Biden responds to special counsel report on handling of classified documents

President Joe Biden fired back against special counsel Robert Hur’s description of why he was not charged, with Hur describing the president as potentially being seen by a jury as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

He dismissed concerns from the American people about his age when pressed by CNN’s MJ Lee on the matter after previously saying they should watch him and make their own judgment.  

Age has presented a chronic issue and political liability for Biden: 46% of Democrats in a CNN poll conducted by SSRS released last week were concerned about his age.  

“That is your judgment. That is your judgment,” he told Lee, raising his voice, as she asked about the polling.

Pressed again by Lee on why he is best equipped to take on former President Donald Trump in a November general election, he said, “Because I’m the most qualified person in this country to finish the job I started.”

President Joe Biden, minutes after defending his memory, mistakenly referred to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as the the president of Mexico while answering questions from reporters about hostage negotiations and humanitarian aid in the Gaza strip.

Biden also noted that he’s “pushing very hard now to deal with this hostage ceasefire."

If an initial delay possible, Biden said: ”I think that we would be able to extend that so that we could increase the prospect that this fighting in Gaza changes. There's also other negotiations."

President Joe Biden said he’s pleased that special counsel Robert Hur “reached a firm conclusion that no charges should be brought against me in this case.” 

"The special counsel acknowledged I cooperated completely. I did not throw up any roadblocks. I sought no delays," the president said of his response to the investigation into his handling of classified documents.

Biden noted that he cooperated with the probe and sat for a five hour interview over two days in October, "even though Israel had just been attacked by Hamas."

Joe Biden slammed special counsel Robert Hur for putting in his report that the president did not remember when his son Beau died, in a mention of Biden's apparent memory lapses.

The report said investigators found Biden’s “memory was significantly limited” during interviews with his ghostwriter and an interview with Hur’s office last year. According to the report, Biden — during the 2023 interview — did not remember when his son Beau died nor the years he was vice president.

Biden started to say he wore his son's rosary every day since the day he died, but stopped, appearing to choke up. 

“Every Memorial Day we hold a service remembering him, attended by friends and family and the people who loved him,” Biden said, after a pause. “I don't need anyone. I don't need anyone to remind me when he passed away.” 

He then reiterated that when he sat down with the special counsel, “at the same time I was managing an international crisis.” 

Asked later if he felt his memory had gotten worse, Biden responded: “My memory is fine.” 

“Take a look at what I've done since I've become president,” Biden said. “None of you thought I could pass any of the things I got passed. How'd that happen?”

President Joe Biden is now giving remarks at the White House following the release of a report by special counsel Robert Hur into his handling of classified documents.

The report concluded Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified military and national security information but recommended he not face charges.

President Joe Biden will deliver remarks from the White House at 7:45 p.m. the White House said. 

No topic was immediately given, but the remarks come hours after the release of special counsel Robert Hur's report on the president's handling of classified documents.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin said the special counsel report on President Joe Biden’s classified documents case shows that Biden’s Department of Justice has not been politicized.

Durbin also compared Biden’s willingness to return classified information to former President Donald Trump’s recalcitrance.

“As detailed in the Special Counsel’s report, there are clearly concerning gaps in the manner in which current and former government officials retain classified materials. In this case, however, President Biden fully cooperated with the investigation, unlike his predecessor,” Durbin said.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said that former President Donald Trump should claim "old age and forgetfulness" when it comes to his classified documents case. It comes after Special Counsel Robert Hur put out a report finding that President Joe Biden will not face charges after he willfully retained and disclosed classified documents.

Some more context: Haley made an effort to cast the cases of Biden and Trump in the same light, though the two presidents' handling of classified documents was very different. Hur noted in his report there were distinctions between the two.

The National Archives repeatedly tried and failed to get back documents in Trump’s possession. At one point, the FBI secured a search warrant to search his Florida estate.

Biden’s attorneys, on the other hand, notified the National Archives of the materials found in his possession. Those documents were discovered on November 2, just six days before the midterm elections, but the president’s attorneys only publicly acknowledged the discovery of the documents on November 7 — when news reports about the discovery broke.

Senate Republicans jumped on the special counsel’s description of President Joe Biden as a “sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory” and alleged a double standard between the handling of Biden’s classified documents case and former President Donald Trump’s case. 

In a joint statement, the House GOP leadership team said one of the most “disturbing parts” of the report is that the president struggled to remember key details during the interview and that “a man too incapable of being held accountable for mishandling classified information is certainly unfit for the Oval Office.”

Here's what some of them said on X: