(The Hill) – Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the appointment of Robert Hur as the special counsel that will investigate the discovery of classified materials that may have been mishandled in the aftermath of President Biden’s time as vice president.

Hur, a Harvard and Stanford graduate, was nominated by President Trump to serve as U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, making him the chief federal law enforcement officer in the state. He resigned from the post in early 2021. 

Before the appointment, Hur, 50, was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland. He prosecuted gang violence, drug trafficking and firearm offense, as well as financial crimes. 

His history in federal law enforcement extends to his time as a special assistant and counsel for then-Assistant Attorney General Christopher Wray, who was in charge of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

He was also a clerk for former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court William H. Rehnquist.

Hur’s private sector experience also includes him being a partner in the Washington office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

Garland made the announcement to appoint Hur after a second batch of classified documents was found in the garage of Biden’s residence in Wilmington, Delaware.

“The extraordinary circumstances here require the appointment of a special counsel for this matter,” Garland said.

“This appointment underscores for the public the department’s commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters.”

Classified documents were first discovered in early November at an office Biden used after the Obama administration, with Biden attorneys notifying the National Archives and the Justice Department of the matter on Nov. 4.

“As the President said, he takes classified information and materials seriously, and as we have said, we have cooperated from the moment we informed the Archives that a small number of documents were found, and we will continue to cooperate. We have cooperated closely with the Justice Department throughout its review, and we will continue that cooperation with the Special Counsel,” Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president, said in a statement. 

“We are confident that a thorough review will show that these documents were inadvertently misplaced, and the President and his lawyers acted promptly upon discovery of this mistake.” 

The Justice Department has also appointed a special counsel to oversee the investigation into former President Trump’s mishandling of records after some 300 records bearing classified markings were discovered at his Mar-a-Lago residence.