The Justice Department special counsel investigating President Joe Biden’s handling of classified materials said the president “willfully” retained classified materials while a private citizen and described him as an “elderly man with a poor memory,” but chose not to bring criminal charges against the president due to concerns about the ability to convince a jury of wrongdoing.
Key Takeaways
- Special Counsel Robert Hur determined Biden was reckless with classified material—including national security documents surrounding policy in Afghanistan—found in 2022 at the president’s Delaware home and personal offices in Washington D.C.
- The report, released publicly Thursday, details Biden’s poor memory as part of the concern with prosecuting the president and notes two instances—in interviews with a ghostwriter in 2017 and with the special counsel in 2023—where Biden’s memory was “significantly limited.”
Crucial Quote
“[It] would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him – by then a former president well into his eighties – of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness,” Hur wrote in the report.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.