by Sharon Rondeau
(Mar. 12, 2024) — Just after 10:00 a.m. EDT, the House Committee on the Judiciary opened a hearing during which Special Counsel Robert Hur, who investigated Joe Biden’s possession of classified documents dating back to his years in the U.S. Senate, testified about his report on the matter released February 8, 2024.
Just after noon, Rep. Dan Bishop declared that the Justice Department released the transcripts of Biden’s interviews with Hur over the course of two days last fall, confirming news reports from Tuesday morning.
Sourced to an article from The New York Times behind a paywall, the Washington Examiner wrote that “Robert Hur resigned as special counsel to testify as a private citizen before House Judiciary Committee.”
The Hill reported it received confirmation of Hur’s changed status from “a source familiar.”
“The source added that Hur will still be bound by DOJ policies and protocols because he is testifying about his work for the agency,” the outlet reported. “When DOJ employees, former or current, are set to testify, they receive a letter explaining the bounds of DOJ policy, the source said.”
Certain Washington, DC figures found the news “problematic.”
During Tuesday’s hearing, both Democrats and Republicans took issue with the Hur report’s findings, particularly in its characterization of Biden’s memory as faulty.
Democrats praised, however, Hur’s conclusion that he would not recommend charges on Biden’s retention of the documents, while comparing Biden’s conduct regarding their discovery to that alleged against former President Donald J. Trump.
Hur himself made such a comparison on page 15 of his report, although during Tuesday’s hearing he declined to comment substantively on the classified-documents charges brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
Republicans often found Hur’s conclusion puzzling given his assertion that “Our investigation uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen…”
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) pointed to a video montage he requested be played of Trump at numerous campaign rallies appearing to misspeak which to this writer appeared to have been doctored.
At 12:43, Rep. Cliff Bentz (R-OR2) asked Hur why he repeatedly proffered “defenses” for Biden but that the report “is not an exoneration,” with which Hur agreed.
Throughout the hearing congressmen of both parties confirmed with Hur he is “a Republican.”