Special Counsel Robert Hur is defending his comments about President Joe Biden’s memory.
During a hearing about his investigation into the president’s handling of classified documents, and his report detailing his decision not to bring charges, Hur asserted he was unfairly attacking Biden’s memory.
“The evidence — and the president himself — put his memory squarely at issue,” the special Counsel said.
He went on:
“We interviewed the president and asked him about his recorded state, quote, ‘I just found all the classified stuff downstairs,’ end quote. He told us that he didn’t remember saying that to his ghostwriter. He also said he didn’t remember finding any classified material in his home after his vice presidency. And he didn’t remember anything about how classified documents about Afghanistan made their way into his garage.”
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Hur insisted, “My assessment in the report about the relevance of the president’s memory was necessary, and accurate, and fair.”
“Most importantly, what I wrote is what I believe the evidence shows, and what I expect jurors would perceive and believe. I did not sanitize my explanation. Nor did I disparage the president unfairly. I explained to the attorney general and my decision and the reasons for it. That’s what I was required to do,” he added.
Hur declined to bring charges. But his explanation for his decision included damaging claims about the president’s memory.
“In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden’s memory was worse. He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended (‘if it was 2013 – when did I stop being Vice President?’), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began (‘in 2009, am I still Vice President?’),” Hur’s report stated.
The report also claimed he did not remember when his son Beau — who passed away in 2015 — died.
“He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died. And his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him. Among other things, he mistakenly said he ‘had a real difference’ of opinion with General Karl Eikenberry, when, in fact, Eikenberry was an ally whom Mr. Biden cited approvingly in his Thanksgiving memo to President Obama,” the report alleged.