Robert K. Hur - Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

American attorney (born 1973)

Robert Kyoung Hur (born 1973)[2] is an American lawyer who served as the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland from 2018 to 2021. He previously served as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General with the U.S. Department of Justice. Hur oversaw the 2023/2024 investigation into President Joe Biden's alleged mishandling of classified documents during Biden's time as vice president.

Early life and education

Hur was born in New York City to South Korean parents, Dr. Young Hur, an anesthesiologist, and Haesook Hur, who works for Young as his office manager.[2][3]

Hur studied English and American literature at Harvard University, graduating in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, with high honors. From 1995 to 1996, Hur did graduate study in philosophy at King's College, Cambridge University, and from 1996 to 1998 he worked for Boston Consulting Group. He then attended Stanford Law School, where he was an executive editor of the Stanford Law Review and won the school's Kirkwood Moot Court Competition. He graduated in 2001 with a Juris Doctor and membership in the Order of the Coif.[2]

Career

After law school, Hur was a law clerk for Judge Alex Kozinski of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2001 to 2002 and for Chief Justice William Rehnquist of the U.S. Supreme Court from 2002 to 2003.[2]

He then served as Special Assistant and Counsel to Christopher A. Wray, then Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. From 2007 to 2014, he served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Maryland, where he prosecuted gang violence, drug trafficking and firearms offenses, and white-collar crimes. He was formerly a partner with King & Spalding in Washington, D.C., where his practice focused on government investigations and complex litigation.[4]

United States Attorney

Hur rejoined the Department of Justice as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General, a top aide to Rod Rosenstein after Rosenstein became Deputy Attorney General. He was a liaison to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.[5]

On November 1, 2017, Hur was nominated by President Donald Trump to be the next United States Attorney for the District of Maryland.[6] On March 22, 2018, his nomination was reported out of committee by voice vote.[7] He was unanimously confirmed in the US Senate by voice vote later the same day.[8][9] He was sworn in on April 9, 2018.[10]

Appointment of Robert K. Hur as Special Counsel

On February 3, 2021, Hur announced his resignation, effective February 15.[11] Following his departure from the U.S. Attorney position, Hur became a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Gibson Dunn, a national law firm.[12]

Special Counsel

On January 12, 2023, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Hur to oversee the United States Department of Justice's investigation into President Joe Biden's alleged mishandling of classified documents during his time as vice president.[13]

Garland notified Congress on February 7, 2024 that Hur had concluded his investigation, and no charges were recommended.[14][15] As part of this investigation, Hur found that Biden "willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen."[16] He concluded that "no criminal charges are warranted in this matter ... even if there was no policy against charging a sitting president", because the "evidence does not establish Mr. Biden's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt." He also cited Biden's memory as a factor, concluding that "Biden would likely present himself to a jury ... as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."[17][18][19] The White House rebuked Hur's characterization as inappropriate, politicized commentary that veered from standards of unbiased, legal analysis, despite the mention of Biden's limitations being included as the reason why the decision was made for Biden not to be charged.[20][21][22] Others with longstanding Democratic Party ties, such as James Carville and David Axelrod, admitted that the report's mention of Biden's memory issues would be seen by the public as confirming a well-established concern about Biden's mental acuity.[23]

Personal life

Hur married Cara Brewer, an attorney, in 2004. They'd met two years earlier on a Washington, D.C. subway.[3]

According to an NBC News article, Hur has made small donations to the campaigns of at least three Republican political candidates, all of whom are considered moderate. The same profile noted that Hur is well respected by both Republicans and Democrats.[24] A Washington Post profile also noted that Hur is widely respected, and seen as a straight shooter.[25]

See also

References

  1. ^ Marimow, Ann E.; Stein, Perry (January 12, 2023). "Robert Hur, a 'No Nonsense' Former Prosecutor, Will Examine Biden Documents". The Washington Post . Retrieved January 13, 2023 . Hur is a registered Republican, according to Maryland voter records.
  2. ^ a b c d "Robert K. Hur, U.S. Attorney (Maryland)". Maryland Manual On-line. Maryland State Archives . Retrieved 2023-01-13 .
  3. ^ a b "Cara Brewer, Robert Hur". The New York Times. December 19, 2004. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved January 12, 2023 .
  4. ^ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Eighth Wave of United States Attorney Nominations". whitehouse.gov. November 1, 2017 . Retrieved February 13, 2018 – via National Archives. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ^ Jones, Dustin (14 January 2023). "Who is Robert Hur, the special counsel leading the Biden classified documents inquiry". NPR . Retrieved 14 January 2023 .
  6. ^ "Eleven Nominations Sent to the Senate Today". whitehouse.gov. November 2, 2017 . Retrieved February 13, 2018 – via National Archives.
  7. ^ Results of Executive Business Meeting – March 22, 2018, Senate Judiciary Committee
  8. ^ PN1209 — Robert K. Hur — Department of Justice, congress.gov
  9. ^ https://www.asian-dawn.com/2023/01/13/garland-points-special-counsel-to-probe-biden-classified-documents/
  10. ^ "Robert K. Hur is Sworn in as the 48th United States Attorney for the District of Maryland". 9 April 2018.
  11. ^ "United States Attorney Robert K. Hur to Leave Department of Justice After Serving as Chief Federal Law Enforcement Officer in Maryland Since 2018" (Press release). Baltimore, Maryland: United States Attorney's Office. February 3, 2021 . Retrieved February 17, 2021 .
  12. ^ "People: Robert K, Hur - Partner". LawTally . Retrieved 3 February 2023 .
  13. ^ "Garland Appoints Special Counsel to Handle Biden Documents Inquiry". The New York Times. January 12, 2023.
  14. ^ Gerstein, Josh (7 February 2024). "Biden classified document probe ends without charges". Politico.
  15. ^ "Takeaways from the special counsel's report on Biden's handling of classified documents". Associated Press. February 8, 2024 . Retrieved February 9, 2024 .
  16. ^ Lim, Clarissa-Jan (February 8, 2024). "Special counsel issues final report in Biden classified docs probe". MSNBC . Retrieved February 9, 2024 .
  17. ^ Shear, Michael D. (February 8, 2024). "Special Counsel's Report Puts Biden's Age and Memory in the Spotlight". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved February 9, 2024 .
  18. ^ Thomas, Pierre; Mallin, Alexander; Bruggeman, Lucien; Faulders, Katherine (February 9, 2024). "Special counsel won't charge Biden in classified docs probe, despite evidence he 'willfully retained' materials". ABC News . Retrieved February 9, 2024 .
  19. ^ Woodruff Swan, Betsy (February 8, 2024). "Special counsel passes on charging Biden but paints damning portrait of him". Politico.
  20. ^ Kanno-Youngs, Zolan; Green, Erica L.; Glueck, Katie (2024-02-09). "White House Calls Special Counsel Report on Biden Politically Motivated". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-02-10 .
  21. ^ "Biden angrily pushes back at special counsel's report that questioned his memory, handling of docs". AP News. 2024-02-08 . Retrieved 2024-02-10 .
  22. ^ Hutzler, Alexandra (February 9, 2024). "White House fires back at special counsel report, Harris calls descriptions 'politically motivated' ". ABC News . Retrieved 2024-02-10 .
  23. ^ https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/09/us/politics/biden-memory-age-democrats.html
  24. ^ Shabad, Rebecca (January 12, 2023). "Who is Robert Hur? The special counsel looking into Biden's classified documents". NBC News . Retrieved February 9, 2024 .
  25. ^ https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/01/12/robert-hur-special-counsel-biden-documents/

External links

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_K._Hur