Special Counsel Ben Hur is testifying before the House Judiciary Committee and is on the defense about comments made about President Joe Biden's age and competence in his report on how Biden handled classified documents.
A transcript of Hur's interview with Biden was made public on Tuesday and some believe it may raise concerns about Hur's depiction of Biden's mind and ability.
Hur described Biden's memory as "hazy," "fuzzy," "faulty" and "poor" in his report.
The Associated Press reports that according to a transcript obtained by them after being turned over to Congress by the Justice Department, over five hours of interviews, Biden told a special counsel that he did not retain classified information on purpose after leaving the vice presidency. However, according to the transcript, he was at times unsure of dates and was also unfamiliar with the bureaucratic trail for some of the top-secret documents that he obtained.
Ben Hur's report paints a picture of his discussions with prosecutors and fills in some of the missing information from his account of the conversations.
One portion of Hur's recollection of their conversations that reportedly angered the president was Hur's belief that Biden couldn't remember when his son Beau died. Hur is said to have used that as an example of Biden's memory lapses."How in the hell dare he raise that," Biden said of Hur the day the report was released. "Frankly, when I was asked the question, I thought to myself it wasn't any of their damn business."
The transcript, if taken at face value, appears to reveal less about Biden's alleged memory lapses that the special counsel let on.
During one of their exchanges, Hur is said to have asked Biden about where he kept things that he was actively working on while living in a Virginia rental home after leaving the vice presidency in January 2017. It appears that, in that context, it was Biden himself who brought up Beau's illness and death while discussing a book he published about that trying time in his life.
An exchange from the transcript:
"What month did Beau die?" Biden mused, adding, "Oh God, May 30th."A White House lawyer then chimed in with the year, 2015."Was it 2015 he died?" Biden asked again.Biden went on to recount in detail the story contained in his book, "Promise Me, Dad," of how his late son had encouraged him to remain engaged in public life after the Obama administration ended.
This is a developing story.
