‘Like a Fixer for the Democrats’: Nunes Worries Biden Special Counsel May Be Biased

Robert Hur was instrumental in suffocating the GOP probe into Trump-Russia mishandling. Former Rep. Devin Nunes (R. Calif.) and Special Counsel Robert Hur.

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday praised Robert Hur, the special counsel he appointed to investigate President Joe Biden’s handling of classified records, as an “even-handed” With a prosecutor “long and distinguished career.” A top Republican who dealt directly with Hur during his last tenure at the Justice Department had a more negative opinion.

In 2018, Hur was part of the Justice Department team that worked to stifle a House Republican probe of the agency’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s links to Russia. According to emails from the Justice Department that were reviewed by The Washington Free Beacon, Hur, who served as principal associate deputy attorney general, helped draft a letter to Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee in January 2018 to block a report—the so-called Nunes memo—that poked holes in the government’s investigation of the Trump campaign.

Hur’s work to shut down the memo, which years later has been largely vindicated, casts doubt on his ability to impartially investigate Biden, according to the memo’s Republican author, former House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes.

“Hur looks like a fixer for the Democrats and the Deep State,” Nunes said the Free Beacon.

Justice Department officials launched an aggressive campaign to stop the release Nunes memo. They claimed it would have a negative impact on the United States. “damaging impact” on national security. They also denied allegations that investigators had abused Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. “unaware of any wrongdoing related to the FISA process.” Emails show that Hur proposed edits and other changes to the Justice Department’s letter to House Republicans.

Garland appointed Hur to investigate. Hur is now a private practitioner. “the possible unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or other records” discovered at Biden’s home in Delaware and at his former think tank office in Washington, D.C. Garland said he was “confident that Mr. Hur will carry out his responsibility in an even-handed and urgent manner.”

But according to Nunes, it’s hardly clear that the special counsel will maintain neutrality.

“Before Hur even begins as special counsel, Congress should use a subpoena to force him to explain his role in obstructing the House Intelligence Committee’s FISA abuse investigation, targeting our staff and my lawyers, and helping to write an utterly false letter trying