Republicans are demanding Biden’s special counsel release transcripts of the president’s interview after a bombshell report called him an elderly man with a memory so ‘impaired’ he even forgot his own son’s date of death
- Robert Hur’s report calls Biden ‘well-meaning, older man with a bad memory’
- His report repeatedly raises questions about his ‘fuzzy’ memory
- House Oversight chair demands ‘unfettered access’
The Republican-led House Oversight Committee is demanding transcripts of President Biden’s interviews with Special Counsel Robert Hur, which Hur’s report said contained numerous examples of his “hazy” memory.
Hur’s inclusion of language in his report referring to the president as a “well-meaning, older man with a bad memory” proved politically explosive, prompting an angry news conference from the president Thursday evening.
Republicans are already making mileage out of the material, saying it proves Biden is unfit to run the country.
Now the committee chaired by Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) is looking for more potentially damaging information.
“The Department of Justice should immediately release the transcript of the special counsel’s interview with President Joe Biden,” the committee said Posted on X.
Biden fumed over special counsel Robert Hur’s accusation that the Scranton resident did not know when his son Beau died
“The American people deserve transparency about President Biden’s mental state,” Comer wrote.
Comer is also demanding additional information from the Justice Department about sensitive materials found in Biden’s possession, tying it to the panel’s ongoing impeachment investigation.
“The Department of Justice must provide Congress with unfettered access to these documents to determine whether President Biden’s retention of sensitive materials was used to aid the Bidens’ influence,” he wrote.
The box circled in the foreground contained documents about Afghanistan. The photo was taken in Biden’s garage in December 2022, along with other household items
House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer demands transcripts of President Joe Biden’s interviews with Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigators in their investigation into classified documents
The investigation suggests Biden continues to face lingering political challenges in the wake of Hur’s investigation, even as it was announced he would not be charged with crimes related to his “intentional” retention of classified documents.
Hur gave Biden’s rival Donald Trump and Republicans plenty to work with, even without extra paper or transcripts.
It said that if Biden were indicted, a jury might be sympathetic as he comes across as a “well-meaning, older man with a bad memory.”
One particularly damaging passage that Hur included read: “In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden’s memory was worse. He could not remember when he was vice president, and on the first day of the interview forgot when his term ended (“if it was 2013, when did I stop being vice president?”), and forgot on the second day of the interview when his term began (“am I still vice president in 2009?”), the report said.
‘He didn’t even remember within a few years that his son Beau died. And his memory seemed hazy as he described the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him.”
Biden exploded at that passage during a defiant news conference, where he said his memory is “fine.”
‘It is even said that I cannot remember when my son died. How on earth does he dare bring that up? “I don’t need anyone, I don’t need anyone to remind me of his passing,” the president told reporters.
“Honestly, when I was asked the question, I thought to myself, it was none of their damn business.”
Asked about the “older man” language, Biden said: “I mean well and I’m an older man, and I know what the hell I’m doing. I’m the president and I put this country back on its feet. I don’t need his recommendation, it’s completely out of order.’
Biden’s official response from his lawyers, included in the back of the Hur report, decries the inclusion of “highly biased” language about his memory, and questions why other witnesses were cleared for “vague” memory errors. It says it relies on “highly biased language” to describe memory loss which is “a common occurrence.”
If Hur is to be blamed for even bringing up how Biden might defend himself in front of a jury since his report concluded he should not be charged.