Democratic legislators on Tuesday knocked Special Counsel Robert Hur for evaluating President Joe Biden’s frame of mind throughout his examination of Biden’s retention of categorized files after he was vice president.
“You cannot tell me you’re so naive as to think your words would not have created a political firestorm,”Rep Adam Schiff, D-Calif, informed Hur as the unique counsel affirmed at a House Judiciary Committee hearing.
Another Democrat on the committee,Rep Hank Johnson of Georgia, informed Hur, “You’re doing whatever you can do to get President [Donald] Trump reelected so that you can get designated as a federal judge or possibly to another position in the Department of Justice.”
Hur responded that he had “no such aspirations.”
But the district attorney decreased to promise not to accept a future visit from Trump when asked byRep Eric Swalwell, D-Calif
“I’m not here to testify today about what will happen in the future,” Hur informed Swalwell.
Hur protected his questionable choice to evaluate the “memory and overall mental state” of Biden throughout his examination.
“My task was to determine whether the president retained or disclosed national defense information willfully,” Hur informed the committee
“I could not make that determination without assessing the president’s state of mind,” Hur affirmed.
The unique counsel in his last report on the probe concluded that Biden “willfully retained and disclosed classified materials” which the unique counsel composed provided “serious risks to national security.”
But Hur likewise stated because report that he chose not to criminally prosecute Biden for his handling of that product, in part due to the fact that of the president’s apparently bad memory, to name a few things.
“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,” Hur affirmed Tuesday.
Biden and his attorneys have actually highly challenged Hur’s characterization of the president’s memory, and have actually indicated information in the the unique counsel’s report that damaged the claim that he willfully maintained categorized files.
“I did not sanitize my explanation. Nor did I disparage the president unfairly,” Hur informed legislators Tuesday.
Former Special Counsel Robert K. Hur affirms together with a video of President Joe Biden before the House Judiciary Committee on March 12, 2024 in Washington, DC.
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Hur informed Congress he did not advise charges versus Biden due to the fact that the proof did not increase to the level of evidence beyond an affordable doubt.
“Because the evidence fell short of that standard, I declined to recommend criminal charges against Mr. Biden,” Hur stated.
Republicans on the panel implicated the White House of blocking Congress by not abiding by a subpoena requesting audio recordings of Hur’s interview with Biden.
“President Biden, the White House, and his personal attorneys have not been honest with the American people about his willful retention of classified material and continue to hide information from Congress,” House Oversight Committee ChairmanRep James Comer, D-Ky, stated.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, declared that Biden maintained categorized files to assist his book offer.
“Pride and cash is why [Biden] intentionally breached the guidelines,” Jordan declared.
Democratic members on Tuesday launched the records of Hur’s interviews of Biden.
NBC News reported that Hur in advance of his statement had actually resigned as unique counsel, as is regular for those district attorneys designated by the Department of Justice to examine.
Hur and other unique counsels that have actually been tapped to probe Biden’s kid, Hunter Biden, and Trump, were designated by Attorney General Merrick Garland to prevent the look of a dispute of interest, offered the reality that President Biden is Garland’s employer.
Chairman of the House Judiciary CommitteeRep Jim Jordan (R-OH) (L) and Ranking MemberRep Jerry Nadler (D-NY) provide opening declarations as previous Special Counsel Robert K. Hur affirms before the House Judiciary Committee on March 12, 2024 in Washington, DC.
Chip Somodevilla|Getty Images
Democrats drew a contrast in between Trump and Biden at the hearing Tuesday by highlighting criminal charges versus Trump.
Trump is being prosecuted in Florida federal court by unique counsel Jack Smith for maintaining categorized files at his Palm Beach house after leaving the White House, and for supposed efforts to conceal those records from federal government authorities once they were identified to be missing out on.
Trump, who is the presumptive Republican governmental candidate, has actually pleaded innocent because case.
“President Biden acted responsibly, cooperated completely,” statedRep Jerry Nadler of New York, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.
“President Trump was fundamentally incapable of taking advantage of even one of the many, many chances he was given to avoid those charges,” Nadler stated.
