Rob Hur | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Special Counsel for the United States Department of Justice | |
| Assumed office January 12, 2023 | |
| Appointed by | Merrick Garland |
| United States Attorney for the District of Maryland | |
| In office April 9, 2018 – February 15, 2021 | |
| President | Donald Trump Joe Biden |
| Preceded by | Rod Rosenstein |
| Succeeded by | Erek Barron |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1973 (age 50–51) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican[1] |
| Education | Harvard University (BA) Stanford University (JD) |
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. 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 appointed Hur to the role of Special Counsel responsible for investigating President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents found at Biden's home and at the Penn Biden Center, two months after Garland appointed Jack Smith to investigate Donald Trump's role in the January 6 United States Capitol attack and his handling of government documents.
Hur was born in New York City to South Korean parents, Haesook Hur, an office manager, and Young Hur, an anesthesiologist.[2] He attended Harvard School for Boys (now Harvard-Westlake School) in Los Angeles, California. [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. After two years with the Boston Consulting Group, he 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.
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, then for Chief Justice William Rehnquist of the Supreme Court of the United States from 2002 to 2003.
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 firearm 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]
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.[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 confirmed by voice vote later the same day.[8] He was sworn in on April 9, 2018.[9]
On February 3, 2021, Hur announced his resignation, effective February 15.[10] Following his departure from the U.S. Attorney position in Maryland, Hur became a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Gibson Dunn, a national law firm.[11]
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.[12]
Hur married Cara Brewer, an attorney, in 2004.[3]
