Robert Kyoung Hur (born 1973) is an American lawyer who served as the

United States Attorney for the District of Maryland The U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland is the chief federal law enforcement officer for the State of Maryland. Since October 2021, the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland is Erek Barron. The United States District Court fo ...

from 2018 to 2021. Previously, he also served as the Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General with the U.S. Department of Justice. On January 12, 2023, Attorney General

Merrick Garland Merrick Brian Garland (born November 13, 1952) is an American lawyer and jurist serving since March 2021 as the 86th United States attorney general. He previously served as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of ...

appointed Hur to the role of

Special Counsel In the United States, a special counsel (formerly called special prosecutor or independent counsel) is a lawyer appointed to investigate, and potentially prosecute, a particular case of suspected wrongdoing for which a conflict of interest exi ...

responsible for investigating President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents found at Biden's home and at the Penn Biden Center.

Early life and education

Hur was born to South Korean parents, Haesook Hur, an office manager, and Young Hur, an

anesthesiologist Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology, or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critical emergency medicine ...

. He attended Harvard School for Boys (now

Harvard-Westlake School Harvard-Westlake School is an independent, co-educational university preparatory day school consisting of two campuses located in Los Angeles, California, with approximately 1,600 students enrolled in grades seven through twelve. Its two predec ...

) in Los Angeles, California. Hur studied

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and American literature at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, graduating in 1995 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

, '' magna cum laude'' with highest honors. From 1995 to 1996, Hur did graduate study in philosophy at King's College,

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

. After two years with the Boston Consulting Group, he attended

Stanford Law School Stanford Law School (Stanford Law or SLS) is the law school of Stanford University, a private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, it is regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world. Stanford La ...

, where he was an executive editor of the ''

Stanford Law Review The ''Stanford Law Review'' (SLR) is a legal journal produced independently by Stanford Law School students. The journal was established in 1948 with future U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher as its first president. The review produces s ...

'' and won the school's Kirkwood Moot Court Competition. He graduated in 2001 with a Juris Doctor and membership in

Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif is an honor society for United States law school graduates. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of advocates, the serjeants-at-law, whose courtroom attire included a coif—a white lawn or silk skullcap, whi ...

Career

After law school, Hur was a law clerk for Judge

Alex Kozinski Alex Kozinski (; born July 23, 1950) is a Romanian-American jurist and lawyer who was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1985 to 2017. He was a prominent and influential judge, and many of his law clerks went on to ...

of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2001 to 2002, then for Chief Justice

William Rehnquist William Hubbs Rehnquist ( ; October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005) was an American attorney and jurist who served on the U.S. Supreme Court for 33 years, first as an associate justice from 1972 to 1986 and then as the 16th chief justice from ...

of the Supreme Court of the United States from 2002 to 2003. He then served as Special Assistant and Counsel to

Christopher A. Wray Christopher Asher Wray (born December 17, 1966) is an American attorney who is the eighth Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, serving since 2017. From 2003 to 2005, Wray served as Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Crimin ...

, 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 firearm offenses, and white-collar crimes. He was formerly a partner with

King & Spalding King & Spalding LLP is an American international corporate law firm that is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and with offices located in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It has over 1,200 lawyers in 23 offices globally. It is A ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, where his practice focused on government investigations and complex litigation.

United States Attorney

Hur rejoined the Department of Justice as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General, a top aide to Rosenstein after Rosenstein became Deputy Attorney General. He was a top liaison to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. On November 1, 2017, Hur was nominated by President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

to be the next United States Attorney for the District of Maryland. On March 22, 2018, his nomination was reported out of committee by

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding vo ...

. He was confirmed by

later the same day. He was sworn in on April 9, 2018. On February 3, 2021, Hur announced his resignation, effective February 15. Following his departure from the U.S. Attorney position in Maryland, Hur became a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of

Gibson Dunn Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is an American multinational law firm headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1890, the firm includes approximately 1,400 attorneys and 1,000 staff located in 20 offices around the world, including Nort ...

, a national law firm.

Special Counsel

On January 12, 2023, Attorney General

appointed Hur to oversee the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

's investigation into President Joe Biden's alleged mishandling of classified documents during his time as

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

Personal life

Hur married Cara Brewer, an attorney, in 2004.

References