Here are 5 Key Takeaways From the House Hearing on Robert Hur’s Biden Classified Docs Report

Hur’s Report Clears Biden of Any Criminal Charges, Here Are More Takeaways

Former special counsel Robert Hur — who was appointed to look into President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents — recently testified before a House committee. Hur was discussing in front of Congress his investigation, which produced no criminal indictments against the president but caused a lot of fuss in the House, per The Guardian. Hur's report essentially cleared Biden of criminal liability, but a phrase in his report calling him a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” caused a lot of commotion. Democrats, angry at the characterization of the president, focused much of their attention on former President Donald Trump and the discrepancies in the former president's case involving classified documents, which resulted in an indictment last year. At the same time, Republicans attacked Biden as they pressed Hur on his decision not to prosecute the president. Here are the 5 main takeaways from the House Judiciary Committee hearing:

1. No Charges Against the President, but Not ‘Exonerated’ Either

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat, focused her questioning of Hur on the special counsel's determination that Biden should not face any charges. “You exonerated him,” Jayapal said. Hur stepped in to clarify, “I did not exonerate him. That word does not appear in the report.” Despite Hur's report not using the word “exonerate,” its opening paragraph says, “We conclude that no criminal charges are warranted in this matter. We would reach the same conclusion even if Department of Justice policy did not foreclose criminal charges against a sitting president.”

2. Hur Asserted Impartiality but Refused To Rule out Potential Role in a Trump Admin

Democrats accused Hur on the committee of deliberately meddling in the 2024 election by preparing a report that was intended to present a negative picture of Biden, even though the special counsel had also determined that the president should not face any charges. “You cannot tell me you’re so naive as to think your words would not have created a political firestorm,” said the Californian Democrat Adam Schiff. “You were not born yesterday. You understood exactly what you were doing.” Hur told Schiff that “Politics played no part whatsoever in my investigative steps,” rejecting his characterization. Hur, however, refused to say no when asked explicitly if he would rule out accepting a role in the Trump administration should the former president prevail in November's election. “I’m not here to speak about what may or may not happen in the future,” Hur said.

3. Key Differences Between Biden and Trump’s Classified Documents Cases Highlighted

Republicans compared the case to Trump's arrest for mishandling sensitive material after leaving the White House, claiming Hur had created a special exemption for Biden to avoid prosecuting a sitting president. Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, a hard-right Republican, derided the special counsel's justification for not filing charges against Biden as the “senile cooperator theory”. Gaetz said, “Biden and Trump should have been treated equally. They weren’t. And that is the double standard that I think a lot of Americans are concerned about.” Democrats angrily refuted the claim, pointing out that Trump was charged with repeatedly refusing to give over sensitive material when asked to do so by federal officials. “What kind of man bungles not one, but dozens of opportunities to avoid criminal liability? What must that say about his mental state?” Congressman Jerry Nadler slammed. Nadler added, “House Republicans may be desperate to convince America that white conservative men are on the losing end of a two-tiered justice system – a theory that appeals to the Maga crowd but has no basis in reality.”

4. Hur Defended His Assessment of Biden’s Mental Acuity

Hur concluded that Biden should not face any criminal charges in his report, which was made public last month. Hur concluded that a jury would likely see Biden as "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory," and thus would not be able to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, even though Biden had "willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice-presidency when he was a private citizen." In his testimony, Hur said, “My task was to determine whether the president retained or disclosed national defense information ‘willfully’. That means 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.” Hur added, “My assessment in the report about the relevance of the president’s memory was necessary and accurate and fair.”

5. Transcripts Paint a Better Picture of the Conversations Hur Had With Biden

The transcripts of Biden's interviews with Hur were made available by Democrats on the House judiciary committee, and they differ slightly from the accounts the two have provided of their talks. For instance, Biden “did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died,” according to Hur's assessment. However, the transcripts show Hur didn't ask when Beau Biden died. Hur was inquiring where Biden stored specific records following his departure from the White House in January 2017, and the president used the passing of his son as a point of reference. “And so what was happening, though – what month did Beau die? Oh, God, May 30,” Biden said. An assistant had to tell Biden that his son passed away in 2015 since he failed to mention the year. Was the year of his death 2015? When Biden inquired, the assistant verified that it was. There are further interactions described in the transcripts that cast doubt on Hur's judgment of Biden's "poor memory." While the president faltered a lot as he tried to recite the precise order of events surrounding the document transfer, Biden provided in-depth justifications and memories of previous incidents. At one point Hur quipped, “We have some photographs to show you, but you have – appear to have a photographic understanding and recall of the house,” since Biden had been so detailed in describing his Wilmington home.