Biden lawyer calls special counsel Hur’s report ‘off the rails’
Special counsel Robert Hur released report on Thursday about investigation into alleged mishandling of classified Obama-era materials at two private locations
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Joe Biden’s lawyer called special counsel Robert Hur’s report commenting in part on the president’s age and health “off the rails” and “shabby” on Sunday.
An angry and animated Joe Biden previously hit back at the Republican prosecutor’s claim that his memory is faulty during a last-minute and at-times chaotic press conference on Thursday.
The president hit out at parts of the report released earlier in the day by Justice Department special counsel Robert Hur into his handling of classified documents and became infuriated at a suggestion that he did not remember the year his late son, Beau Biden, died from brain cancer.
On Friday, Kamala Harris joined the White House fight back, slamming the report as “politically motivated”, and saying she found details in it “gratuitous, inaccurate and inappropriate”.
She said she has been “privileged and proud to serve as vice president of the United States” under Mr Biden, and said Mr Hur’s remarks on Mr Biden’s age and memory were “gratuitous, inaccurate, and inappropriate”.
Mr Hur’s report concluded that Mr Biden will not face charges for “willfully” holding onto documents after he left office as Barack Obama’s vice president in January 2017.
The report, which was delivered to Congress after many months of investigation and preparation, recommended no criminal charges for the incumbent president, even were he not protected by immunity from prosecution due to his current stature.
However, the investigators painted a picture of a senile president with severe memory issues whose innocence was less clear than his supporters would have hoped, while not necessarily coming across to a potential jury as malicious or criminal.
It stated that the materials included files on military policy in Afghanistan and handwritten notes on national security, also suggesting that Mr Biden would look like an “elderly man with a poor memory” to a jury if he were to be hit with criminal charges.
Watch: ‘That part of the report does not live in reality'
ICYMI: Biden mixes up Mexico and Egypt at surprise presser
President Joe Biden appeared to confuse Mexico with Egypt, in a press conference on Thursday called to refute allegations of his poor memory.
The president made reference to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, saying: “The president of Mexico did not want to open up the gate to allow humanitarian material to get in. I talked to him. I convinced to open the gate.
“I talked to Bibi [Benjamin Netenyahu] to open the gate on the Israeli side. I’ve been pushing really hard, really hard to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza.
“There are a lot of innocent people who are starving, innocent people or in trouble and die, and it’s got to stop, number one.
“Number two... I’m the guy that made the case that we have to do much more to increase the amount of material going in, including fuel, including other items. I’ve been on the phone with Qataris. I’ve been on the phone with the Egyptians.”
Mike Bedigan reports:
Biden mixes up Mexico and Egypt at surprise presser to address claims of memory loss
‘The president of Mexico did not want to open up the gate to allow humanitarian material to get in. I talked to him. I convinced to open the gate,’ the president said
Watch: White House press secretary asserts ‘The president of the United States runs the country'
Recap: Biden comes out fighting over claims about his memory
An angry and animated President Joe Biden on Thursday hit back at a Republican prosecutor’s claim that his memory is faulty in last-minute remarks to reporters on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, the Department of Justice released a report by Special Counsel Robert Hur, the former Maryland US Attorney who Attorney General Merrick Garland charged with probing how classified documents ended up at Mr Biden’s home in Delaware and former office in Washington.
Mr Hur did not recommend that Mr Biden face criminal charges, citing what he described as significant “mitigating factors” which led him to state that charges were not warranted and would not have been warranted even if Mr Biden were not president and barred from being prosecuted by Department of Justice policy.
Andrew Feinberg filed this report from Washington, DC:
Biden comes out fighting over claims about his memory at surprise press conference
The Special Counsel said president will not be charged with any crimes but drew attention to what he called Mr Biden’s ‘significantly limited’ memory
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Biden’s age is now under scrutiny. His campaign needs to respond with careful candor
Eric Garcia writes:
President Joe Biden probably hoped that the 388-page report from special counsel would put a lingering question — the one of his handling of classified documents — to bed.
And indeed, while Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report said that Biden “willfully” held onto classified materials at his home in Delaware and the office of a think tank, it also said it would not recommend crimiminal charges for the president.
The good news ended there for the president. It should be noted that Attorney General Merrick Garland nominated Hur, a Republican whom Trump nominated to serve as the US Attorney for Maryland. Garland did so after Trump sought to use the entire department as his personal legal defense arm. It was supposed to be a show of impartiality toward the current president.
But nominating Hur might have given Republicans their most potent weapon yet. It forced a conversation on Biden’s age and whether it makes him fit to be the president for another term into the foreground. The report became the equivalent of a rubber hose beating: it may not be fatal, but it will bruise him up a bit.
In pictures: Classified documents found in Biden’s garage and home
Special counsel released report after a year-long investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents
Democrats use Mike Johnson’s Iran-Israel gaffe to take heat off Biden
Democrats are rushing to defend President Joe Biden after he appeared to confuse Mexico with Egypt during a press conference called to refute claims about his poor memory.
Following the release of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report on Thursday – which claimed Mr Biden’s memory was “significantly limited” – Democratic lawmakers pointed to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s own gaffe, where he confused Iran with Israel last week.
Martha McHardy has the story:
Democrats share Mike Johnson’s Iran-Israel gaffe in bid to take heat off Biden
Amid concerns over president Biden’s age and cognitive ability, Democratic lawmakers have accused MAGA supporters of double standards after speaker Mike Johnson appeared to confuse Iran with Israel
Special counsel: Biden ‘wilfully’ held on to classified material
President Joe Biden “wilfully” held on to classified materials that were discovered at his home in Delaware and the office of a think tank in Washington DC, but should not face criminal charges for doing so, a special prosecutor appointed by the attorney general found in a report released on Thursday.
The special counsel, former Trump appointee and ex-Maryland US Attorney Robert Hur, did not recommend that Mr Biden face criminal charges, citing what he described as significant “mitigating factors” which led him to state that charges were not warranted and would not have been warranted even if Mr Biden were not president and barred from being prosecuted by Department of Justice policy.
John Bowden reports from Washington, DC:
Special counsel says Joe Biden ‘wilfully’ held on to classified material
Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report says charges against Mr Biden are not warranted and cites ‘several material distinctions’ between Mr Biden’s case and charges against former president Donald Trump
Harris launches into fiery defence of Biden as she slams ‘integrity’ of special counsel
Andrew Feinberg, our White House correspondent, filed this report:
Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday came out swinging with a full-throated defence of President Joe Biden in the wake of an unflattering report on his conduct by a Republican special prosecutor.
Ms Harris was speaking in the Indian Treaty Room at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at an event hosted by the White House’s gun violence prevention office when she addressed the matter of Mr Hur’s report, which critics have assailed as including gratuitous attacks on the president even as it announced that he will not face any criminal charges stemming from the discovery of classified documents at his Delaware home.
She said she has been “privileged and proud to serve as vice president of the United States” under Mr Biden, and said Mr Hur’s remarks on Mr Biden’s age and memory were “gratuitous, inaccurate, and inappropriate”.
Continue reading...
Kamala Harris gives fiery defence of Biden and slams ‘integrity’ of special counsel
Ms Harris hit out at Special Counsel Robert Hur after the Republican prosecutor attacked Mr Biden’s memory
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