Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report described President Biden as “a caring, well-meaning elderly man with a frail memory,” and many political analysts say that was precisely the impression the president left viewers of Thursday’s debate.
In Following a February report that said Biden’s “memory appears to be significantly limited,” Huh said he would not pursue criminal charges against the president after a months-long investigation into the improper storage of classified national security documents.
“Based on our direct interactions and observations of him, he is someone most jurors would want to have a reasonable doubt about,” the report said. “It would be difficult to persuade a jury that a former president, then well into his 80s, should be convicted of a felony requiring a willful mental condition.”
During and after this week’s debate between Biden and former President Donald Trump, several political analysts suggested on social media that Heo, who drew criticism from Democrats and liberal media figures over comments in the report about Biden’s memory and judgment, had been “exonerated” and “deserves an apology.”
Johnson, Republican congressmen plan to sue Department of Justice next week to obtain audio tapes of Biden and Harr
Special counsel Robert Hur’s report described Biden as “a caring, well-meaning older man with a frail memory,” reflecting what some analysts believe was the impression Biden left on debate viewers. (Getty Images)
“Guess who really seems to have been exonerated tonight? Special Counsel Robert Hur,” says Jim Geraghty, senior political reporter at National Review and columnist for The Washington Post. During Biden’s performance.
Echoing Geraghty, Charles C.W. Cook, a British-born American journalist and senior writer for National Review Online, said: I wrote in the post To Mr. X: “Robert Herr deserves an apology.”
Former White House press secretary during the Trump administration, Kayleigh McEnany, also commented on Biden’s performance, referring to Hoare.
“Biden is worse than anybody thought he would be. It must be a real shock to Robert Hur, and now the whole country,” said McEnany, co-host of Fox News’ “Outnumbered.” stated in the post On social media.
According to the report, during his interview with Heo, Biden “had no recollection of being vice president, forgetting when his term ended on the first day of the interview (‘If it was 2013, when did I stop being vice president?’) and forgetting when his term began on the second day of the interview (‘It’s 2009, am I still vice president?’).”
“He could not remember, even after several years, when his son Beau died, and he also seemed to have a hazy memory when speaking about the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him. Notably, he incorrectly stated that he had ‘significant differences’ with Gen. Carl Eikenberry, when in fact Eikenberry was an ally and Eikenberry had cited him favorably in a Thanksgiving memo he sent to President Obama,” Herr’s report said.
In his first appearance since the debate, Trump says Biden’s “biggest problem” isn’t his age or “declining” but his policies.
President Biden and former President Trump during the presidential debate in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27, 2024. (Getty Images)
Biden and his allies vehemently denied concerns about his mental health after the report was released, and while the full transcript of the interview has been made public, Republican lawmakers are still seeking audio tapes of the discussions.
Earlier this week, ahead of the debate, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, said House Republicans would file a lawsuit next week to force the Department of Justice to turn over the audio tape of Hoare’s interview with Biden.
“We will be filing a lawsuit against the Department of Justice next week to enforce the subpoena, we will be suing in the appropriate venue, the District Court in Washington, and we will be fighting vigorously to have the subpoena enforced,” Johnson told reporters at a daily news conference.
Attorney General Merrick Garland Trump had previously resisted subpoenas by House Republican investigators for the audio tapes, citing Biden’s assertion of executive privilege.
Following Garland’s refusal, House Republicans earlier this month filed a criminal contempt suit against him and directed the Justice Department to file criminal charges against him, which the Justice Department ultimately dismissed.
Attorney General Merrick Garland (left) previously refused to subpoena audio tapes by House Republican investigators, citing Biden’s assertion of executive privilege. (Getty Images)
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Following Biden’s debate performance, several media figures, including Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle, have supported releasing the audio tape of the president’s interview with Heo.
“If you expect Biden’s performance on Thursday to be merely an aberration, you should call on the administration to release the tape of his interview with Robert Hur so everyone can hear what Biden sounds like when he’s not suffering from a cold,” McArdle said. I wrote in the post About X.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
