White House lawyers are attributing President Joe Biden’s “significantly limited” memory, as revealed in Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report, to the president’s focus on the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel.
The report details Biden’s cognitive decline and his handling of classified materials, but concludes that prosecution is unlikely due to challenges in proving willful intent and Biden’s sympathetic public image.
The White House has criticized the report’s treatment of Biden’s memory as inaccurate and inappropriate, emphasizing the president’s performance during the interview and his engagement in global events.
Letter from Sauber and Bauer to Hur: "We do not believe that the report's treatment of President Biden's memory is accurate or appropriate. The report uses highly prejudicial language to describe a commonplace occurrence among witnesses: a lack ofrecall of years-old events." pic.twitter.com/H5VtckC5ux
— Andrew Bates (@AndrewJBates46) February 8, 2024
White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said, “We do not believe that the report’s treatment of President Biden’s memory is accurate or appropriate. The report uses highly prejudicial language to describe a commonplace occurrence among witnesses: a lack of recall of years-old events.”
White House lawyers wrote, “This is especially true under the circumstances, which you do not mention in your report, that his interview began the day after the October 7 attacks on Israel. In the lead up to the interview, the President was conducting calls with heads of state, Cabinet members, members of Congress, and meeting repeatedly with his national security team.”
“Subsequently, far from being ‘hazy,’ Report at 208, the President proceeded to provide often detailed recollections across a wide range of questions, from staff management of paper flow in the West Wing to the events surrounding the creation of the 2009 memorandum on the Afghanistan surge. He engaged at length on theories you offered about the way materials were packed and moved during the transition out of the vice presidency and between residences. He pointed to flaws in the assumptions behind specific lines of questioning,” the lawyers continued.
Republican officials have called for invoking the 25th Amendment, citing concerns about Biden’s age and mental fitness, while a poll showed that 82 percent of Americans have concerns about his physical and mental health.
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