Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the appointment of a special counsel to investigate President Joe Biden following reports of classified documents found in his possession after he served as vice president.

Marland made the Thursday announcement of Robert Hur as the special counsel.

Attorney General Merrick Garland Assigns Special Counsel to Investigate Joe Biden for Possession of Classified Documents https://t.co/aNKhrykZNd

— Didi (@DidilovesMilty) January 12, 2023

Garland's announcement

“I concluded that under the special counsel regulations, it was in the public interest to appoint a special counsel,” Garland said, noting that he made his decision on January 5th, according to Breitbart News.

“Mr. Hurr has a long and distinguished career as a prosecutor,” Garland said, adding that “I will ensure that Mr. Hur receives all the resources he needs to conduct his work.”

Case for Biden documents special counsel much stronger than with Trump, says ex-State Dept official https://t.co/zZYKYUpw4P

— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 12, 2023

Bigger than Trump

Former Assistant Secretary of State Robert Charles told "Fox & Friends First" Thursday that Biden's investigation is bigger than of former President Donald Trump.

"The bigger thing is the nature of the documents. We know in this case, unlike in Trump's, that these are potentially very incriminating documents. They relate to Ukraine. The president's son was taking millions of dollars from Ukraine and from China," Charles said.

"They're housed in a place that China helped to fund it. There's some really questionable things here and I guess the last big question that has to be answered is did Hunter Biden, who was on the pay of Ukraine and China, we know this, did he have access to these documents, and if he did, why, and what does that mean? So, I would argue that if there was ever a case for a special counsel, it's stronger here than it ever was with Trump," he added.

NEW: Some background on newly-appointed special counsel Robert Hur, a former Trump-appointed U.S. attorney who also worked for deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein during Robert Mueller’s investigation, and also worked under now-FBI Director Wray at DOJ.https://t.co/wkfdeiT2bA

— Jerry Christmas 🎅🏼🎄 (@JerryDunleavy) January 12, 2023

Hur is a former Trump-appointed attorney who could be favorable toward the concerns of conservatives in the investigation.

Biden was found to have kept classified documents at his Biden Penn Center office, as well as in the garage of his Delaware home.

The news comes at a difficult time for Biden. He was expected to announce his run for reelection in 2024 shortly after the holidays prior to the announcement of the classified documents.

The issue is likely to follow him throughout the reelection cycle, adding concern for Democrats already fearing a comeback bid by Trump.