“Our investigation uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen,” special counsel Robert Hur said, while adding in his 388-page report that evidence “does not establish Mr. Biden’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” However, Hur also said it would be difficult to convict Biden because of the president’s declining mental health and “diminished faculties in advancing age,” writing:The special counsel tapped to investigate President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents after he left the Office of the Vice President has declined to press charges.
In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden's memory was worse. He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended (“if it was 2013 — when did I stop being Vice President?”), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began (“in 2009, am I still Vice President?”). He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died. And his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him. Among other things, he mistakenly said he “had a real difference” of opinion with General Karl Eikenberry, when, in fact, Eikenberry was an ally whom Mr. Biden cited approvingly in his Thanksgiving memo to President Obama. In a case where the government must prove that Mr. Biden knew he had possession of the classified Afghanistan documents after the vice presidency and chose to keep those documents, knowing he was violating the law, we expect that at trial, his attorneys would emphasize these limitations in his recall. Hur’s chronicling of Biden’s memory lapses add to mounting speculation about the president’s fitness for office, leading to renewed calls for Biden to step aside as commander-in-chief. "The Report simply affirms what most Americans already know, that the President cannot continue to serve as our Commander-in-Chief beyond his term ending January 20, 2025,” said Dean Phillips, a Democratic presidential candidate challenging Biden for the party’s nomination this year. “Already facing the lowest approval numbers in modern history and losing in each of the key battleground states, this Report has all but handed the 2024 election to Donald Trump if Joe Biden is the Democratic nominee — and I invite fellow Democrats to face the truth.” Numerous politicos and commentators have urged the invocation of the 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which provides the procedures for replacing the president. “Joe Biden isn’t capable to stand trial for all of the classified documents he stole after leaving office as a Senator and VP, yet he’s capable of carrying around the nuclear football? Joe Biden is unfit to serve as POTUS!,” said Republican congressional firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). “Two solutions: 25th Amendment or impeachment.” Texas congressman Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) issued similar remarks, calling Biden “unfit for president” while adding that his “health has become a national security issue.” Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) said, “For the safety of our nation, Joe Biden must resign. He could not remember basic facts about his life. He is not competent to remain as Commander-in-Chief & every day that he remains, he puts America at risk. If he won't resign, the Cabinet must invoke the 25th Amendment.” A day after the report was released, writer Isaac Schorr penned an op-ed calling the details of Hur’s interactions with Biden “staggering” and urged Biden’s detractors to show mercy to allow Biden the space to gracefully bow out of the election and step aside from the presidency. “The deterioration of the human body and mind is difficult to observe and harder still to endure. Now is not the time to revel in Biden’s pain or debate the nature of his character and legacy. Grace, rather than gloating, is what’s needed from the president’s opponents at this time to push him toward the right decision,” Schorr writes. “And as for his supporters, they must acknowledge Biden’s shortcomings and realize that he is indispensable in neither his capacity as president, nor as presumptive Democratic nominee for president. For the good of the country as well as Biden himself, those close to him should urge him to walk away with his dignity intact and before the disaster he’s courting finally arrives,” he added. Biden angrily pushed back against the report, telling the country in an address “my memory is fine” and urging Americans to “take a look at what I’ve done since I’ve become president.” Making no mention of stepping down, he stated, “For any extraneous commentary, they don't know what they're talking about.”Loading...
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