Special counsel investigating Biden has sent the final report to the White House

The final report from Robert K. Hur, the special counsel investigating President Biden's handling of classified documents kept by his vice presidency, has been sent to the White House and to Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, two of the final steps before its public release. , officials said Wednesday.

Mr. Garland received the report on Monday, he told congressional leaders in a letter on Wednesday. He said that Mr. Hur had previously sent a copy to the White House Counsel's Office for possible revisions based on claims 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 the findings.

Mr. Garland's letter contained no indication that the department would file charges, and people around Mr. Biden have said they do not expect one.

The report is expected to criticize Mr. Biden and his aides for shoddy record-keeping and storage, according to people close to Mr. Biden, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter. But those people have long doubted that charges will be filed, based on the lines of inquiry prosecutors have pursued in their interviews with witnesses and on the president's cooperation with investigators.

Mr. Garland appointed Mr. Hur, a veteran prosecutor who worked in the Trump administration, about a year ago to investigate “the possible unauthorized disposal and retention of classified documents or other records discovered” after Mr. Biden’s Obama administration had left.

Former President Donald J. Trump, who was charged last summer with obstructing government efforts to recover classified material at his Florida resort, is likely to use the report to downplay his own legal troubles — and claim that the Ministry of Justice is targeting him. politics while allowing Mr. Biden to escape punishment.

But Mr. Hur's investigation does not appear to be comparable in scope or severity to Mr. Trump's investigation into the retention of sensitive government documents.

Mr. Biden's lawyers immediately notified the National Archives and Records Administration when they discovered 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 Justice Department, giving the FBI access to his home in Wilmington, Del., where investigators discovered more material.

Trump, by contrast, repeatedly resisted requests from the National Archives, which is responsible for storing sensitive White House documents, and initially gave only part of what he took with him when he left office in January 2021. He didn't respond fully. met a subpoena to return the rest, and eventually FBI agents searched his home and office with a warrant.