The White House insisted on Tuesday that the case against President Joe Biden in his handling of classified documents is ‘closed’ and ‘it is time to move on’.
‘There is no case. The case is closed. It’s time to move on, spokesman Ian Sams said, after special counsel Robert Hur spent hours testifying about his findings before the House Judiciary Committee.
But Hur rejected claims by Democrats that he had ‘completely exonerated’ Biden by not accusing him of mishandling classified documents during his fiery appearance in Congress.
“I did not exonerate him,” Hur said, noting that the word “exoneration” did not appear in the report.
Hur investigated how classified documents ended up in an office formerly used by Biden and at his home in Wilmington, Del. Hur, who was appointed to the position by Attorney General Merrick Garland, concluded that there was insufficient evidence to charge Biden with a crime.
‘There is no case. The case is closed. It’s time to move on,’ said White House spokesman Ian Sams (above).
But the White House argued that Hur found Biden innocent, accused House Republicans of holding a politically motivated event to help Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, and urged the other side to move on to other things like funding the government.
“When a prosecutor spends 15 months investigating a case only to determine that there is no case here and there will be no charges and the case is closed, it only confirms the president’s innocence,” Sams said.
“President Biden has been cleared, that’s the whole decision that was made by the prosecutor.”
Sams argued that the hearing was just politics to help Trump, who faces federal charges related to his handling of classified documents. FBI agents found a trove of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago when they raided the former president’s Palm Beach home.
‘The Republicans tried to make it a big deal. They want to attack the president politically. They make it very clear that they are trying to help the former president. And it is a failure. We need to work on the things that actually matter to the American people. We must work to get help to Ukraine, we must work to secure our border. We must work on a spending package that avoids a shutdown next week.’
During the hearing, Hur faced attacks from Republicans for concluding that Biden had done nothing to justify charges against him.
And Democrats attacked the special counsel for his attacks on Biden’s memory. His report described the 81-year-old Biden as ‘a likable, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.’
During the hearing, Hur defended his findings about the president’s state of mind, saying he could not make a decision about whether Biden’s withholding of classified documents was “intentional” without considering his state of mind.
‘My assessment relevant to the President’s memory was necessary, accurate and fair.’
“I didn’t whitewash my rating, nor did I disparage the president unfairly,” Hur said.
“I had to explain why different facts call for different results,” he added, referring to Trump being charged with mishandling documents and Biden avoiding charges. ‘
Hur interviewed Biden at the White House on October 8 and 9 as part of his investigation.
Special counsel Robert Hur was criticized by Democrats and Republicans during the hearing
President Joe Biden was not indicted in his handling of classified documents
Special Counsel Robert Hur testified before the House Judiciary Committee
A transcript of these interviews shows Biden could not remember the year his son Beau died and was often confused about the dates he served as vice president and how classified documents ended up in his home.
According to the transcript of the two-day interview reviewed by DailyMail.com, Biden brought up Beau’s death in connection with a book he wrote published in 2017.
“What month did Beau die?” Biden asked himself during the hours-long sit-down.
“Oh God, May 30,” he apparently replied. But the president had to recall the year his eldest son died because he could not remember.
A White House lawyer stepped in to state that the year of Beau’s death was 2015.
‘Was it 2015 he died?’ Biden asked again out loud. The president then went on to ask if Donald Trump was elected in 2017, to which another White House lawyer jumped in to correct him that it was 2016.
The mix-up of Beau’s death date during the interview directly contradicts Biden’s fervent denial that it ever occurred.
Hours after Hur released his scathing report on February 9, in which he said Biden could not remember the day his son died, Biden engaged in a furious tirade from the White House, saying: “I know what the hell I doing!” and insists that ‘my memory is fine’.
“How the hell dare he bring that up?” Biden shuddered. ‘Honestly, when I was asked the question, I thought to myself: it was none of their damn business.’
But the transcript reveals that it was actually Biden who raised Beau in the first place — not Hur.
The mix-up of Beau’s death date during the interview directly contradicts Biden’s fervent denial that it ever occurred
An image from the Biden report on classified documents showing a damaged box where classified documents were found in President Biden’s garage in 2022
White House spokesman Ian Sams claimed Biden was asked about it in anticipation of the 2017 book he had written about Beau’s death: ‘Promise Me Dad.’
‘Anyone familiar with this president’s powerful story, emotional story of overcoming this loss and finding a new purpose and trying to carry on for the country to try to save our democracy and move our country forward. Anyone familiar with that story from the president will understand that the president wants to talk about his son Beau,” Sams said.
‘And I think the transcript makes that clear, and I think the American people understand this. The president remembers exactly when his son died. He carries that pain with him every day. He carries the emotional toll with him every day.’