The final report from Robert K. Hur, the special counsel investigating President Biden’s handling of classified documents withheld by his vice presidency, was sent to the White House and Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, two of the latest steps before its public publication. , officials said Wednesday.
Mr. Garland received the report Monday, he told congressional leaders in a letter Wednesday. He said Mr. Hur had previously sent a copy to the White House counsel’s office for possible revisions based on allegations of executive privilege, and that the White House was still reviewing the report.
Ian Sams, a spokesman for the White House counsel’s office, said the review would be completed by the end of the week. He did not comment on his findings.
Mr. Garland’s letter contained no indication that the department would pursue an indictment, and Mr. Biden’s entourage said he did not expect one.
The report is expected to criticize Mr. Biden and his aides for sloppy outfit and storage, according to people close to Mr. Biden, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter. But those people have long doubted whether charges would be filed, based on the investigative leads prosecutors followed in their interviews with witnesses and the president’s cooperation with investigators.
Mr. Garland named Mr. Hura veteran prosecutor who worked in the Trump administration, about a year ago examining “potential unauthorized deletion and retention of classified documents or other records discovered” after Mr. Biden left the administration Obama.
Former President Donald J. Trump, who was loaded last summer by obstructing government efforts to recover classified documents at his Florida resort, is likely to seize on the report to downplay his own legal troubles — and to claim that the Justice Department targeted him politically while letting Mr. Biden escape his punishment.
But Mr. Hur’s investigation does not appear to be comparable in scope or seriousness to that into Mr. Trump’s retention of sensitive government documents.
Mr. Biden’s lawyers immediately notified the National Archives and Records Administration after discovering a cache of classified documents in late 2022, as they closed a Washington office he occupied after leaving the vice presidency in 2017. They have since cooperated with the Department of Justice, and gave the FBI access to his home in Wilmington, Del.where investigators discovered more material.
Mr. Trump, by contrast, repeatedly resisted requests from the National Archives, which is responsible for preserving sensitive White House documents, and initially returned only part of what he had confiscated when he left office in January 2021. He did not respond fully. to a subpoena to return the remainder, and eventually FBI agents with a warrant searched his home and office.
