Special Counsel Robert Hur has concluded that he will not recommend criminal charges against President Biden for mishandling classified documents, despite evidence of improper retention and disclosure of such materials.
Hur’s report described Biden as an elderly man with a poor memory and stated that prosecution would be unwarranted due to mitigating factors.
Hur wrote, “We conclude that no criminal charges are warranted in this matter.”
“We would reach the same conclusion even if the Department of Justice policy did not foreclose criminal charges against a sitting president,” his report continued.
Hur described Biden as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
“We have also considered 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,” the report continued.
“Based on our direct interactions with and observations of him, he is someone from whom many jurors will want to identify reasonable doubt. It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him—by then a former president well into his eighties—of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness,” wrote Hur.
Hur claimed to have “uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen.”
The report stated the documents were “marked classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan, and notebooks containing Mr. Biden’s handwritten entries about issues of national security and foreign policy implicating sensitive intelligence sources and methods.”
The investigation found evidence of classified materials in various locations, prompting FBI involvement.
Biden has defended the storage of classified documents and expressed satisfaction with the investigation’s conclusion.
Biden said, “This was an exhaustive investigation going back more than 40 years, even into the 1970s when I was a young Senator. I cooperated completely, threw up no roadblocks, and sought no delays. In fact, I was so determined to give the Special Counsel what they needed that I went forward with five hours of in-person interviews over two days on October 8th and 9th of last year, even though Israel had just been attacked on October 7th and I was in the middle of handling an international crisis. I just believed that’s what I owed the American people so they could know no charges would be brought and the matter closed.”
“Over my career in public service, I have always worked to protect America’s security. I take these issues seriously and no one has ever questioned that,” he continued.
The report also highlighted concerns about potentially embarrassing photos and Biden’s voluntary interview with Hur.
Hur wrote, “Prosecution of Mr. Biden is also unwarranted based on our consideration of the aggravating and mitigating factors set forth in the Department of Justice’s Principles of Federal Prosecution.”
“For these reasons, we decline prosecution of Mr. Biden,” he concluded.
Anthony Coley, a former senior adviser to Merrick Garland, wrote, “Against the backdrop of former President Trump’s indictment on charges of willful and deliberate retention of classified documents, the Biden team’s drip, drip, drip of information made the discoveries seem even worse.”
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