The special counsel report into President Joe Biden‘s handling of classified documents may have raised more questions than it answered.
Specifically, what exactly was said during Biden’s five-hour interview with special counsel Robert Hur that led Hur to question the president’s memory? The answer to that question could have vast political implications for Biden and his reelection campaign.
Republicans are demanding transcripts, calling loudly and repeatedly for the release of interview transcripts after White House officials called Hur’s findings into question.
“Put simply, this case is closed because the facts and the evidence don’t support the theories here,” White House counsel spokesman Ian Sams said last Friday. “The gratuitous comments [about Biden’s memory] that respected experts say is out of line are inappropriate.”
Hur was tapped in January 2023 to lead the investigation by Attorney General Merrick Garland, a Biden nominee. Hur offered the assessment of Biden’s memory in a legal context as to justification why he was not recommending criminal charges.
Democrats cheered Hur’s finding that Biden would not be charged for his handling of classified documents yet denounced his opinion that the president would not be convicted because a jury would perceive him as an “elderly man with a poor memory.”
Specifically, portions of the Hur report saying that Biden could not remember what year he became vice president and what year his son Beau died drew controversy.
“How the hell dare he raise that,” Biden said in a hastily organized press conference the night the report was released. “Frankly, when I was asked the question, I thought to myself, it wasn’t any of their damn business.”
But an NBC report said Hur never asked the question and that it was Biden who brought up his son’s death. More broadly, Democratic claims that Biden’s memory is fine and that the report is inaccurate could be bolstered or refused by the transcripts.
House Republicans have asked the Department of Justice for a transcript and recordings of the interview, citing concerns that Biden may have retained sensitive documents.
The political implications are enormous, as the tapes could calm fears about Biden’s memory — or supercharge them.
Sams was noncommittal when asked about the issue, saying, “It’s important to know that we’re dealing with classified materials in this conversation. There are classification issues there. I don’t have any announcement on releasing anything today.”
While a drawn-out battle risks keeping the issue in the headlines for weeks or even months, Democratic strategist Brad Bannon says the White House is right not to release the interviews.
“If they release the transcripts, rather than cooling the situation, it would just add fuel to the fire,” he said. “Biden’s age is going to be a concern. It is baked into the electorate the same way that [former president Donald] Trump being corrupt is baked into the electorate.”
A source told the Washington Examiner that Hur is working with Congress to testify and is planning to appear for a public hearing with the House Judiciary Committee on March 12.
The situation has drawn an analogy to former FBI Director James Comey’s investigation of Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election. Many politicos felt the steady drip of revelations and lack of resolution helped sink her campaign.
In contrast, the Biden White House might get the issue behind it by releasing transcripts now, with nine months still to go before Election Day.
“I think, certainly, the transcripts ought to be released,” former White House chief ethics lawyer Richard Painter said.
But Painter, who served in the George W. Bush White House, agrees that Hur may have stepped out of line by including his thoughts on Biden’s memory and said portions of the interview related to Biden’s personal life and his family might be redacted before release.
“The report should have stuck to the documents and his memory with respect to the documents,” he said.
But if transcripts were released with the portions about Beau Biden redacted, it might fail to squelch the controversy surrounding the president’s memory.
A spokesman for Democrats on the House Oversight Committee accused Republicans of wasting taxpayer dollars in seeking the interviews, saying congressional leaders already reviewed last year all of the classified documents in question that were in Joe Biden’s possession.
“Their newest request is more of the same, and in fact follows the Gang of Eight already reviewing every document that was recovered from President Biden last year,” the House Oversight Democratic spokesman said. “The Special Counsel was unequivocal in his statement that there was no comparison between Joe Biden’s conduct and Donald Trump’s.”
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Until transcripts are released, their contents are likely to be heavily debated by both major political parties, and a drip of new revelations and accusations could keep the memory controversy alive for at least the next several weeks.
House Republicans have asked that the DOJ respond to their request by Feb. 19 and could try to subpoena the materials if denied.
