Robert Hur, who served as Special Counsel for the Justice Department in the investigation of Joe Biden’s mishandling of classified documents, testified before the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday morning.
Hur, who has just resigned from the DOJ, testified as a private citizen, and not under the oversight of the Justice Department.
Hur provided damning testimony about Joe Biden’s handling of classified information, and agreed that Biden had lied in his denial that he never shared classified information with his “ghostwriter.”
Hur also admitted there are audio tapes.
“My team and I conducted a thorough independent investigation. We identified evidence that the president willfully retained classified materials after the end of his vice presidency when he was a private citizen,” Hur testified.
“This evidence included an audio recorded conversation during which Mr. Biden told his ghost writer that he had just found all the classified stuff downstairs,” he continued.
“When Mr. Biden said this, he was a private citizen speaking to his ghostwriter in his private rental home in Virginia. We also identified other recorded conversations during which Mr. Biden read classified information aloud to his ghostwriter,” he added.
JUST IN: Special Counsel Robert Hur testifies that Joe Biden retained classified materials *after* his vice presidency when he was a private citizen.
“My team and I conducted a thorough independent investigation. We identified evidence that the president willfully retained… pic.twitter.com/zluwj3FsGc
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 12, 2024
JIM JORDAN: “What did the ghostwriter do to the audio recording of his conversations with Biden after a special counsel was named?”
HUR: “He slid those files into his recycle bin on his computer.”
JIM JORDAN: “Tried to destroy the evidence didn’t he?”
HUR: “Correct.”
JIM JORDAN: “What did the ghostwriter do to the audio recording of his conversations with Biden after a special counsel was named?”
HUR: “He slid those files into his recycle bin on his computer.”
JIM JORDAN: “Tried to destroy the evidence didn’t he?”
HUR: “Correct.” pic.twitter.com/pOv4kj0zvQ
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) March 12, 2024
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) asked Hur why he did not charge the ghostwriter for trying to delete the evidence.
Hur also admitted that Biden lied when he claimed he did not share classified information with his ghostwriter.
WATCH the exchange below:
BREAKING: Special Counsel Robert Hur ADMITS Joe Biden LIED when Biden said he did not share classified information
GAETZ: “Joe Biden said, ‘I guarantee I did not share classified information.’ That’s not true, is it?”
HUR: “That is inconsistent with the findings.” pic.twitter.com/NyKPjHsozE
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) March 12, 2024
Here is Joe Biden falsely claiming, “I did not share classified information with my ghostwriter.”
Robert Hur confirmed today that Joe Biden lied to the nation when he said he “did not share classified information” with his ghostwriter. pic.twitter.com/DULUoSCgV2
— MAGA War Room (@MAGAIncWarRoom) March 12, 2024
Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) clarified with Hur all the locations where he had stashed classified documents.
Classified documents were found at the Penn Biden Center?
HUR: “That’s correct.”
In President Biden’s garage?
HUR: “Yes.”
And in his basement den?
HUR: “Yes.”
And his main floor office?
HUR: “Correct.”
And his third floor den?
HUR: “Correct.”
At the University of… pic.twitter.com/kcENbLLBSR
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) March 12, 2024
Although he stressed that he was only there to speak of his investigation into Biden, Democrats repeatedly tried to flip the hearing to focus on former President Donald Trump instead of Biden.
Democrats, and Joe Biden himself, have complained about Hur’s observation in his report last month that Biden has a poor memory.
Below is Hur’s full opening statement, in which he said, “My assessment in the report about the relevance of the president’s memory was necessary and accurate and fair…I did not sanitize my explanation nor did I disparage the president unfairly.”
WATCH Former Special Counsel Hur Opening Statement
“My assessment in the report about the relevance of the president’s memory was necessary and accurate and fair…I did not sanitize my explanation nor did I disparage the president unfairly.”
LIVE –>https://t.co/nYxv1gGuNg pic.twitter.com/TFS0c4foyC
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 12, 2024
Biden was writing a BOOK!
From Fox News: Hur testifies he ‘did identify evidence’ that ‘pride and money’ motivated Biden to retain classified records –
Ex-Special Counsel Robert Hur agreed that he identified evidence that “pride and money” were “strong” motivating factors for President Biden to retain classified records, as the former vice president sought to keep materials to use for a memoir he wrote that brought him $8 million.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan questioned Hur during a public hearing Tuesday and asked him “why did Joe Biden, in your words, willfully retain and disclose classified material?”
During the exchange, Jordan pointed out that when he was still vice president, Biden had decided to write a book, and would get paid a LOT of money for it.
Jordan suggested this was why Biden was retaining classified information. Hur admitted that the $8 million payoff for the book existed.
“Why did he have strong motivations? Because, next word, because he decided months before leaving office to write a book,” Jordan said. “That was his motive. He knew the rules. He broke them because he was writing a book.”
Jordan reminded that Hur explained that Biden “began meeting with the ghostwriter” for that book while he was still vice president.
“There’s the motive,” Jordan said. “How much did President Biden get paid for his book.”
Hur noted that the figure is stated in the report, and replied: “It may be $8 million, if that’s accurate.”
“$8 million. Joe Biden had 8 million reasons to break the rules, took classified information, and shared it with the guy who was writing the book,” Jordan said. “He knew the rules, but he broke them big for $8 million in a book advance.”
WATCH BELOW:
Rep. @Jim_Jordan: “Pride and money is why he knowingly violated the rules. The oldest motives in the book, pride & money. Do you agree with that…?”
Former Special Counsel Hur: “That language does appear in the report and we did identify evidence supporting those assessments.” pic.twitter.com/Qb3SQVMgM1
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 12, 2024
Hur confirmed that the White House tried to get him to change his report before it was made public:
Watch:
Q: Did the Biden White House attempt to have your report changed before it was publicly released?
SPECIAL COUNSEL HUR: Yes. pic.twitter.com/0sPOYqdi5x
— Republican National Committee Research (@Republican National CommitteeResearch) March 12, 2024
Legal expert Jonathan Turley tweeted, “Hur just contradicted the claims of Democratic members that Biden and the White House did not try to change his report or remove material. He confirmed that the White House made multiple such objections to Attorney General Garland and did send such a letter seeking changes.”
Hur just contradicted the claims of Democratic members that Biden and the White House did not try to change his report or remove material. He confirmed that the White House made multiple such objections to Attorney General Garland and did send such a letter seeking changes.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) March 12, 2024
Democrats repeatedly try to flip the script to Trump, and touted multiple times when Trump responded to a question with, “I don’t remember.”
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) went on a rampage, and attacked Hur for writing about Biden’s poor memory in his report.
“Robert Hur knew his report would be made public. He knew his words would ignite a political firestorm. He knew that gratuitously attacking the President would violate DOJ policy. Yet he did it anyway. For maximal political effect,” Schiff claimed, as he shared a video of the exchange of himself attacking Hur.
“I want to refer back to your opening statement in which you said that you did not disparage the president in your report, but of course you did disparage the president. You disparaged him in terms you had to know would have a maximum political impact,” Schiff claimed, adding, “You understood the report would be public right?”
“Congressman, I could have written my report theoretically in a way that omitted references to the president’s memory. But that would have been an incomplete and improper report,” Hur replied.
“Mr. Hur, you cannot tell me you’re so naive as to think your words would not have created a political firestorm. You understood that, didn’t you, when you wrote those words, when you decided to include those words, when you decided to go beyond specific references to documents, you understood how they would be manipulated by my colleagues here on the GOP side of the aisle by President Trump. You understood that, did you not?” Schiff raged.
Robert Hur knew his report would be made public.
He knew his words would ignite a political firestorm.
He knew that gratuitously attacking the President would violate DOJ policy.
Yet he did it anyway. For maximal political effect. pic.twitter.com/v45TQBhnAQ
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) March 12, 2024
“You don’t gratuitously add language you know will be useful in a political campaign,” Schiff fumed at Hur. “You were not born yesterday! You understood exactly what you were doing. It was a choice. You certainly didn’t have to include that language.”
“You could have said, ‘these are the documents…the president did not recall…’” Schiff suggested.
“You made a choice, it was a political choice, it as the wrong choice,” Schiff declared.
“Congressman, what you are suggesting is that I shape, sanitize, omit portions of my reasoning in explanation to the Attorney General for political reasons,” Hur said.
Schiff interrupted, “No, I suggest that you not shape your report for political reasons, which is what you did.”
Hur replied: “That did not happen, congressman. That did not happen.”
.@RepAdamSchiff: “You made a choice. That was a political choice. It was the wrong choice.”
Former Special Counsel Hur: “What you are suggesting is that I shape, sanitize, omit portions of my reasoning and explanation to the Attorney General for political reasons–” pic.twitter.com/yV1h9tdkps
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 12, 2024
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) – the same congressman who once wildly asked if the island of Guam might tip over – also attacked Hur, and claimed he was trying to help Trump so he could get a spot int he Trump administration.
Fox News shared the exchange:
“And you knew that that would play into the Republicans’ narrative that the president is unfit for office because he’s senile. And the American people saw during the state of the union address that that was not true,” Johnson said. “But yet that’s what you tried to offer to them and that’s why they are having you here today so that they can expand upon that narrative. And you knew that that’s what was going to happen, didn’t you?
“Congressman, I reject the suggestion you have just made,” Hur responded. “That is not what happened.
“Partisan politics played no part whatsoever in my work.” Hur continued as Johnson began talking over him. “My work was independent.”
Johnson then told Hur that “you’re doing everything you can do to get President Trump reelected so that you can get appointed as federal judge or perhaps to another position in the Department of Justice. Isn’t that correct?
“Congressman, I have no such aspirations, I can assure you. And I can tell you that partisan politics had no place whatsoever in my work,” he said in response. “It had no place in in the investigative steps that I took. It had no place in the decision that I made. And it had no place in a single word of my report.”
WATCH: Robert Hur responds to Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) questioning his report on Biden’s cognitive ability, “partisan politics played no part whatsoever in my work. My work was independent and fair.” pic.twitter.com/NFyq617vPI
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 12, 2024
Progressive Democrat Pramilla Jayapal (D-Wash.) repeatedly claimed that Hur had “exonerated” Joe Biden in his report.
Hur fired back, saying he did not exonerate Biden, but Jayapal continued to repeat the claim.
“So this lengthy, expensive and independent investigation resulted in a complete exoneration of President Joe Biden,” Jayapal declared. “For every document you discussed in your report, you found insufficient evidence that the president violated any laws about possession or retention of classified materials. The primary law that you analyze for potential prosecution was part of the Espionage Act, 18 U.S.C. 793, which criminalizes willful retention or disclosure of national defense information. Is that correct?”
Hur pushed back, saying, “Congresswoman, that is one statute that we analyzed. I need to go back and make sure that I take note of the word that you used. Exoneration. That is not a word that used in the report and that is not part of my task as a prosecutor. The judgement that I received and that I ultimately reached was relating to whether sufficient evidence existed such that the likely outcome would be a conviction.”
“You exonerated him,” Jayapal insisted.
“I did not exonerate him,” Hur fired back. “That word does not appear in the report, Congresswoman.”
Jayapal kept speaking over him, trying to stop Hur’s rebuttal, and snapped, “Mr. Hur, it’s my time!”
Rep. Jayapal: “You exonerated [Biden]”
Hur: “I did not exonerate him”
Rep. Jayapal: ““Sir, it’s my time. Thank you.” pic.twitter.com/q6w5Cq2vnG
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) March 12, 2024
Squad member Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) a Black Lives Matter activist, used her time to go on a rampage against former President Donald Trump, and falsely called him a “white supremacist.”
Bush: Despite this outcome, Republicans have used the special counsel’s report to further their long standing efforts to re-elect the former white supremacist and chief Donald Trump… pic.twitter.com/nciOWTCLMG
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 12, 2024
House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) pivoted back to Trump during his time to question Hur.
“Given that this report is so damning in the contrast between Biden and Trump, it is hard for me to see why our colleagues think that this hearing advances their flailing and embarrassing quest to impeach the president of the United States,” Raskin said.
“What America sees today is evidence of one president who believes in the rule of law and works to protect it, and one who has nothing but contempt for the rule of law enacted solely in pursuit of his own constantly multiplying corrupt schemes.”
.@RepRaskin: “This is a memory test but it’s not a memory test for President Biden. It’s a memory test for all of America. Do we remember fascism? Do we remember Naziism? Do we remember Communism and totalitarianism? Have we completely forgotten the sacrifices of our parents…?” pic.twitter.com/WwjPwImh4c
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 12, 2024
The post SPECIAL REPORT: Key highlights from Hur testimony on Biden classified documents probe, Democrats go off the rails appeared first on Dennis Michael Lynch.
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