House Republicans asked the Department of Justice on Monday for a transcript and any recordings of the interview Robert Hur conducted with President Joe Biden last year, a request that follows the special counsel finding the president may have “willfully” retained classified documents.
The Republicans cited in a letter to the DOJ from three House chairmen, Reps. James Comer (R-KY), Jim Jordan (R-OH), and Jason Smith (R-MO), the GOP’s impeachment inquiry into Biden related to his family’s foreign business dealings.
“There is concern that President Biden may have retained sensitive documents related to specific countries involving his family’s foreign business dealings,” the chairmen wrote.
They noted that transcripts, recordings, and notes from the interview Hur had with Biden in October 2022 as part of his investigation into the president could be informative for their inquiry.
The chairmen also questioned the DOJ’s “commitment to evenhanded justice,” saying the fact that the department is prosecuting former President Donald Trump over alleged mishandling of classified documents but opting not to prosecute Biden “speaks volumes.”
Hur said in his report that he did not find enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Biden’s retention of classified documents while he was a private citizen was willful. Willful retention of classified material is against the law.
The special counsel added that Biden’s memory was so bad during their interview that Hur believed a jury may find that his retention of documents was an “innocent mistake,” a highly scrutinized finding in Hur’s report that a recording of an interview could shed more light on.
Hur said Biden was also a cooperative and proactive subject from the outset of Hur’s investigation. Trump, Hur said, is alleged to have obstructed and knowingly misled federal investigators about the documents in his possession, a key difference in the two cases.
The chairmen have been leading an impeachment inquiry into allegations Biden used his political influence when he was vice president to help his family members profit in international business deals. They pointed to the array of classified material Hur found in Biden’s possession that related to countries where his son Hunter and brother James have done business.
Hur found, for example, that Biden retained a few documents that were either “confidential” or “top secret” in his home in Wilmington, Delaware, that were related to Ukraine. Two of the documents had dates that corresponded to the years Hunter Biden held a controversial and lucrative board position at a Ukrainian energy company.
While Hur noted that Biden, as president, is allowed to have classified material in his home, the documents that Biden had in his possession related to a variety of topics and countries, such as U.S. policy on Afghanistan and the Iran nuclear deal, dating back to his time as vice president and senator.
The chairmen said they also are seeking information on whether Joe Biden’s attorneys narrowed the scope of Hur’s interviews with the president “that would have precluded a line of inquiry regarding evidence (emails, text messages, or witness statements) directly linking the President to troublesome foreign payments.”
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The Republicans asked that the DOJ respond to them by Feb. 19.
A spokesperson for the DOJ said the department received the letter but declined to comment further.
A spokesman for Democrats on the House Oversight Committee accused Republicans of wasting taxpayer dollars, 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 8 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.”
