Special counsel Robert Hur tells the House Judiciary Committee that he "did not sanitize" his explanation of why he declined to file criminal charges against President Biden for his handling of classified materials, reports Axios. Hur's final report, which described Biden as an "elderly man with a poor memory," ignited a firestorm. Democrats criticized the report for what they said was "highly prejudicial language" about the 81-year-old president. Republicans used Hur's findings to argue that Biden is unfit for a second term. "My assessment in the report about the relevance of the President's memory was necessary and accurate and fair," Hur told the committee.
"Most importantly, what I wrote is what I believe the evidence shows, and what I expect jurors would perceive and believe," say Hur's prepared remarks. "I did not sanitize my explanation. Nor did I disparage the President unfairly." Hur's investigation concluded that Biden's handling of classified documents after his time as vice president presented "serious risks to national security." The special counsel's probe "did not, however, identify evidence that rose to the level of proof beyond a reasonable doubt," Hur said Tuesday. "My task was to determine whether the President retained or disclosed national defense information 'willfully'—meaning, 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 ... I had to consider the President's memory and overall mental state, and how a jury likely would perceive his memory and mental state in a criminal trial.,"
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