Former Special Counsel Robert Hur testified that the White House attempted to interfere with his report on President Biden’s handling of classified documents by writing letters asking his supervisors at the DOJ to change Hur’s conclusion about Biden’s memory.
While Hur said the White House was entitled to communicate with DOJ officials, the purpose of a special counsel is independence.
Hur confirmed that the White House wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Associate Deputy Attorney General Bradey Weinsheimer, who were supervising Hur’s work, asking for changes to Hur’s comment on Biden’s poor memory.
Hur had cited Biden’s claim of poor memory as a reason not to prosecute for mishandling classified information, upsetting Democrats.
Though Democrats said Biden cooperated fully, the revelation of attempted interference could prompt further scrutiny of political meddling in DOJ investigations, contrasting with the Mueller probe which found no collusion but wanted to entrap Trump in an interview.