President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is bracing for a wave of adverse consequences as the anticipated release of photographs depicting the negligent handling of classified documents is imminent, coinciding with the conclusion of special counsel Robert Hur’s year-long investigation.
As per Axios, Biden’s advisors do not foresee any criminal charges resulting from the investigation. Nonetheless, they are concerned about the possibility of embarrassing photographs being included in Hur’s upcoming report, which is expected to become available as early as this week.
These images could shed light on the way in which Biden stored classified materials, which were discovered in late 2022, both in the garage of his Delaware residence and in a private office he often used. The classified documents trace back to Biden’s time as VP during the Obama administration.
Leading up to their expected rematch in the 2024 election, top advisers to President Biden have voiced worries to Axios that former President Trump’s campaign might potentially capitalize on these images.
Trump is currently facing a barrage of more than 40 charges filed by special counsel Jack Smith, which stem from his improper storage of classified documents at his private residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, following his departure from the White House. The charges encompass offenses such as obstruction of justice and the deliberate retention of national defense information.
Hur, nominated by Trump in 2017 and boasting experience as a U.S. attorney and clerk for Chief Justice William Rehnquist, is obligated to draft a report on the investigation. According to information shared with Axios by Biden’s aides, they expect that the report could be released as soon as this week, although the precise date of its publication remains uncertain, as reported by Fox News.
During a CBS “60 Minutes” interview last autumn, Attorney General Merrick Garland pledged to release a special counsel’s report linked to a separate issue involving Hunter Biden “to the extent permissible under the law.” He also committed to clarifying the “decisions to prosecute or not prosecute, and their strategic decisions throughout the process.”
“Usually, the special counsels have testified at the end of their reports, and I expect that that will be the case here,” Garland said.
Anthony Coley, a former senior adviser to Garland, hit the Biden team for slow-walking discovery in the case.
“Against the backdrop of former President Trump’s indictment on charges of willful and deliberate retention of classified documents, the Biden team’s drip, drip, drip of information made the discoveries seem even worse,” he wrote in an op-ed.
