“At trial,Mr Biden would likely present himself to a jury as he did during our interview of him:as a sympathetic,well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory,” hewrote in his 388-page Justice Department report released in February.
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The description outraged Biden and his allies,many of whom described it as a “cheap shot” by a Republican prosecutor appointed under the Trump administration.
In particular,he was livid over a suggestion in the report that he could not even remember when his eldest son,Beau,died of cancer.
“How in the hell he dare raise that?” a visibly furious Biden said at a hastily convened press conference after the report was released.
However,Hur told the committee that “the evidence and the president put his memory squarely at issue”. For instance,he said,prosecutors interviewed Biden about a recorded statement in which he told his ghostwriter:“I just found all the classified stuff downstairs”.
“He told us that he didn’t remember saying that to his ghostwriter,” Hur explained. “He also said he didn’t remember finding any classified material in his home after his vice presidency. And he didn’t remember anything about how classified documents about Afghanistan made their way into his garage.”
“My assessment in the report about the relevance of the president’s memory was necessary and accurate and fair,” Hur said.
Transcripts released to the committee also show that Biden did stumble when he discussed his son’s death.
“What month did Beau die?” the president says during the interview. “Oh,God,May 30 - ...”
“2015,” White House lawyer Rachel Cotton says.
“Was it 2015 he had died?” Biden says.
“It was May of 2015,” an unidentified male speaker is quoted as saying on the transcript.
The interview took place over two days in the immediate aftermath of Hamas attacking Israel. Biden was cooperative with prosecutors,in contrast to Trump who was also investigated for mishandling classified documents and is now awaiting trial.
Unlike Trump,who sought to hide and hold on to the documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida,Biden’s representatives contacted the National Archives office to return the documents as soon as lawyers discovered them.
The findings were nonetheless damaging for Biden as they reignited long-standing questions about whether he is capable of another term in the White House,which he is seeking in an election rematch against his 77-year-old predecessor.
Republicans convened at the hearing to step up their attacks,arguing that Biden was motivated to take the documents by “money and pride” because he was writing a book that paid him an $US8 million ($12 million) royalty advance.
But Democrats used the hearing to turn the tables on Trump,playing a video showing him slurring his words,confusing world leaders,mistaking Barack Obama for Biden,and not remembering when he was married to his former wife Marla Maples.
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“That is a man who is incapable of avoiding criminal liability,a man who is wholly unfit for office,and a man who,at the very least,would want to think twice before accusing others of cognitive decline,” said Democrat member Jerry Nadler.
Trump,meanwhile,continues to insist he is innocent as he awaits a trial date.
“The DOJ[Department of Justice] gave Biden,and virtually every other person and president,a free pass. Me,I’m still fighting!!!” he wrote on Truth Social.
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