DAILY BEAST
In his opening remarks to the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, special counsel Robert Hur firmly defended his scathing remarks about President Joe Biden’s “poor memory.”
“I understood that my explanation about this case had to include rigorous, detailed, and thorough analysis. In other words, I needed to show my work,” Hur said in the statement, which was obtained in advance of the 10 a.m. ET hearing by Politico.
“I knew that for my decision to be credible, I could not simply announce that I recommended no criminal charges and leave it at that. I needed to explain why.”
Last month, Hur announced that he would not be filing criminal charges after investigating Biden’s handling of classified documents after leaving the vice presidency in 2017. In his report, Hur said a jury would likely deem Biden “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” It specifically noted that he had trouble with dates, including when his son Beau died and when his vice presidential term began and ended.
Republicans have seized on Hur’s assessment of Biden’s memory, insisting it proves the 81-year-old commander-in-chief is not fit for office.
“The evidence and the President himself put his memory squarely at issue,” Hur will tell the committee on Tuesday.
“We interviewed the President and asked him about his recorded statement, ‘I just found all the classified stuff downstairs.’ He told us that he didn’t remember saying that to his ghostwriter. He also said he didn’t remember finding any classified material in his home after his vice presidency. And he didn’t remember anything about how classified documents about Afghanistan made their way into his garage.”
“My assessment in the report about the relevance of the President’s memory was necessary and accurate and fair. Most importantly, what I wrote is what I believe the evidence shows, and what I expect jurors would perceive and believe,” Hur insisted. “I did not sanitize my explanation. Nor did I disparage the President unfairly. I explained to the Attorney General my decision and the reasons for it. That’s what I was required to do.”
