President Joe Biden’s alleged mishandling of top secret documents.

United States Attorney General Merrick Garland on Jan. 12 announced that Robert Kyoung Hur, 50, will serve as special counsel in overseeing the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) investigation.

The probe was initiated following the discovery of classified documents in the garage of Biden’s home in Wilmington, Del., and in his former office at the Penn Biden Center in Washington.

A recipient of the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award for superior performance and excellence, Hur is the second special counsel appointed to lead high-profile DOJ investigations into mishandling of classified documents. Garland in November appointed Jack Smith to spearhead the probe into former President Donald Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents.

Hur received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College in 1995 before spending two years studying philosophy at the University of Cambridge in England. He earned his law degree at Stanford University, where he was executive director of the Stanford Law Review.

Following this 2001 law school graduation, Hur clerked for Judge Alex Kozinski in the U.S. Ninth Circuit’s Court of Appeals 2001-02 before moving to Washington to clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist 2002-03.

President Donald Trump participates in a medal ceremony in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, on Dec. 3, 2020. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Between 2003-05, Hur was a special assistant and counsel in the DOJ’s Criminal Division, prosecuting corporate fraud and counterterrorism. He worked under Christopher Wray, who is now FBI Director. 

Hur worked as an associate with Washington-based King & Spalding 2005-07, representing clients in criminal and regulatory litigation dealing with federal agencies and the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).

In 2007, he rejoined the DOJ as an assistant U.S. Attorney in Maryland, where he investigated and prosecuted illegal firearm possession, drug trafficking, violence, public corruption, fraud, computer network intrusions, tax offenses, intellectual property theft, and white-collar offenses until 2014, when he joined Washington-based King & Spalding as a partner specializing in “special matters” and government investigations.

In 2017, Hur again returned to the DOJ as a Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General. In November 2017, Hur was nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as U.S. Attorney for Maryland. He was confirmed by the Senate in a voice vote in March 2018.

FBI Director Christopher Wray at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on May 25, 2022. Bonnie Cash/Pool/Getty Images

Hur was nominated in the same wave of seven judicial candidates that included John Durham’s elevation to U.S. Attorney for Connecticut. In 2020, Durham was tapped as special counsel to investigate the origins of the FBI’s discredited “Crossfire Hurricane” probe into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives in the 2016 elections.

During more than a decade as an assistant U.S. Attorney and U.S. Attorney in Maryland, Hur handled numerous cases involving classified and sensitive government documents and investigations because many federal agencies, including the National Security Agency, are based in that jurisdiction.

The DOJ noted in a Jan. 12 press release regarding Hur’s special counsel appointment, that he was responsible for “setting strategic priorities for and supervising one of the largest and busiest U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the nation.”

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland is joined by U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch during a news conference at the Justice Department to announce the appointment of a Special Counsel to investigate the discovery of classified documents held by President Joe Biden at an office and his home on January 12, 2023 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

During his years as a Maryland federal prosecutor, Hur headed investigations that led to convictions of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, Baltimore Police Commissioner Darryl De Sousa, and state Del. Cheryl Glenn on various corruption charges.

“U.S. Attorney Hur has been a great and effective partner at holding violent offenders accountable, especially with his work in addressing gang violence and intimidation,” Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said in a statement after Hur’s resignation in late 2020.

In February 2021, Hur resigned from the DOJ and joined Washington-based Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher as a partner. He was working in that capacity when he accepted the special counsel post offered by Garland.

U.S. Attorney Robert Hur (C), FBI Special Agent Gordon Johnson (R), and Art Walker (L) of the Coast Guard Investigative Service, walk up to speak to the media about Christopher Paul Hasson after a hearing at the United States District Court Greenbelt Division is shown on February 21, 2019 in Greenbelt, Maryland. Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan appointed Hur to the state’s University System Board of Regents and named him as chair of the Asian American Hate Crimes Workgroup.

In a statement posted on Twitter, soon-to-be-former Gov. Hogan said, “Former Maryland U.S. Attorney Rob Hur is a prosecutor of the highest caliber and integrity. I have faith in his ability to get the facts and hold power to account. In this country, no one is above the law.”