Assessing President Joe Biden’s state of mind, including his memory, was necessary to determine whether he had broken any laws in keeping classified documents after his time as vice president, special counsel Robert Hur testified Tuesday before the House Judiciary Committee.
Hur was appointed by the Department of Justice to investigate Biden’s handling of classified material after leaving office. Biden’s team returned the documents after they were discovered, and the president sat for interviews for the investigation. Hur’s report in February did not recommend criminal charges. He testified Tuesday that his investigation found that Biden had “wilfully” retained classified material after he left office, including a recorded conversation with a ghost writer in which the president said he had found classified material in his home.
But Hur said he did not find evidence of criminal intent “that rose to the level of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Because the evidence fell short of that standard, I declined to recommend criminal charges against Mr. Biden,” Hur said.
In his report, Hur also noted that he believed a jury would see Biden as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
The line, and other details about Biden’s memories, prompted furor among some Democrats when the report was released. The president also held an unplanned news briefing to defend himself.
Hur told the House committee that the assessment of Biden’s memory was essential to determine whether charges were necessary.
“My task was to determine whether the president retained or disclosed national defense information willfully. That means knowingly and with the intent to do something the law forbids. I could not make that determination without assessing the president’s state of mind,” Hur said.
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