Key Points
- An investigation into alleged mishandling of classified documents has concluded with no charges for Joe Biden.
- The probe was launched after Biden’s legal team found classified papers at his think tank and personal residence.
- The US president addressed the report, telling media he did not break the law.
In a fiery exchange with reporters in the White House on Friday, United States President Joe Biden hit back at allegations that his memory and mental faculties are in decline after a report by a special prosecutor brought them into the spotlight.
Biden was addressing the newly released report surrounding his alleged mishandling of classified documents in a surprise address to the nation, telling reporters: “I did not break the law, period”.
The president also expressed outrage when referencing the report penned by special counsel Robert Hur, which stated that at times Biden did not remember key events including the death of his son, and presented as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
“How in the hell did he dare raise that,” Biden said of Hur’s mention of his son’s death. “I don’t need anyone to remind me when he passed away.”
When taking questions, Biden firmly shut down reporter’s questions about his abilities to lead the US.
“I am well-meaning, I am an elderly man and I know what the hell I am doing,” he said. “I am the president and I put this country back on its feet.”
When a reporter asked if Biden could continue as president – he shot back “my memory is so bad, I let you [the reporter] speak”.
Biden will not face criminal charges
It comes after Hur, in his report released on Thursday (local time), wrote Biden will not face criminal charges for taking about national security matters with him when he left the vice presidency in 2017.
Hur said he opted against bringing criminal charges after a 15-month investigation because Biden cooperated and would likely be difficult to convict.
Hur’s conclusion ensures that Biden, unlike his expected 2024 presidential rival Donald Trump, will not risk prison time for mishandling sensitive government documents.
US President Joe Biden did not speak to reporters as he departed the White House following the release of the report. Source: AAP / TheNews2
But it could cause further embarrassment for Biden, 81, as he tries to convince voters that he is not too old to serve another four-year term. Biden has also sought to draw a contrast with Trump on issues of personal ethics and national security.
Trump has described the four criminal prosecutions he faces — including one for his handling of classified documents — as politically motivated. He has claimed, without evidence, that Biden was behind the state and federal cases.
A group allied with Trump’s campaign seized on Hur’s comments about Biden’s memory.
“If you’re too senile to stand trial, then you’re too senile to be president,” said Alex Pfeiffer, communications director for Make America Great Again Inc.
“Joe Biden is unfit to lead this nation.”
The report contained a photo of a damaged box containing classified documents at Biden’s home. Source: AAP, AP / /
Hur wrote that Biden’s memory was “significantly limited” when he was interviewed by members of his prosecution team.
Biden’s lawyers said he had engaged in honest mistakes, not wrongdoing, and had cooperated with the investigation. They criticised Hur for what they said was overreach.
“It was plain from the outset that criminal charges were not warranted,” his personal lawyer Bob Bauer said. “Yet the special counsel could not refrain from investigative excess.”
White House lawyer Richard Sauber said Hur’s report contained “a number of inaccurate and inappropriate comments.”
What did the report find?
Hur found that Biden took a handwritten memo to then-President Barack Obama in 2009 opposing a planned troop surge in Afghanistan, and handwritten notes related to intelligence briefings and national security meetings.
His report found that Biden read aloud classified notebook passages to his ghostwriter on at least three occasions recounting meetings in the White House Situation Room.
The ghostwriter deleted audio recordings of his conversations with Biden after learning about the special counsel’s investigation but kept transcripts, Hur said.
Joe Biden’s legal team found classified papers at his personal residence in Wilmington, Delaware. Source: AAP, AP / Carolyn Kaster
Hur wrote that Biden’s actions “present serious risks to national security, given the vulnerability of extraordinarily sensitive information to loss or compromise to America’s adversaries”.
But he said the documents may have been taken to Biden’s home while he was vice president, when he had the authority to keep such documents.
Hur said Biden would not have faced charges, even absent a longstanding Justice Department policy against indicting a sitting president.
How do Donald Trump and Joe Biden’s cases differ?
Members of Biden’s legal team found the classified papers at the office of Biden’s Washington think tank and his personal residence in Wilmington, Delaware.
Trump faces a 40-count federal indictment for retaining after leaving office in 2021 and obstructing US government efforts to retrieve them.
While the two cases have similarities, there are also some notable differences.
The White House said Biden’s attorneys found a small number of classified documents and turned them over after discovery.
Trump resisted doing so until a 2022 FBI search turned up about 100 classified documents, leading to obstruction of justice charges against Trump and two employees at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Hur, who served in senior roles at the Justice Department during the Trump administration, was appointed in January 2023 to oversee the investigation.
Hur’s investigators interviewed Biden in October as part of his probe.
Hur’s decision not to bring criminal charges is likely to fuel accusations of a double standard from Trump and his allies.
Trump has pleaded not guilty and accused prosecutors of political motivations. A trial is scheduled for May but is likely to be delayed.
