House Judiciary Committee members yesterday interrogated Robert Hur, the special counsel who investigated President Joe Biden’s handling of classified materials found in Biden’s home and office from his time as vice president.
Much of the hearing focused on Hur’s decision not to prosecute Biden—driven in part by Hur's characterization of the president as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” Democrats dismissed the phrasing as a smear and sought to draw attention to former President Donald Trump's depositions. Republicans criticized Hur's decision, accusing the DOJ of a "two-tiered system of justice," pointing to former Special Counsel Jack Smith's decision to charge Trump over his handling of classified documents (see overview).
Hur defended his conclusion, saying a jury’s perception of Biden’s memory and mental state would make it difficult to prove his intention to mishandle documents, a prerequisite for conviction. The Justice Department yesterday released a transcript of Hur's interviews with Biden showing the president's struggle with recalling the timing of certain events, including the year of his son Beau’s death and the year Trump was elected.
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