March 12, 2024 – Robert Hur hearing: Highlights

In Email/Dossier/Govt Corruption Investigations, Featured Timeline Entries by Katie Weddington

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Classified documents were found at the Penn-Biden Center? “That’s correct.”

They were found in President Biden’s garage in Wilmington, Delaware? “Yes.”

And in his basement den? “Yes.”

And in the office? “Correct.”

And his third-floor den? “Correct.”

At the University of Delaware? “Yes.”

And at the Biden Institute? “Correct.”

President Biden had unauthorized possession of classified documents, writings, or notes related to national defense? “That’s correct.”

Did he tell his ghostwriter on February 16, 2017, that he had just found all of his classified stuff downstairs? “He did make that statement that was captured on an audio recording.”

And on April 10, 2017, Biden read aloud a classified passage? “Correct.”

@RepArmstrongND: “It appears from the report that President Biden met every actual element of the crime.”

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The Robert Hur hearing:

𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲, 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐁𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧 “𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬” 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧.

President Biden kept classified documents, “critical to his legacy,” about Afghanistan and the Afghanistan troop surge “in a badly damaged box surrounded by household detritus” in his Delaware garage. At his Delaware home, President Biden also kept notebooks containing classified information in unlocked drawers in his office and basement den. President Biden kept these classified documents to cite in his memoirs to prove “he was a man of presidential timber.” On at least three occasions, President Biden “read from classified entries aloud to his ghostwriter nearly verbatim.”

𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐁𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧 “𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩” 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞.

Evidence suggested President Biden “was deeply familiar with the measures taken to safeguard classified information and the need for those measures to prevent harm to national security.” The Special Counsel noted that President Biden has nearly fifty years of experience with classified information, and previously publicly acknowledged limits on how a sitting or former president or vice president may properly handle classified information. Moreover, he said of President Trump allegedly keeping classified documents: how can “anyone . . . be that irresponsible” and “voiced concern about ‘[w]hat data was in the there that may compromise sources and methods.’”

𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐥 𝐇𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐁𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐬, 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝.

The Special Counsel worried that jurors might be persuaded by President Biden’s presentation “as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” Special Counsel Hur found that President Biden’s “memory was significantly limited, both during his recorded interviews with the ghostwriter in 2017, and in his interview with [the Special Counsel’s] office in 2023.” Finally, Special Counsel Hur pointed to DOJ principles of prosecution that weigh in favor of not prosecuting because “there is no record of the Department of Justice prosecuting a former president or vice president for mishandling classified documents from his own administration. The exception is former President Trump.”

𝐔𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐁𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧, 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

However, there are material distinctions that weigh in President Trump’s favor. The documents in President Trump’s case came from his time in the White House—when he possessed the ultimate classification authority. The documents in President Biden’s case span forty years, as far back as the 1970s, and include material from his time in the Senate and the Vice Presidency. At no time did President Biden possess ultimate classification authority. The Justice Department has never prosecuted a former president for maintaining classified information after office—until Special Counsel Jack Smith indicted President Trump.

 

Former Special Counsel Robert Hur told lawmakers in a high-profile hearing Tuesday that President Joe Biden’s public comments about his handling of classified documents contradict the findings in his report. During the Judiciary Committee hearing, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) quoted Biden’s public comments that he did not share classified information. Hur replied that the comments were “inconsistent with the findings based on the evidence in my report.”

 

 

Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California, had a heated back and forth with former special counsel Robert Hur Tuesday over the report on President Biden’s handling of classified documents. See the moment.

 

 

At today’s House Judiciary Committee hearing, Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) questioned Special Counsel Robert Hur about his decision not to charge President Biden with a crime.

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Rep. James Comer’s opening statement for the hearing on Special Counsel Robert K. Hur’s report.

“Many questions remain, but now the White House is obstructing Congress as we seek the truth for the American people.

“We’ve subpoenaed former White House Counsel Dana Remus to appear for a deposition to provide information to our committee, but the White House is seeking to block her testimony.

“We also subpoenaed the Department of Justice for the audio recordings and transcript of President Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Hur. These were due the morning of the State of the Union.

“Only this morning—a couple of hours before today’s hearing—the Department of Justice finally provided the transcript of President Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Hur.

“The timing is not coincidental.

“Although we have had little time to review the transcripts, from what we have seen, it is clear why the White House did not want Special Counsel Hur’s final report to be released.

“The White House has refused to be transparent with the American people about the President’s mishandling of classified documents.

“And worse, they have appeared to have lied: about the timeline, about who handled the documents, and even about the contents of President Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Hur.

“That is why today’s hearing is important.

“Transparency is what we seek today. We look forward to Special Counsel Hur’s testimony.”

Full Hearing