White House complained to DOJ for including Biden’s memory problems in scathing special counsel report BEFORE it was released: Aides sent angry letter to AG Merrick Garland saying it was ‘openly, clearly and blatantly’ inconsistent was with government policy
- White House lawyers sent angry letters to the Justice Department complaining about the nature of the report
- A letter from the White House complained that comments about the president’s memory were ‘inappropriate and unwarranted’
The White House sent an angry letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland a day before the special counsel’s report on President Joe Biden’s mishandling of classified information.
White House attorney Ed Siskel complained in a letter on Feb. 7 that special counsel Robert Hur’s report contained “several derogatory statements” about Biden’s memory. Details of the White House letters between Justice Department officials were first published by Politics.
“A global and pejorative assessment of the President’s memory in general is inappropriate and unwarranted,” the letter said.
Siskel said Hur “openly, clearly and blatantly” violated department policies and practices by commenting on Biden’s memory and attitude during the interview.
The White House pushed back against special counsel Robert Hur BEFORE the report was released
The letter also noted that Biden’s five-hour interview with the special counsel came after the “grave international crisis” of the October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel, which he said provided “critical context” for Biden’s hesitant answers.
The letters show that the White House is trying to influence the report before it is released because they view it as politically damaging to the president.
The Justice Department defended Hur, when Deputy Assistant Attorney General Bradley Weinsheimer told the president’s lawyers in a letter that the report was “consistent with legal requirements and Department policy.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks during a press conference at the Department of Justice
Attorney General Merrick Garland watches as US President Joe Biden speaks in the Rose Garden
The White House sharply pushed back against the Justice Department after the report was released, culminating in the president himself angrily condemning Hur for reporting that Biden “didn’t remember even within a few years when his son Beau died.”
“How on earth does he dare bring that up,” Biden shouted during a press conference on Tuesday. “Honestly, when I was asked the question, I thought to myself, it was none of their damn business.”
Later reporting from NBC revealed it was Biden, not Hur or Justice Department lawyers, who first brought up his son during the interview.
Biden has expressed this personally frustration with Attorney General Merrick Garland for not doing enough to reign in the report, even though he was cleared of wrongdoing and ultimately recommended that no charges be filed against Biden for mishandling classified information.