What Did Hur Tell the House Judiciary Committee?

The written report of Special Counsel Robert Hur about his investigation of President Joe Biden was released recently. Today, Hur testified for six hours about his report of Biden’s mishandling of classified documents from his eight years as vice president and 36 years in the Senate.” After his vice presidency ended in early 2009. However, Hur declined to bring charges because he doubted a jury would convict Biden because of his “diminished faculties in advancing age,” including a failing memory.

As usual, Democrats and Republicans differed in their reaction to the testimony. Democrats were angry that Biden’s memory issues are in the report. Republicans were annoyed that the report does not recommend criminally charging Biden for mishandling classified information. This fact did not sit well with Republicans because of the way that former President Donald Trump was charged with keeping classified documents after he left the White House. Fred Lucas at The Daily Signal has “eight big takeaways from the hearing.” 

1. President ‘Put Memory Squarely at Issue.’

Hur said he didn’t “sanitize” his report on Biden nor did he “disparage” the president, as he fended off repeated assertions from committee Democrats that he was partisan, a registered Republican, and Trump’s appointee as U.S. attorney for Maryland.

“The evidence – and the president himself – put his memory squarely at issue. We interviewed the president and asked him about his recorded statement [to his ghostwriter], ‘I just found all the classified stuff downstairs,’” Hur testified. “He told us he didn’t remember that. He also said he didn’t remember finding classified material in his home after his vice presidency. And he didn’t remember how any classified materials about Afghanistan made their way into his garage.” …

2. ‘8 Million Reasons’

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, talked about Biden’s five decades in federal elective office and how he should know the rules and law on classified information.

“Why did Joe Biden, in your words, ‘willfully retain and disclose classified materials?’” Jordan asked the special counsel.

Hur replied: “The conclusion as to exactly why the president did what he did is not one we explicitly addressed in the report.”

Jordan disagreed, saying, “I think you told us, Mr. Hur,” then read from Hur’s report.

“President Biden had strong motivations to ignore the proper procedures for safeguarding the classified information in his new book,” Jordan read out loud.

“Why did he have strong motivations? Because he decided months before leaving office to write a book,” the Ohio Republican said. “Joe Biden had 8 million reasons to break the rules. Took classified information and shared it with the guy who was writing the book. He knew the rules but he broke them for $8 million in a book advance.” …

3. Report ‘Did Not Exonerate’ Biden

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., asked Hur about Biden: “In this case, did you reach a conclusion that this man was outright innocent?”

“That conclusion is not reflected in my report,” Hur replied.

In a follow-up question, Issa asked: “You did not reach an idea that he committed no wrong. You reached a conclusion that you would not prevail at a trial, and therefore did not take it forward. Is that correct?”

Hur responded: “Correct, Congressman.”

Hur made a similar point later when Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said that “this lengthy, expensive, and independent investigation resulted in a complete exoneration of Joe Biden.”

Jayapal went on to talk about other issues.

Hur said, “I would take note of a word that you used, ‘exoneration.’ That’s not part of my task as a prosecutor.”

During crosstalk, Jayapal said, “You exonerated him.”

Hur replied: “I did not exonerate him.”

Several other Democrats insisted that Hur’s report exonerated the president.

During another exchange, Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., asked, “So a reasonable juror could have voted to convict based on the facts that you presented?”

Hur responded, “Correct.”

4. Gaetz: Biden’s ‘Elevator Doesn’t Go to Top Floor.’

Several Republicans on the committee asked whether, had Biden been younger, the special counsel would have reached a different conclusion about criminal charges. Hur declined to speculate.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., more bluntly, said Biden got off on a senility defense. “You find in your report that the elements of a federal criminal violation are met, but then you apply this ‘senile cooperator’ theory that because Joe Biden cooperated and the elevator doesn’t go to the top floor, you don’t think you can get a conviction,” Gaetz told Hur. “I actually think you got to the right answer. I don’t think Biden should have been charged. I don’t think Trump should have been charged.”

Hur disagreed on one point.

“One of the elements of the mishandling statute is the intent element,” the special counsel said. “What my report reflects is that, based on the evidence, I would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury that intent element.”

5. White House Pressure to Change Report

Under questioning, Hur said the White House sought to change and edit his final report on the president before it went public.

“Did the White House get the report before the report was made public?” Jordan asked.

Hur cautiously responded.

“We did provide a draft of the report to the White House counsel’s office and members of the president’s personal counsel team for their review,” Hur said.

Jordan followed by asking: “Once they got the report, before it went public, did the White House try to weigh in with your investigation on elements of that report and, frankly, get that report changed?”

Hur responded: “They did request certain edits and changes to the draft report.” …

 

6. ‘Any Reason to Believe That President Biden Lied to You?”

Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, noted that Trump has been charged with trying to obstruct the FBI’s investigation into classified documents stored at his Florida estate.

“At any point in your investigation, do you have any reason to believe that President Biden lied to you?” Nadler asked, then seemed to be surprised by the answer he got from Hur….

“I do address in my report one response the president gave to a question we posed to him that we deemed to be not credible,” Hur said….

Later in the hearing, Gaetz, the Florida Republican, asked more about the matter, reading aloud from the transcript in which a federal prosecutor questions Biden.

“Mr. President, why did you share classified information with your ghostwriter?” the lawyer on the special counsel’s team asks.

The president answers: “I did not share classified information…. I guarantee I did not.”

“That’s not true, is it, Mr. Hur?” Gaetz asked.

“That is inconsistent with the evidence of the findings in my report,” Hur responded.

Gaetz followed by asking: “It’s a lie is what regular people would say, right?”

Hur smiled, but didn’t answer directly.

Gaetz read again from the transcript, quoting Biden as saying: “All the stuff that was in my home was in filing cabinets that were locked or able to be locked.”

“That wasn’t true either, was it?” Gaetz said.

Hur replied: “That was inconsistent with the findings of our investigation.”

“Another lie, people might say,” Gaetz said.

7. Schiff vs. Hur

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who was removed from the House Intelligence Committee for making unfounded statements about Russia, attacked Hur for including information in his report about Biden’s memory.

Schiff accused Hur of being partisan and said he would be “naïve” to think Republicans wouldn’t use the report against Biden in the 2024 presidential campaign.

“What you did write was deeply prejudicial to the interests of the president,” Schiff said.

“You must have understood the impact of your words.” …

Hur said he wasn’t going to make political considerations.

“What you are suggesting is that I shape, sanitize, omit portions of my reasoning and explanation to the attorney general for political reasons,” Hur said.

8. Raskin vs. Spartz

During the hearing, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said this matter and House investigations of Biden are only about getting Trump reelected, which Raskin suggested would end democracy.

“This is a memory test, but it’s not a memory test for President Biden. It’s a memory test for all of America,” Raskin … said….

Later in the hearing, Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., who grew up in Ukraine when it was under Soviet control, took exception to Raskin’s trivializing comments on communism.

“Mr. Raskin mentioned about us not remembering communism – I actually grew up under communism, and I have a very good recollection of what it is,” Spartz said.

“Unfortunately, it appears on the march and on the rise, as you said,” she noted.

“Unfortunately, they’ve been involved with President [Barack] Obama and now President Biden too. Unfortunately, our government’s Department of Justice really now resembles a tyrannical government. It is aid for me to see that.”