Alexandra Ferguson

(CNN) The Justice Department’s investigation into classified documents found in President Joe Biden’s private home and former office will be overseen by Robert Hur, a former prosecutor in Maryland who had a “long and illustrious career,” it announced Thursday. Attorney General Merrick Garland.

In 2017, Hur was appointed federal attorney in Maryland by then-President Donald Trump, a position he held until his 2021 resignation. During that time, Hur played a key role in a number of high-profile cases, including the children’s book scandal. involving the then mayor of Baltimore, Catherine Pugh, resulting in the official being sentenced to three years in prison.

A special prosecutor has been appointed to investigate Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents

Most recently, he worked in the private sector in the city of Washington.

“Rob’s been here a while — he knows what he’s getting into,” Rod Rosenstein, a former deputy attorney general for Trump, who once worked for Hur as a senior adviser, told CNN on Thursday.

“I think he understands the need to ignore politics and focus on what matters,” Rosenstein added.

Robert Hur.

In announcing the appointment, Garland noted that Hur “oversaw some of the department’s most important matters involving national security, public corruption, and other important matters.”

“I will make sure that Pak Hur receives all the resources he needs to carry out his job,” he said.

Hur vowed Thursday to “carry out his commissioned investigation with a fair and impartial trial.”

“I intend to follow the facts quickly and thoroughly, without fear or favour, and I will honor the trust placed in me to undertake this work,” he said in a statement.

Hur also served as Assistant US Attorney in Maryland before serving as the first Assistant Attorney General in the Department of Justice.

Prior to joining the Department of Justice, Hur worked as a legal clerk for Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist and Federal Appeal Judge Alex Kozinski.

Hur was unanimously confirmed by the Senate for the position of US attorney in 2018, earning praise at the time from two Democratic Maryland senators, who expressed confidence in her ability to handle critical issues facing the state.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican, hailed the appointment Thursday.

“Former United States Attorney for Maryland Rob Hur was a prosecutor of the highest caliber and integrity,” Hogan said in a statement. “I believe in his ability to clarify the facts and hold power accountable. In this country, no one is above the law.”

Thursday’s announcement came hours after the White House counsel’s office said in a statement that Biden’s advisers found documents marked confidential in two places inside his Wilmington, Delaware, home.

The initial set of documents found when Biden’s personal lawyers examined files in his former private Washington office contained 10 classified documents, including US intelligence material and scrap information on Ukraine, Iran and the UK.

Biden’s legal team found another set of documents ranking second

“Disgusting job”

At the Department of Justice, Hur worked with Rosenstein on special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, the former deputy attorney general told CNN.

Hur “is my liaison, and she has bi-weekly meetings with the Mueller team and then reports back to me on the progress of the special counsel’s investigation into Russia,” Rosenstein said. “So he saw it firsthand and he knew it was important not to be swayed by politics, and to make decisions based on facts and law and Department of Justice policy, and I think we can count on Rob for that.”

Rosenstein added: “Rob, like many people I’ve worked with in the Department of Justice, believes in the importance of being committed to public service and having a sense of responsibility. So it’s hard to say ‘no’ when someone asks you to do what you know will be an unpleasant job.”

While serving as a senior adviser to Rosenstein, Hur also appeared at a Trump White House news conference in July 2017, touting the administration’s efforts to crack down on the notorious MS-13 gang. The podium appearances at White House news conferences were unusual, as the Justice Department generally tries to keep its distance from the White House on matters that are ostensibly political.

— Tierney Sneed contributed to this report.

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