The report from special counsel Robert Hur regarding President Joe Biden’s possession of classified documents did not result in charges, in part because investigators found Biden to have memory issues. The report issued Thursday also came before Biden held an impromptu press conference in which he denied the allegations, but mixed the nations of Mexico and Egypt.
Hur’s report did not recommend charges against Biden, despite the fact that sensitive documents were found in his garage. In part, the special counsel wrote that Biden’s apparent mental lapses would make him difficult to prosecute.
He added that “at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
Hur’s report indicated several contradictions in the president’s statements. Included in them is evidence that Biden did not remember the years that he was vice president. In addition, Biden reportedly forgot the year that his son, Beau Biden, died.
Biden just angrily denied that he shared classified material with his ghostwriter (also claiming the Special Counsel “did not say” that he did) & asserted none of the materials he improperly retained were “high classified.”
This is page 3 of the Special Counsel’s report: pic.twitter.com/CEwaWNY51X
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) February 9, 2024
Following the special counsel’s report, Biden spoke to members of the press, saying that he did not have memory issues. He denied having forgotten when his son died and said that he continues to be sharp.
The president was combative with members of the press and denied any wrongdoing in the documents case. He said that the special counsel’s investigation was appropriate, in part to provide a contrast to former President Donald Trump.
However, during the event, the president began to leave the podium. Following a question from a reporter, Biden returned and said that he had worked out a deal with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi regarding aid to the Gaza Strip during the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
However, Biden referred to al-Sisi as the president of Mexico, and not of Egypt.
The press conference and confusion between countries follows two instances in the last week in which Biden said that he spoke to dead foreign leaders, including former French President Francois Mitterrand and former German Prime Minister Helmut Kohl.
