Special Counsel Robert Hur to testify publicly on findings from Biden classified records probe

Special Counsel Robert Hur is expected to testify on Capitol Hill on his findings following months of investigating President Biden's mishandling of classified records.

Hur will testify publicly at the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday at 10 a.m. 

Hur, who released his report to the public in February, did not recommend criminal charges against Biden for mishandling and retaining classified documents and stated that he wouldn't bring charges against Biden even if he were not in the Oval Office.

Those records included classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan and other countries, among other records related to national security and foreign policy, which Hur said implicated "sensitive intelligence sources and methods."

BIDEN RETAINED RECORDS RELATED TO UKRAINE, CHINA; COMER DEMANDS 'UNFETTERED ACCESS' AMID IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

Hur did not recommend any charges against the president but did describe him as a "sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory" – a description that has raised significant concerns for Biden's 2024 re-election campaign.

Biden has blasted Hur since the release of his report, saying his "memory is fine" and that he is the "most qualified person in this country to be president."

Biden also fired back at Hur for suggesting he did not remember when his son Beau died.

"How dare he raise that?" Biden said at the time. "Frankly, when I was asked a question, I thought to myself, what's that any of your d--- business?"

SPECIAL COUNSEL CALLS BIDEN 'SYMPATHETIC, WELL-MEANING, ELDERLY MAN WITH A POOR MEMORY,' BRINGS NO CHARGES

"Let me tell you something... I swear, since the day he died, every single day... I wear the rosary he got from Our Lady –" Biden stopped, seemingly forgetting where the rosary was from.

In his report, Hur wrote: "He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died."

But two sources familiar with the investigation said it was Biden who brought up Beau's death in the interview – not the special counsel. 

Meanwhile, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky.; and House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., have demanded the Justice Department turn over the transcript and any recordings of Biden’s interview. 

The three committee leaders are leading the impeachment inquiry against Biden. They subpoenaed the materials last month. 

The Justice Department has not turned over transcripts or audio recordings of Hur’s interview with the president despite the subpoena compelling their production by March 7, a House Judiciary spokesman said.

"We received a small production from DOJ, but not the transcripts or audio that we need and requested," a House Judiciary spokesman told Fox News on Friday. "Our staff has all necessary clearances to review the contents of the President’s interview, which dealt with materials found in unsecured areas like garages, closets and commercial office space. We are evaluating next steps."   

A spokesperson from the Justice Department said, "The Department has been in touch with the Committees and anticipated responding to their subpoenas today." 

In a response obtained and viewed by Fox News, the DOJ added: 

"We urge the Committee to join us in seeking to avoid conflict when there is, in fact, cooperation." 

"Given this record, we are disappointed that the Committee chose to serve a subpoena less than three weeks after Mr. Hur’s report was transmitted to Congress and only seven business days after the Department made clear it was working expeditiously to respond in good faith to congressional requests on this matter. This compressed time frame is not reasonable given the standard interagency review process the Department explained to the Committee." 

"Your subpoena is premature and unnecessary given the amount of information the Committee has already received and the Department’s proactive efforts to prepare for responding to congressional requests on this matter."

Comer told Fox News Digital after the report was released that he wants "unfettered access to these documents to determine if President Biden’s retention of sensitive materials were used to help the Bidens’ influence peddling."

Jordan, Comer and Smith are concerned that "Biden may have retained sensitive documents related to specific countries involving his family’s foreign business dealings."

Justice Department does not turn over Hur-Biden interview transcript despite House subpoena

The Justice Department has not turned over transcripts or audio recordings of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s interview with President Biden despite a subpoena requesting that they were to be provided by Thursday, March 7, the House Judiciary Committee says. 

The development comes after Republicans leading an impeachment inquiry into the President’s mishandling of classified documents wrote a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland in February notifying him of the subpoena. 

"We received a small production from DOJ but not the transcripts or audio that we need and requested," House Judiciary Committee spokesman Russel Dye told Fox News on Friday. "Our staff has all necessary clearances to review the contents of the President’s interview, which dealt with materials found in unsecured areas like garages, closets and commercial office space.  We are evaluating next steps."   

A source familiar with the subpoena told Fox News late last month that the deadline to hand over the materials was March 7 at 9 a.m. ET.   

DOJ REVIEWING BIDEN, HUR INTERVIEW TO IDENTIFY POTENTIAL CLASSIFIED INFORMATION IN RESPONSE TO HOUSE GOP DEMANDS 

A spokesperson from the Justice Department then said Thursday that "The Department has been in touch with the Committees and anticipated responding to their subpoenas today." 

In the letter sent to Garland in February, which was signed by House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, they wrote that their committees, "in coordination with the Ways and Means Committee, are investigating whether sufficient grounds exist to draft articles of impeachment against President Biden for consideration by the full House."   

"The Committees are concerned that President Biden may have retained sensitive documents related to specific countries involving his family's foreign business dealings," they added. 

DOJ DEFENDS SPECIAL COUNSEL REPORT ON BIDEN’S MEMORY 

Hur, who released his report on the matter to the public in February after months of investigating, did not recommend criminal charges against Biden for mishandling and retaining classified documents and stated that he wouldn't bring charges against Biden even if he were not in the Oval Office. 

Those records included classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan and other countries, among other records related to national security and foreign policy, which Hur said implicated "sensitive intelligence sources and methods." 

Hur described Biden as a "sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory," a description that has raised significant concerns for Biden's 2024 re-election campaign.  

Hur will testify publicly about his report on March 12 before the House Judiciary Committee. 

Fox News' Brooke Singman and Tyler Olson contributed to this report.

House Republicans subpoena DOJ for materials related to Special Counsel Hur interview of Joe Biden

House Republicans have subpoenaed Special Counsel Robert Hur for the transcript and any recordings of President Biden’s interview from the investigation into the president’s mishandling of classified documents.

Republicans leading the impeachment inquiry — House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan and House Ways & Means Committee Chair Jason Smith — requested the materials related to Biden's October 2023 interview be turned over to Congress earlier this month and set a deadline of Feb. 19. That deadline was not met, but the Justice Department said it was "working to gather and process" responsive documents. 

HOUSE REPUBLICANS DEMAND TRANSCRIPT OF BIDEN’S INTERVIEW WITH SPECIAL COUNSEL AS PART OF IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

The subpoena, reviewed by Fox News Digital, compels the Justice Department to produce all documents and communications, including audio and video recordings, related to Hur's interview of Biden. 

The subpoena also covers all documents and communications, including audio and video recordings, related to Hur's interview of the ghost writer of Biden's memoir, Mark Zwonitzer; documents identified as "A9" and "A10" in the Appendix A of Hur's report, which relate to then-Vice President Joe Biden's Dec. 11, 2015 call with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk; and all communications between or among representatives of the Department of Justice, including the Office of Special Counsel, the Executive Office of the President, and President Biden's personal counsel referring or relating to Hur's report.  

BIDEN, NOT SPECIAL COUNSEL HUR, BROUGHT UP SON'S DEATH IN QUESTIONING

Fox News Digital obtained a letter the Republicans sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday, notifying the department of the subpoena, and taking issue with the fact that the DOJ, earlier this month, "offered no timeframe by which it expected to make any productions or, indeed, any commitment that it would produce all of the material requested." 

"The Oversight and Judiciary Committees, in coordination with the Ways and Means Committee, are investigating whether sufficient grounds exist to draft articles of impeachment against President Biden for consideration by the full House," they wrote. "The Committees are concerned that President Biden may have retained sensitive documents related to specific countries involving his family's foreign business dealings." 

SPECIAL COUNSEL ROBERT HUR TO TESTIFY PUBLICLY AT HOUSE HEARING ON BIDEN CLASSIFIED RECORDS PROBE

The Republicans are also seeking information on "whether the White House or President Biden’s personal attorneys placed any limitations or scoping restrictions during the interviews with Special Counsel Hur or Mr. Mark Zwonitzer precluding or addressing any potential statements directly linking President Biden to troublesome foreign payments."

"Additionally, the Judiciary Committee requires these materials for its ongoing oversight of the Department’s commitment to impartial justice and its handling of the investigation and prosecution of President Biden’s presumptive opponent, President Donald J. Trump, in the November 2024 presidential election," the letter states. "The documents requested are directly relevant to both the impeachment inquiry and the Judiciary Committee’s legislative oversight of the Department." 

DOJ DEFENDS SPECIAL COUNSEL REPORT ON BIDEN'S MEMORY: 'CONSISTENT WITH LEGAL REQUIREMENT,' NOT 'GRATUITOUS'

Hur, who released his report to the public earlier this month after months of investigating, did not recommend criminal charges against Biden for mishandling and retaining classified documents and stated that he wouldn't bring charges against Biden even if he were not in the Oval Office.

Those records included classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan and other countries, among other records related to national security and foreign policy, which Hur said implicated "sensitive intelligence sources and methods."

Hur did not recommend any charges against the president but did describe him as a "sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory" — a description that has raised significant concerns for Biden's 2024 re-election campaign.

DOJ reviewing Biden, Hur interview to ID potential classified information in response to House GOP demands

The Justice Department on Friday said it will consult with various intelligence agencies and law enforcement to identify any classified information during a discussion between President Biden and Special Counsel Robert Hur in response to a request from House Republicans demanding the transcript, and any recordings of the interview. 

"Several of the materials listed in your February 12 letter require review for classification and protection of national defense information," Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte wrote in a letter to House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan and House Ways & Means Committee Chair Jason Smith.

SPECIAL COUNSEL CALLS BIDEN 'SYMPATHETIC, WELL-MEANING, ELDERLY MAN WITH A POOR MEMORY,' BRINGS NO CHARGES

The GOP lawmakers have requested Attorney General Merrick Garland turn over the transcript and any recordings of Biden's October 2023 interview with Hur and the special counsel team. The three committee leaders are leading the impeachment inquiry against Biden.

"We have already begun this process. The Department is committed to responding to the Committees’ requests expeditiously, consistent with the law, longstanding Department policies and principles, and available resources," Uriarte wrote. 

The Justice Department will release the transcript to Congress if the White House gives the OK. The White House could invoke executive privilege, which could bar the release. 

Hur, who released his report to the public last week after months of investigating, did not recommend criminal charges against Biden for mishandling and retaining classified documents, and stated that he wouldn't bring charges against Biden, even if he were not in the Oval Office.

The report revealed Biden's significant memory issues, as concerns about the president's age and mental capacity continue to surface amid his re-election campaign. 

Hur said Biden came off "as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory" and that "it would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him-by then a former president well into his eighties-of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness."

He is expected to testify before Congress about his findings, according to reports.  

Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Elkind and Brooke Singman contributed to this report. 

FBI informant charged with giving false information about Hunter Biden in 2020

Special Counsel David Weiss has charged an FBI informant with giving false information after he alleged that Joe Biden and Hunter Biden were paid millions in exchange for their help firing the Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma Holdings, according to court documents unsealed Thursday. 

Alexander Smirnov, 43, is charged with making a false statement and creating a false and fictitious record during FBI interviews. 

Prosecutors say Smirnov was arrested at the Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada Wednesday after a federal grand jury returned an indictment. He was scheduled to appear in federal court in the District of Nevada later Thursday. 

According to the indictment, Smirnov gave "false derogatory information" to the FBI despite "repeated admonishments that he must provide truthful information and that he must not fabricate evidence." 

The indictment says Smirnov told an FBI agent in March 2017 that he had a phone call with Burisma’s owner concerning the firm potentially acquiring a U.S. company and making an initial public offering (IPO) on a U.S.-based stock exchange. 

In reporting this conversation to the FBI agent, Smirnov said Hunter Biden was a board member of Burisma, though this was publicly known. 

BIDEN, NOT SPECIAL COUNSEL HUR, BROUGHT UP SON'S DEATH IN QUESTIONING

In June 2020, Smirnov is accused of having told the FBI, for the first time, about two meetings he had four to five years prior, in which executives associated with Burisma supposedly admitted that they hired Hunter Biden to "protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems." 

During this meeting, the indictment alleges that Smirnov said the executives paid $5 million to each of the Bidens while Joe Biden was still in office. The indictment alleges that Smirnov falsely claimed the Bidens were paid so that Hunter Biden, with his dad’s help, could take care of a criminal investigation being conducted by the then-Ukrainian Prosecutor General, Viktor Shokin, into Burisma. 

The indictment alleges that this information given by Smirnov in June 2020 was a fabrication. Prosecutors say Smirnov did have contact with Burisma executives in 2017, but when Joe Biden was out of public office and had no ability to influence U.S. policy and after the Ukrainian Prosecutor General had been fired in February 2016. 

The indictment alleges that Smirnov transformed his "routine and unextraordinary" business contacts with Burisma in 2017 and later bribery allegations against Joe Biden after expressing bias against him and his presidential candidacy. 

FBI DIRECTOR SAYS CHINESE HACKERS ARE ‘POISED TO ATTACK’ AS INFILTRATIONS REACH ‘FEVER PITCH’

Smirnov is accused of repeating some of his false claims during an interview with FBI agents in September 2023, while changing other bits of information, and promoting a new false narrative after claiming to have met with Russian officials. 

If convicted, Smirnov faces a maximum of 25 years in prison.   

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley were approached by a whistleblower last summer who alleged that the FBI was in possession of a document — an FD-1023 form, dated June 30, 2020 — which explicitly detailed information provided by a confidential human source alleging Biden, while serving as vice president, was involved in a multi-million-dollar scheme with a foreign national in exchange for influence over policy decisions.

The source told Fox News Digital that the confidential human source was used by the FBI for "at least several years" before the FD-1023 form, and was "found to be highly credible" by the FBI. 

Comer said Thursday that FBI Director Christopher Wray refused a request from him and Grassley last summer for the public release of the form because the bureau "claimed it would jeopardize the safety of a confidential human source who they claimed was invaluable to the FBI." 

Comer said the bureau informed him that the source was "credible and trusted, had worked with the FBI for over a decade, and have been paid six figures." 

"The FBI's actions in this matter are very concerning. The FBI had this form for years and it appears they did nothing to verify the troubling claims contained within the record until Congress became aware of and demanded access to them," Comer said. 

Comer said the FBI's FD-1023 form is not being used in an impeachment inquiry against the president. 

The impeachment inquiry, he said, "is based on a large record of evidence, including bank records and witness testimony, revealing that Joe Biden knew of and participated in his family’s business dealings." 

"Just this week, we had another witness confirm Joe Biden was the brand being sold by the Bidens around the world. President Biden continues to lie to the American people about this matter and the American people demand the truth and accountability for any wrongdoing. We will continue to follow the facts to propose legislation to reform federal ethics laws and to determine whether articles of impeachment are warranted."

The FBI declined to comment when reached by Fox News Digital.

House Republicans demand transcript of Biden’s interview with special counsel as part of impeachment inquiry

FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans leading the impeachment inquiry against President Biden are demanding the Justice Department turn over the transcript and any recordings of Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur in his investigation into Biden's mishandling of classified documents.

Hur, who released his report to the public last week after months of investigating, did not recommend criminal charges against Biden for mishandling and retaining classified documents and stated that he wouldn't bring charges against Biden even if he were not in the Oval Office.

BIDEN RETAINED RECORDS RELATED TO UKRAINE, CHINA; COMER DEMANDS 'UNFETTERED ACCESS' AMID IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

Those records included classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan and other countries, among other records related to national security and foreign policy, which Hur said implicated "sensitive intelligence sources and methods."

Hur did not recommend any charges against the president but did describe him as a "well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory" — a description that has raised significant concerns for his 2024 reelection campaign.

On Monday, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan and House Ways & Means Committee Chair Jason Smith penned a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland to request that he turn over the transcript and any recordings of Biden's October 2023 interview with Hur and the special counsel team. The three committee leaders are leading the impeachment inquiry against Biden.

SPECIAL COUNSEL CALLS BIDEN 'SYMPATHETIC, WELL-MEANING, ELDERLY MAN WITH A POOR MEMORY,' BRINGS NO CHARGES

Comer had asked Hur if any of the classified records that Biden held were related to the countries with which his family allegedly conducted business.

Comer told Fox News Digital last week that he wants "unfettered access to these documents to determine if President Biden’s retention of sensitive materials were used to help the Bidens’ influence peddling."

The letter sent to Garland and obtained by Fox News Digital on Monday detailed the concerns that "Biden may have retained sensitive documents related to specific countries involving his family’s foreign business dealings."

"Further, we seek to understand whether the White House or President Biden’s personal attorneys placed any limitations or scoping restrictions during the interview that would have precluded a line of inquiry regarding evidence (emails, text messages, or witness statements) directly linking the President to troublesome foreign payments," they wrote. 

COMER DEMANDS ANSWERS ON WHETHER BIDEN CLASSIFIED RECORDS MENTION COUNTRIES RELATED TO FAMILY BUSINESS DEALS

"Additionally, the Committee on the Judiciary requires these documents for its ongoing oversight of the Department’s commitment to impartial justice and its handling of the investigation and prosecution of President Biden’s presumptive opponent, Donald J. Trump, in the November 2024 presidential election," they continued. 

"Despite clear evidence the President willfully retained and transmitted classified materials willfully, Mr. Hur recommended 'that no criminal charges are warranted in this matter,'" they wrote. "Although Mr. Hur reasoned that President Biden’s presentation ‘as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory’ who ‘did not remember when he was vice president’ or ‘when his son Beau died’ posed challenges to proving the President’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, the report concluded that the Department’s principles of prosecution weighed against prosecution because the Department has not prosecuted ‘a former president or vice president for mishandling classified documents from his own administration.’"

They added, "The one ‘exception’ to the Department’s principles of prosecution, as Mr. Hur noted, ‘is former President Trump.’ This speaks volumes about the Department’s commitment to evenhanded justice."

Comer, Jordan and Smith demanded the materials by Feb. 19.

No charges for Biden after Special Counsel probe into improper handling of classified documents

Special Counsel Robert Hur will not recommend criminal charges against President Biden for mishandling classified documents, according to his report after a months-long investigation into the president's alleged improper retention of classified records. 

Hur has been investigating Biden’s improper retention of classified records since last year. Those records included classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan, among other records related to national security and foreign policy which Hur said implicated "sensitive intelligence sources and methods." 

"We conclude that no criminal charges are warranted in this matter," the report states. "We would reach the same conclusion even if the Department of Justice policy did not foreclose criminal charges against a sitting president."

The special counsel also described Biden as "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory." 

"We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory," Hur wrote in the report. "Based on our direct interactions with and observations of him, he is someone from whom many jurors will want to identify reasonable doubt. It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him—by then a former president well into his eighties—of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness."

GARLAND SAYS SPECIAL COUNSEL PROBING BIDEN CLASSIFIED RECORDS HAS SUBMITTED REPORT, UNDER WHITE HOUSE REVIEW

But Hur said his investigation "uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen."

The materials included "marked classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan, and notebooks containing Mr. Biden’s handwritten entries about issues of national security and foreign policy implicating sensitive intelligence sources and methods." 

Hur said FBI agents recovered the materials from "the garages, offices, and basement den in Mr. Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware home." 

But Hur said that the evidence "does not establish Mr. Biden’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt." :

"Prosecution of Mr. Biden is also unwarranted based on our consideration of the aggravating and mitigating factors set forth in the Department of Justice’s Principles of Federal Prosecution," the report states. "For these reasons, we decline prosecution of Mr. Biden."

The White House was given the opportunity to review the report for privilege after Hur initially submitted his report on Feb. 5, and did not seek any redaction to the report. The report was transmitted to Congress Thursday afternoon. 

Damning photos were included in the report — photos that the Biden campaign reportedly feared could have a negative impact on his 2024 re-election bid. 

Classified records were first found inside the Washington, D.C., offices of the Penn Biden Center think tank on Nov. 2, 2022, but only disclosed to the public in early January 2023.

BIDEN CAMP REPORTEDLY FEARS PHOTOS FROM SPECIAL COUNSEL CLASSIFIED DOCS PROBE COULD DEVASTATE REELECTION BID

A second stash of classified documents was also found inside the garage of the president’s home in Wilmington in December, but revealed to the public earlier this month, prompting Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint former U.S. Attorney Rob Hur to serve as special counsel.

Days later, additional classified documents were found in the president’s home in Delaware. The FBI conducted a more than 12-hour search of Biden’s Delaware home Friday, seizing additional classified records.

Biden has defended the storing of classified documents in the past.

"By the way, my Corvette is in a locked garage, so it's not like they're sitting out on the street," he once said.

In a statement after Special Counsel released the report, Biden said he was "pleased to see they reached the conclusion I believed all along they would reach – that there would be no charges brought in this case and the matter is now closed."

"This was an exhaustive investigation going back more than 40 years, even into the 1970s when I was a young Senator. I cooperated completely, threw up no roadblocks, and sought no delays. In fact, I was so determined to give the Special Counsel what they needed that I went forward with five hours of in-person interviews over two days on October 8th and 9th of last year, even though Israel had just been attacked on October 7th and I was in the middle of handling an international crisis. I just believed that’s what I owed the American people so they could know no charges would be brought and the matter closed," Biden's statement continued.

"Over my career in public service, I have always worked to protect America’s security. I take these issues seriously and no one has ever questioned that," he added.

But Garland, on Nov. 18, 2022, appointed former DOJ official Jack Smith to serve as special counsel to investigate whether Trump was improperly retaining classified records at Mar-a-Lago.

When Smith was appointed to investigate Trump, Garland and top DOJ officials were simultaneously conducting an internal review of President Biden’s mishandling of classified records. That review, and the discovery of classified records at Biden’s office, was not disclosed to the public until January.

BIDEN INTERVIEWED BY SPECIAL COUNSEL ABOUT CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS

Republicans and allies of former President Trump were outraged, blasting the Justice Department for a double standard.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all 37 felony charges out of Smith's probe. The charges include willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements.

Trump, the 2024 GOP front-runner, was then charged with an additional three counts as part of a superseding indictment out of Smith’s investigation – an additional count of willful retention of national defense information and two additional obstruction counts. Trump pleaded not guilty.

That trial is set to begin on May 20, 2024. 

Biden's aides told Axios earlier this week that they are fearful former President Trump's campaign could use the photos against the Democrat incumbent ahead of their likely 2024 rematch.

COMER DEMANDS ANSWERS ON WHETHER BIDEN CLASSIFIED RECORDS MENTION COUNTRIES RELATED TO FAMILY BUSINESS DEALS

Anthony Coley, a former senior adviser to Garland, accused the Biden team of slow-walking discovery in the president’s classified records case, versus the handling of the Trump probe.

"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.

Before Hur’s findings were released, reports suggested the Biden campaign was concerned about potentially embarrassing photos included in Hur's expected report that could be released as soon as this week.

The campaign was concerned that the images would show how Biden stored classified materials. The classified documents were carried over from Biden's time as former President Obama's vice president.

Hur interviewed Biden at the White House – an interview that lasted two days. The White House said the president’s interview with Hur was "voluntary."

Last year, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, who is co-leading the impeachment inquiry against President Biden, began investigating whether the sensitive, classified documents Biden retained involved specific countries or individuals that had financial dealings with Biden family members or their related companies. 

Comer questioned why Biden would have kept certain classified materials and asked Hur to provide his committee with a list of the countries named in any documents with classification markings recovered from Penn Biden Center, Biden’s residence, including the garage, in Wilmington, Delaware, or elsewhere; and a list of all individuals named in those documents with classification markings; and all documents found with classified markings.

It is unclear if Hur cooperated with Comer's request. 

Garland says special counsel probing Biden classified records has submitted report, under White House review

Attorney General Merrick Garland notified congressional lawmakers that Special Counsel Robert Hur has submitted his final report after months of investigating President Biden’s alleged improper retention of classified records.

Garland, in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, Ranking Member Jerry Nadler, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin and Ranking Member Lindsey Graham, Garland said Hur submitted the final report on Feb. 5 to the Justice Department.

BIDEN CAMP REPORTEDLY FEARS PHOTOS FROM SPECIAL COUNSEL CLASSIFIED DOCS PROBE COULD DEVASTATE REELECTION BID

"Prior to submitting his report to me, Special Counsel Hur engaged with the White House Counsel’s Office and President’s personal counsel to allow comments on the report," Garland wrote. "That included review by the White House Counsel’s Office for executive privilege consistent with the President’s constitutional prerogatives."

Garland, though, said the White House’s privilege review "has not yet concluded." 

"As I have made clear regarding each Special Counsel who has served since I have taken office, I am committed to making as much of the Special Counsel’s report public as possible, consistent with legal requirements and Department policy," Garland wrote.

Garland vowed to "produce to Congress the report, its appendices, and the letter from counsel following completion of the White House’s privilege review." 

Hur has been investigating Biden’s improper retention of classified records since last year. Reports suggest there will be no charges filed against the president. 

Classified records were first found inside the Washington, D.C., offices of the Penn Biden Center think tank on Nov. 2, 2022, but only disclosed to the public in early January 2023.

A second stash of classified documents was also found inside the garage of the president’s home in Wilmington in December but revealed to the public earlier this month, prompting Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint former U.S. Attorney Rob Hur to serve as special counsel.

Days later, additional classified documents were found in the president’s home in Delaware. The FBI conducted a more than 12-hour search of Biden’s Delaware home Friday, seizing additional classified records.

Biden has defended the storing of classified documents in the past.

"By the way, my Corvette is in a locked garage, so it's not like they're sitting out on the street," he once said.

But Garland, on Nov. 18, 2022, appointed former DOJ official Jack Smith to serve as special counsel to investigate whether Trump was improperly retaining classified records at Mar-a-Lago.

When Smith was appointed to investigate Trump, Garland and top DOJ officials were simultaneously conducting an internal review of President Biden’s mishandling of classified records. That review, and the discovery of classified records at Biden’s office, was not disclosed to the public until January.

BIDEN INTERVIEWED BY SPECIAL COUNSEL ABOUT CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS

Republicans and allies of former President Trump were outraged, blasting the Justice Department for a double standard.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all 37 felony charges out of Smith's probe. The charges include willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements.

Trump, the 2024 GOP front-runner, was then charged with an additional three counts as part of a superseding indictment out of Smith’s investigation – an additional count of willful retention of national defense information and two additional obstruction counts. Trump pleaded not guilty.

That trial is set to begin on May 20, 2024. 

Biden's aides told Axios earlier this week that they are fearful former President Trump's campaign could use the photos against the Democrat incumbent ahead of their likely 2024 rematch.

COMER DEMANDS ANSWERS ON WHETHER BIDEN CLASSIFIED RECORDS MENTION COUNTRIES RELATED TO FAMILY BUSINESS DEALS

Anthony Coley, a former senior adviser to Garland, accused the Biden team of slow-walking discovery in the president’s classified records case, versus the handling of the Trump probe.

"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.

Reports this week suggested the Biden campaign was concerned about potentially embarrassing photos included in Hur's expected report. 

The campaign was concerned that the images would show how Biden stored classified materials. The classified documents were carried over from Biden's time as former President Obama's vice president.

Hur interviewed Biden at the White House – an interview that lasted two days. The White House said the president’s interview with Hur was "voluntary."

Last year, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, who is co-leading the impeachment inquiry against President Biden, began investigating whether the sensitive, classified documents Biden retained involved specific countries or individuals that had financial dealings with Biden family members or their related companies. 

Comer questioned why Biden would have kept certain classified materials and asked Hur to provide his committee with a list of the countries named in any documents with classification markings recovered from Penn Biden Center, Biden’s residence, including the garage, in Wilmington, Delaware, or elsewhere; and a list of all individuals named in those documents with classification markings; and all documents found with classified markings.

It is unclear if Hur cooperated with Comer's request. 

Graham grills DOJ, DHS over illegal migrants’ ‘brazen’ NYC police attack: ‘will they be deported?’

FIRST ON FOX: Senate Judiciary ranking member Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is demanding answers from the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security on the agencies’ actions on the illegal migrants, who attacked New York City police officers, freed without bail. 

"I was saddened but not surprised to hear about the latest consequences of President Biden's illegal immigration crisis - a violent beat-down near Times Square in New York of several NYPD officers by a dozen migrants," Graham wrote in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, asking what their respective agencies will do in response to the "brazen attack." 

"Will the aliens who perpetrated this attack be deported?" Graham asked. "If so, when? If not, why not?"

ILLEGAL MIGRANT FLIPS MIDDLE FINGERS AFTER BEING CHARGED WITH ATTACKING NYPD IN TIMES SQUARE

The Justice Department and DHS did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment on the letter. Makorkas faces a possible impeachment vote in the House after the House Homeland Security Committee cleared a resolution for his impeachment this week. 

Over the weekend, a pair of New York City police officers were attacked by at least seven illegal migrants near Times Square. The suspects were later released without bail following their arrest. 

Surveillance footage released by the New York Police Department shows an NYPD officer and lieutenant telling the group to move along about 8:30 p.m. Saturday on West 42nd Street in Manhattan, the New York Post reported. A scuffle ensues as the officers are seen apparently trying to subdue someone on the ground. 

NYC MIGRANTS ARRESTED FOR ASSAULTING POLICE FLEE TO CALIFORNIA UPON RELEASE: REPORT

The suspects are then seen kicking the officers before running off before being arrested a short time later. The NYPD identified the suspects to Fox News Digital as Darwin Andres Gomez Izquiel, 19, Kelvin Servat Arocha, 19, Wilson Juarez, 21, Jhoan Boada, 22, and Yorman Reveron, 24.

They were all charged with assault and released without bail, sources said. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office told Fox News Digital that an investigation into the incident is ongoing. 

SUSPECTED ILLEGAL MIGRANTS LAND BOAT ON SAN DIEGO BEACH AND FLEE INTO WEALTHY VILLAGE

Leaving police custody on Thursday, Boada gave the news cameras a double-handed middle finger as he walked past and smirked at reporters and photographers outside the Midtown South Precinct in Manhattan. He was wearing a black Los Angeles Lakers shirt and khakis leaving the precinct station. He has a tattoo on his left forearm.

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report.  

DOJ further acknowledges Hunter Biden’s laptop is real, contents match Apple iCloud backups

Federal prosecutors further acknowledged in court documents filed Tuesday that the laptop Hunter Biden dropped off at a computer store is in fact real, adding that the contents on the laptop matched what had previously been obtained through a search warrant on the president’s son’s Apple iCloud.

In the court documents, the Department of Justice said the IRS and FBI obtained a search warrant for tax violations in August 2019 and were able to get access to Hunter’s Apple iCloud account.

By September 2021, Apple produced backups of data from various electronic devices Hunter backed up to his iCloud account.

"Investigators also later came into possession of the defendant's Apple MacBook Pro, which he left at a computer store," the court filing reads. "A search warrant was also obtained for his laptop and the results of the search were largely duplicative of information investigators had already obtained from Apple."

HUNTER BIDEN'S GUN POUCH HAD COCAINE RESIDUE ON IT, PROSECUTORS SAY

In 2020, John Paul Mac Isaac, a computer repair shop owner who turned over the laptop belonging to the president’s son to authorities and members of the press, said a man he believed to be Hunter dropped off three laptops in his store in April 2019. Only one of the laptops was salvageable, and while repairing the laptop, Mac Isaac said he discovered disturbing material.

Mac Isaac could not get in touch with the customer, and said he first searched the emails by keyword in June or July 2019.

The laptop saga began in October 2020, when the New York Post reported about a 2015 email from a Ukrainian energy executive to Hunter, thanking him for introducing him to his father, that it obtained from the hard drive of Hunter's laptop. Joe Biden was vice president at the time of the message, and his son then enjoyed a lucrative position on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy firm, raising concerns of attempted influence-peddling with his powerful father. 

The laptop's content included a peek into Hunter's overseas business dealings, as well as more sordid material like homemade sex tapes and videos showing him using illegal drugs. 

The laptop was widely dismissed by print and television outlets, especially The New York Times, The Washington Post, MSNBC and CNN. 

Twitter and Facebook blocked or limited sharing of the New York Post's article about Biden. Twitter even locked the New York Post out of its account for weeks.

But in February 2023, the first son admitted that the laptop at the center of a federal investigation belonged to him in a letter from his lawyers.

HOUSE COMMITTEES APPROVE RESOLUTION TO HOLD HUNTER BIDEN IN CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS, MOVES TO FLOOR

At the time, journalist Miranda Devine, who authored the book "Laptop from Hell," tweeted about Hunter’s admission, saying it was not Russian disinformation or a "plant," as the president and 51 dishonest former intel officials pretended. The 51 intel officials she referred to were the 51 intelligence experts who signed a letter casting doubt on the scandal.

HUNTER BIDEN INDICTED ON FEDERAL GUN CHARGES

In June 2023, the DOJ said it knew in December 2019 that the laptop was "not manipulated in any way" and contained "reliable evidence," but was "obstructed" from seeing all available information, according to an IRS whistleblower involved in the probe.

The admission revealed the DOJ knew the laptop was not manipulated nearly a year before the intelligence officials and President Biden declared it was planted as part of a Russian disinformation campaign.

IF BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY IS VALID, WHY HAS THE PRESIDENT LIED ABOUT HIS COMPLICITY?

Court records allege that the searches revealed incriminating evidence, like the first son’s addiction to controlled substances and his possession of a firearm.

For example, the court documents say prior to Oct. 12, 2018, when Hunter obtained a firearm, he took photos of crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia on his phone. He also sent messages "routinely" about purchasing drugs.

During the two days after Hunter purchased the firearm, he messaged his girlfriend about meeting a drug dealer and smoking crack, court documents say.

The documents also show Hunter messaged about sleeping on a car and smoking crack, efforts by his then-girlfriend to discard the firearm, and how his devices contained photos and videos of "apparent cocaine, crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia."