In early February, special counsel Robert Hur delivered his report on President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents while out of office. While he did not find any wrongdoing, Hur made news by writing that Biden was an “elderly man” with a “faulty memory” — a troublesome claim for a president already facing questions about his age. On Tuesday, hours after the transcript of their conversation contradicted some of Hur’s claims, he appeared before the House Judiciary Committee to discuss the report. Here are the most notable moments from the hearing.
In his opening statement, Hur stated that while classified documents were found at Biden’s home, he added that his team “did not have evidence that could prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” After explaining why Hur did not charge Biden for taking the documents, he said why his comments are the president’s mental state. “My task was to determine whether the president retained or disclosed national information willingly,” Hur said. “I could not make that determination without assessing the president’s state of mind.”
Hur defended his choice to offer his opinion on Biden’s age. “These are the types of issues that prosecutors analyze every day,” he said.
During her questioning, Pramila Jayapal stated that Biden was exonerated because Hur decided not to charge him. While he did not recommend criminally charging Biden, Hur pushed back against Jayapal’s assessment, stating that “I did not exonerate him.”
Democrat Eric Swalwell noted in the transcript of Hur’s interviews with Biden, Hur told the president that it seemed that he had a “photographic memory” of his time in the Senate. Swalwell then asked if that opinion was included in the report, to which Hur said no. Swalwell also asked Hur if he would accept a position in the Trump administration if Trump won. Hur did not answer in the affirmative or negative.
Democrat Hank Johnson used his time to highlight Hur’s status as a registered Republican with a long career working in GOP administrations dating back to George H. W. Bush. After establishing Hur’s Republican bonafides, Johnson accused the special counsel of trying to get Donald Trump reelected:
Wow -- Rep. Hank Johnson to Hur: "You're doing everything you can do to get President Trump reelected so that you can get appointed as a federal judge, or perhaps to another position in the Department of Justice. Isn't that correct?"
Hur doesn't like that question. pic.twitter.com/VGtvIGZxEU
Through crosstalk, Hur said that “partisan politics had no place whatsoever in my work.”
There aren’t a lot of sympathetic voices at the House Judiciary Committee today. Democrats are questioning the special counsel over his decision to include his opinion of Biden’s mental acuity, which they see as beyond Hur’s scope as special counsel. Meanwhile, Republicans are tearing into Hur for failing to charge Biden despite evidence that Biden knew he had classified documents. (In a transcript from a conversation with his ghostwrite in 2017, Biden said he had found “classified stuff” to provide him.) They say that the decision not to charge Biden is a dangerous precedent for retaining classified documents.
McClintock: So does this mean I can just take classified docs and store them in my garage?
Hur says he doesn't want to entertain hypotheticals but he wouldn't recommend it.
In the summary of the report released in February, Hur claimed that Biden forgot when his son Beau died. But in the transcript from their interview, Biden knew the exact day, as others in the room jumped in to provide the year:
Here is the passage where President Biden talks about the death of his son Beau -- and names the exact day that he dies as others jump in to add that it happened in 2015. pic.twitter.com/eGnZtVcBwV
Biden also joked about his age during the interview:
President Biden when Republican counsel Hur showed him years-old photographs: “You can tell it's old. I have my arm around Lindsey Graham.” pic.twitter.com/STRJJJC1vr
This post has been updated.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us.
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Belen Fernandez
Andrew Mitrovica
Mort Laitner
Nikkei Editorial
Ali Fathollah-Nejad
Rami G Khouri
visit website
