President Biden’s aides are reportedly worried about the looming special counsel report detailing his mishandling of classified information that could be released as soon as this week. As President Trump awaits trial for taking classified documents to his Florida estate from the White House, aides are concerned that Mr. Biden’s mishandling of similar information could further imperil his reelection chances.

According to a report from Axios, Team Biden is “concerned” that Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report “will hurt his re-election campaign.” Aides said they were expecting “embarrassing details” to be part of the report, including pictures that portray a cavalier attitude toward storage of the documents similar to the ones released following an FBI raid at Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.  

Mr. Hur was first appointed special counsel in January 2023 to investigate Mr. Biden’s retention of classified information from his Senate and vice presidential days. Mr. Biden’s staff searched his home and his offices in Pennsylvania and Washington shortly after Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate was searched by the FBI in 2022.

The staff members then discovered the documents — some of which were kept in the president’s garage — and promptly turned them over to the FBI. Vice President Pence also turned over documents he had taken home from his White House days. 

The president is already facing tough political headwinds headed into the 2024 election, with polls showing that Mr. Trump is more trusted on issues like foreign policy, the economy, immigration, and border security. Mr. Biden’s aides believe a scathing report from Mr. Hur will only give Mr. Trump more ammunition to attack the incumbent as corrupt and deflect attention from the charges against him. 

The Wall Street Journal first reported that no charges are expected to be filed by Mr. Hur, though the special counsel is likely to take the president and his staff to task for mishandling the information and keeping it stored at the president’s Delaware home and his offices for so many years. 

During the course of his investigation, Mr. Hur and his colleagues interviewed many high-ranking officials, including Secretary Blinken, the national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, a former White House chief of staff, Ron Klain, and even the president himself. 

When Mr. Biden sat for an interview with Mr. Hur in October, the White House spokesman for oversight and investigations, Ian Sams, said the president was cooperating fully.

“As we have said from the beginning, the President and the White House are cooperating with this investigation, and as it has been appropriate, we have provided relevant updates publicly, being as transparent as we can consistent with protecting and preserving the integrity of the investigation,” Mr. Sams said.

Like with special counsels Robert Mueller and John Durham, Mr. Hur could soon be hauled in front of a Republican-controlled congressional committee to answer questions about his report and his investigation. The chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Congressman James Comer, has already subpoenaed a former White House Counsel, Dana Remus, to discuss the classified documents matter.