Former Special Counsel Robert Hur, who released a damning report last month about Joe Biden’s mishandling of classified documents, will testify before the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday.
In his 388-page report, Hur declared that Biden “willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen.”
However, Hur did not recommend criminal charges against Biden in the case, describing him as a “well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory”
Hur had noted in his report that Biden’s memory is very poor. During an interview with him about the investigation, Biden did not remember when he was vice president, and could not even remember what year his son, Beau, died.
Biden later reacted in outrage over Hur’s report, and comments about his memory. In a prepared statement, Hur is expected to say on Tuesday:
“There has been a lot of attention paid to language in the report about the President’s memory, so let me say a few words about that. My task was to determine whether the President retained or disclosed national defense information “willfully”—meaning, knowingly and with the intent to do something the law forbids. I could not make that determination without assessing the President’s state of mind.”
One significant factor: Hur has now resigned from the Justice Department. He reportedly wrapped up his role there last week, and will now be testifying as a private citizen, free from any oversight or constraints by the Justice Department.
The fact that Hur will be unshackled and testifying as a private citizen reportedly has some Democrats alarm. The Independent quoted one unnamed Democrat as saying, “That makes it even more problematic from our perspective … if he was still a federal employee, DOJ would have to approve his testimony and they’d be involved in his appearance tomorrow.”
WATCH LIVE COVERAGE of the hearing in the video below. It is scheduled to start at 10:00 a.m. ET.
Ahead of the hearing, the House Judiciary GOP, led by Chairman Jim Jordan, posted a reminder on social media:
REMINDER
Joe Biden:
-Couldn’t remember when he was VP.
-Mixed up the Presidents of Mexico and Egypt.
-Was described by his own DOJ as “an elderly man with a poor memory.”
REMINDER
Joe Biden:
-Couldn’t remember when he was VP.
-Mixed up the Presidents of Mexico and Egypt.
-Was described by his own DOJ as “an elderly man with a poor memory.”
— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) March 12, 2024
Also ahead of the hearing, the House Judiciary GOP summarized Hur’s report:
The Robert Hur hearing:
𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲, 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐁𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧 “𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬” 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧.
President Biden kept classified documents, “critical to his legacy,” about Afghanistan and the Afghanistan troop surge “in a badly damaged box surrounded by household detritus” in his Delaware garage. At his Delaware home, President Biden also kept notebooks containing classified information in unlocked drawers in his office and basement den. President Biden kept these classified documents to cite in his memoirs to prove “he was a man of presidential timber.” On at least three occasions, President Biden “read from classified entries aloud to his ghostwriter nearly verbatim.”
𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐁𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧 “𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩” 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞.
Evidence suggested President Biden “was deeply familiar with the measures taken to safeguard classified information and the need for those measures to prevent harm to national security.” The Special Counsel noted that President Biden has nearly fifty years of experience with classified information, and previously publicly acknowledged limits on how a sitting or former president or vice president may properly handle classified information. Moreover, he said of President Trump allegedly keeping classified documents: how can “anyone . . . be that irresponsible” and “voiced concern about ‘[w]hat data was in the there that may compromise sources and methods.’”
𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐥 𝐇𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐁𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐬, 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝.
The Special Counsel worried that jurors might be persuaded by President Biden’s presentation “as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” Special Counsel Hur found that President Biden’s “memory was significantly limited, both during his recorded interviews with the ghostwriter in 2017, and in his interview with [the Special Counsel’s] office in 2023.” Finally, Special Counsel Hur pointed to DOJ principles of prosecution that weigh in favor of not prosecuting because “there is no record of the Department of Justice prosecuting a former president or vice president for mishandling classified documents from his own administration. The exception is former President Trump.”
𝐔𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐁𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧, 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
However, there are material distinctions that weigh in President Trump’s favor. The documents in President Trump’s case came from his time in the White House—when he possessed the ultimate classification authority. The documents in President Biden’s case span forty years, as far back as the 1970s, and include material from his time in the Senate and the Vice Presidency. At no time did President Biden possess ultimate classification authority. The Justice Department has never prosecuted a former president for maintaining classified information after office—until Special Counsel Jack Smith indicted President Trump.
The Robert Hur hearing:
𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲, 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐁𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧 “𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬” 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧.
President Biden kept…
— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) March 12, 2024
DEVELOPING: What did you make of the latest development that Special Prosecutor Robert Hur resigned Monday (today) from the DOJ to testify Tuesday (tomorrow) before Congress as a private citizen without any restrictions? pic.twitter.com/grH8tTydoL
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) March 12, 2024
The post UNLEASHED: Free from DOJ, former Special Counsel Robert Hur to testify on findings from Biden classified documents probe [WATCH LIVE HERE] appeared first on Dennis Michael Lynch.
Click this link for the original source of this article.
Author: Online
This content is courtesy of, and owned and copyrighted by, https://dennismichaellynch.com and its author. This content is made available by use of the public RSS feed offered by the host site and is used for educational purposes only. If you are the author or represent the host site and would like this content removed now and in the future, please contact USSANews.com using the email address in the Contact page found in the website menu.