Former special counsel Robert Hur said Tuesday he “did not exonerate” President Biden in his report detailing the investigation into the mishandling of classified documents, repeatedly shutting down characterizations from Democratic lawmakers.
Hur, who resigned as special adviser after releasing his report finding that Biden deliberately kept classified files but did not bring charges against him, testified publicly on Tuesday.
Special Advisor Robert Hur and President Joe Biden. (Getty Images)
HUR TESTIFIES HE “IDENTIFIED EVIDENCE” THAT “PRIDE AND MONEY” MOTIVATES BIDEN TO KEEP CLASSIFIED FILES
Democrats took advantage of Hur not filing charges against the president, saying he had completely exonerated him.
Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., is seen in the House, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
“President Biden acted responsibly, cooperated fully, and the decision to … dismiss the criminal charges was relatively simple,” the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said Tuesday morning .Y.. “The report represents the complete and utter exoneration of President Biden.”
“The special counsel exonerates President Biden,” the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Jamie Raskin, said Tuesday.
U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD). (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., also said Hur “exonerated him.”
But Hur pushed back.
“I didn’t exonerate him,” Hur told Jayapal. “This word does not appear in my report.”
Asked how Nadler and Raskin characterized his report as an “exoneration,” Hur fired back again.
“That’s not what my report does,” Hur said.
Rep. Jayapal defended immigration at a recent hearing.
HUR TESTIFIES that BIDEN 'VOLUNTARILY KEPT CLASSIFIED MATERIAL,' BUT PROSECUTORS 'MUST CONSIDER' MENTAL STATE
When asked again if his report constituted a “total and complete exoneration,” Hur responded that “that’s not what the report says.”
When asked if the ranking members' statements were incorrect, Hur responded, “Yes.”
“The word exoneration does not appear anywhere in my report, and that is not my conclusion,” Hur said.
Hur later testified again that his report “does not constitute an exhaustive exoneration.”
Hur explained on Tuesday why he did not file a complaint against the president despite the deliberate retention of classified documents on military and foreign policy in Afghanistan and other countries, among other documents related to national security and foreign policy, which, according to Hur, involved “sources and sensitive intelligence methods”.
“My team and I conducted a thorough and independent investigation,” Hur testified. “We have identified evidence that the President deliberately retained classified documents after the end of his vice presidency, while he was a private citizen.”
This image from Special Counsel Robert Hur's investigation released by the Department of Justice on Thursday, February 8, 2024 shows boxes inside Joe Biden's garage containing classified documents on Afghanistan on December 21, 2022. (U.S. Department of Justice)
“That evidence included a recorded conversation in which Mr. Biden told his ghostwriter that he had just found all the classified stuff down there.” When Mr. Biden said this, he was a private citizen speaking to his ghostwriter in his private rental home in Virginia,” Hur continued. “We have also identified other recorded conversations in which Mr. Biden read to classified information out loud to his ghostwriter.”
He added, however, that “we did not, however, identify evidence that met the standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Because the evidence did not meet that standard, I declined to recommend charges criminal charges against Mr. Biden.
But Hur said he “had to explain why” he declined prosecution.
“I had to take into account the president's memory and general mental state, as well as how a jury would likely perceive his memory and mental state in a criminal trial,” Hur said. “These are the types of questions that prosecutors analyze every day. And because these questions were important to my final decision, I had to include a discussion of them in my report to the attorney general.”
SPECIAL COUNSEL CALLS BIDEN “A FRIENDLY, WELL-MEANING ELDERLY MAN WITH A POOR MEMORY” AND MAKES NO CHARGES
Hur, in his report, described Biden as a “friendly, well-meaning older man with a poor memory” — a description that raised significant concerns for Biden's 2024 re-election campaign.
President Biden listens to a question during a press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, January 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, file)
“The evidence and the president himself put his memory squarely in question. We interviewed the president and asked him about his recorded statement: 'I just found all the classified stuff down there.' He told us he didn’t remember saying that to his ghostwriter,” Hur said. “He also said he didn't remember finding any classified documents in his home after his vice presidency. And he also didn't remember how classified documents on Afghanistan came to be in his garage.”
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Hur defended himself, saying his assessment in the report “on the relevance of the president's memory was necessary, accurate and fair.”
“More importantly, what I wrote is consistent with what I believe the evidence shows and what I expect jurors will perceive and believe. I have not sanitized my explanation. Nor have I unfairly denigrated the president,” Hur testified. “I explained to the attorney general my decision and the reasons for it. This is what I had to do.”