Former special counsel Robert Hur revealed in Capitol Hill testimony that Biden ‘willfully’ retained classified materials as a private citizen and gave them to Mark Zwonitzer – the ghost writer of his $8 million book – who later tried to destroy them.
Hur arrived on Capitol Hill to offer insight into his devastating classified documents report that painted Biden as ‘elderly’ and ‘forgetful’ and with ‘diminished faculties,’ but did not recommend charges for the president.
He pushed back on Democrats who claimed his report cleared Biden of any wrongdoing, saying it ‘did not exonerate’ the president.
‘We identified evidence that the President willfully retained classified materials after the end of his vice presidency, when he was a private citizen,’ Hur said during the high-stakes hearing.
Hur said that included in the evidence was a recorded conversation between Biden and his ghost writer Zwonitzer in which the president stated that he had just ‘found all the classified stuff downstairs.’
After leaving the vice presidency, Biden and now-First Lady Jill signed a multi-book deal with Flatiron Books valued at $8 million, according to Publishers Weekly.
The first book, ‘Promise Me, Dad,’ a memoir that centers on when his son Beau died and he decided not to run for president in 2015, briefly topped the best sellers list.
Hur shockingly revealed that the ghost writer tried to hide evidence after he was named special counsel in the case.
‘What did that ghostwriter do with the information Joe Biden shared with him on his laptop, what did he do after you were named special counsel?’ House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan asked the former special counsel.
‘He slid those files into the recycle bin on his computer,’ Hur said.
Hur recites the Pledge of Allegiance before testifying during a House Judiciary Committee hearing
Joe Biden’s ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer tried to destroy evidence Biden had given him classified documents
He ‘tried to destroy the evidence, didn’t he?’ asked Jordan.
‘Correct,’ said Hur.
Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan noted Biden got $8 million for his book deal and argued Biden knowingly handed over those documents to the writer.
‘Pride and money is why he knowingly violated the rules,’ Jordan said of Biden. ‘The oldest motives in the book, pride and money. Do you agree with that?’
‘That language does appear in the report and we did identify evidence supporting those assessments,’ Hur said back.
Biden said in his interview with Hur that he made more from the book sale than he ever made in his life.
‘I ended up making more money on the sale of that book than I ever made in my whole life,’ Biden said. ‘I was able to give a million dollars away to charity. I’ve always wanted to do that.’
Biden, in a fiery news conference on February 8 after Hur’s bombshell report was published, swore he had not shared classified documents.
‘I did not share classified information,’ Biden insisted. ‘Guarantee you, I did not.’ He added he wasn’t aware how the boxes containing classified documents ended up in his garage.
Hur’s description of the president as ‘well-meaning,’ ‘elderly’ and having a ‘poor memory’ drew condemnation from Democrats – who say he didn’t need to muse on the president’s age.
He explained his decision to make the assessment in the hearing: ‘I knew that for my position to be credible. I could not simply announce that there would be no charges, I needed to explain why. I needed to show my work.’
Hur left the Justice Department on Monday and is testifying as a private citizen, a DOJ spokesperson confirmed to DailyMail.com.
The former special counsel said he could not make a decision on whether Biden’s retaining of classified documents was ‘willful’ without considering his state of mind.
‘My assessment relevant to the president’s memory was necessary, accurate and fair.’
‘I did not sanitize my assessment nor did I disparage the president unfairly,’ said Hur.
‘I had to explain why different facts require different outcomes,’ he added, referring to Trump being charged for mishandling documents and Biden avoiding charges.
Hur’s report had carefully explained how the criminal case accusing Trump of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort presents far more serious allegations.
Both Republicans and Democrats put Hur in the hot seat. Republicans demanded to know why he chose not to prosecute the president. Democrats attacked him for calling into question Biden’s memory.
Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., accused Hur, a registered Republican, of angling for a spot in a future Trump administration by drawing conclusions in his report.
‘Partisan politics had no place whatsoever in my work,’ Hur insisted.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said to Hur that he must’ve known including an assessment of Biden’s memory in his report would ‘create a political firestorm.’
Hur said that without the assessment, the report would be ‘incomplete and improper.’
Hur confirmed the White House counsel had written him a letter requesting he change language in the report referring to Biden’s ‘poor memory.’
‘They contested or asserted certain language in the report was inconsistent with DOJ policy,’ Hur revealed.
Hur was appointed special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland in January 2022 to investigate the president’s handling of classified files based on a range of areas including Afghanistan.
‘I did not sanitize my assessment nor did I disparage the president unfairly,’ said Hur. ‘I had to explain why different facts require different outcomes’
Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) (L) and Ranking Member Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) deliver opening statements. Nadler is flanked by Trump’s classified documents
On his way into the hearing, top Judiciary Democrat Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York called Hur a ‘Republican hit man.’
‘The one thing I do not understand is why there’s a 100 percent pattern of Democratic attorneys general hiring Republican special counsels and Republican attorneys general hiring Republican special counsels.’
And during the hearing, Nadler went on the offense, contrasting former President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents with that of Trump’s.
The New York Democrat said Trump proved ‘fundamentally incapable of taking advantage of even one of the many, many chances to avoid this outcome’ by refusing to hand over documents.
He then played clips of Trump confusing world leaders’ names, just as Biden often does.
He showed Trump confusing Viktor Orban with the president of Turkey, confusing Speaker Nancy Pelosi with Ambassador Nikki Haley and more.
‘This is a man who should think twice before accusing someone else of cognitive decline,’ Nadler said.
Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., claimed Hur had established a ‘new doctrine’ for handling classified documents, and should have let a jury decide if Biden was too elderly and well-meaning to be convicted.
He warned Hur’s decision makes a ‘sick mockery’ of the rule of law.
‘Justice is depicted as blindfolded for this very reason. It doesn’t matter who comes before all are treated equally, is destroy this foundation. And the rule of law becomes a sick mockery, becomes a weapon to wield against political rivals and a tool of despotism. And I am desperately afraid that this decision of the Department of Justice is now crossed a very bright line.’
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said during her line of questioning ‘You exonerated [Biden.]’
‘I did not exonerate him,’ Hur cut in. ‘It’s my time, thank you,’ said Jayapal.
‘In this case, did you reach conclusion that [Biden was outright innocent?’ asked Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif.
‘That conclusion is not reflected in my report, sir.’
At one point, Rep. Will Kiley, R-Calif., suggested to Hur that a ‘reasonable juror’ could have voted to convict Biden based on the facts Hur had put forth.
‘Correct,’ said Hur.
After a year of silence he released the explosive report that drew questions about his decision not to prosecute the president, Biden’s cognitive fitness for office and how the commander-in-chief ‘willfully’ retained the documents.
In interviews with investigators, Biden became muddled about the dates he was vice president and could not even remember the year in which his son Beau died, according to the transcript reviewed by DailyMail.com.
Biden forgot the year Beau died, when Trump was elected and said ‘I don’t recall’, ‘I don’t remember’ and ‘I have no goddamn idea’ more than 100 times while cracking jokes and making car noises with the investigators.
And it said his cavalier attitude to classified documents, such as his habit of reading sensitive files to a ghostwriter, posed a significant national security risk.
One of the reasons they decided not to press charges was because ‘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.’
Hur said during testimony that he described Biden this way because of his ‘inability to recall certain things’ and that he had to be prompted by his lawyers to recall certain dates.
According to transcripts of Hur’s interviews with Biden on October 8 and October 9, 2023, Biden’s lawyer had to tell him what year his son Beau died of brain cancer and the president joked about the special counsel finding pictures of his wife Jill in a swimsuit.
I just hope you didn’t find any risqué pictures of my wife in a bathing suit. Which you probably did. She’s beautiful,’ said Biden.
‘What month did Beau die?’ Biden mused at one point, adding, ‘Oh God, May 30th.’
A White House lawyer then chimed in with the year, 2015.
‘Was it 2015 he died?’ Biden asked.
Former special counsel Robert Hur has arrived on Capitol Hill to deliver high-stakes testimony
Code Pink protesters demanding a ceasefire in Gaza with vests saying ‘AIPAC supports genocide’ interrupt hearing
An image from the Biden classified documents report showing a damaged box where classified documents were found in the garage of President Biden in 2022
After a year of silence he released the explosive report that drew questions about his decision not to prosecute the president, Biden’s cognitive fitness for office and how the commander-in-chief ‘wilfully’ retained the documents
Hur is set to double down on his criticism of Biden’s memory, according to the opening statement obtained by DailyMail.com
Hur’s report, summarizing his probe of Biden’s mishandling of classified documents, contains a multitude of examples of Biden’s ‘hazy’ memory, including one point where Biden appeared to forget when his son Beau died.
Hur insisted that Biden was not fit for prosecution over his mishandling of documents because he was a ‘well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.’
The special counsel noted Biden had ‘diminished faculties’ and at points ‘did not remember when he was vice president.’
The box circled in the foreground contained documents about Afghanistan. The picture was taken in December 2022 in Biden’s garage, with other household items
Republicans jumped on the material, saying it proves Biden isn’t fit to run the country.
One particularly damaging passage that Hur included said: ‘In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden’s memory was worse. He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended (‘if it was 2013 – when did I stop being Vice President?’), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began (‘in 2009, am I still Vice President?’),’ according to the report.
‘He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died. And his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him.’
Biden erupted at that passage in a defiant press conference where he said his memory is ‘fine.’
The report is crammed with pictures of documents recovered from Biden’s home or an office he used when he was vice president
The report details lapses in Biden’s memory, both in conversations with his ghostwriter and with investigators. The conclusion is that jurors may have though he made an innocent mistake
‘There’s even reference that I don’t remember when my son died. How in the hell dare he raise that? I don’t need anyone, I don’t need anyone, to remind me of when he passed away,’ the president told reporters.
‘Frankly, when I was asked the question, I thought to myself, wasn’t any of their damned business.’
He also said reports about his ‘willful’ retention of documents were ‘misleading.’
At one point he yelled: ‘I did not share classified information! I did not!’
Biden then took a question about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
In doing so he botched the identification of a world leader, calling Egypt’s Abdel Fattah El-Sisi the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
He said: ‘I think as you know initially, the president of Mexico, El-Sisi, did not want to open up the gate to humanitarian material to get in. I talked to him. I convinced him to open the gate.’
The president went on to blame his staff for sensitive documents from his time as vice president being found at his home, garage and office.
He blamed subordinates for some of the decisions that got him in trouble and precipitated the year-long probe that is already providing fodder for President Donald Trump’s campaign.
‘I take responsibility for not having seen exactly what my staff was doing,’ he said.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk