Hur defends report on Biden’s memory, handling of classified documents

(The Center Square) – Special Counsel Robert Hur told the GOP-led House Committee on the Judiciary that his report was fair in both its assessments of President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents and his memory issues.

Hur defended his 388-page report in his opening statement on Tuesday before the Judiciary Committee.

“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,” Hur said. “I could not make that determination without assessing the President’s state of mind. For that reason, I had to consider the President’s memory and overall mental state, and how a jury likely would perceive his memory and mental state in a criminal trial. These are the types of issues prosecutors analyze every day. And because these issues were important to my ultimate decision, I had to include a discussion of them in my report to the attorney general.”

Hur said given his assignment, it was important to show his work and how he reached his conclusions.

“My assessment in the report about the relevance of the President’s memory was necessary and accurate and fair,” Hur said. “Most importantly, what I wrote is what I believe the evidence shows, and what I expect jurors would perceive and believe. 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.”