Andrew Kerr and Joseph Simonson of the Washington Free Beacon report bad news for the president’s backers.
Special Counsel Robert Hur stood by his assessment that President Joe Biden was a “well-meaning, elderly man” whose failing memory would have made it untenable to pursue prosecution of his willful retention of classified records during testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.
Transcripts of Hur’s interviews with Biden released Tuesday and reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon support Hur’s assessment that there are “significant limitations” surrounding Biden’s memory. Throughout the five hours of interviews on Oct. 8 and 9, Biden struggled to recall relevant details about his handling of classified records or when he served as vice president.
The transcript also confirms Biden could not recall when his son, Beau, died, and further shows that the president raised that subject unprompted—contradicting the president’s claim during a Feb. 8 press conference that Hur raised the subject.
But the transcripts also reveal that Biden went off on a number of tangents during his interviews with special counsel Robert Hur, including anecdotes about what sound a car makes, a “risqué” bathing suit his 72-year-old wife wears, and a horrific industrial accident where a young man’s genitalia was burned off.
Early on in his Oct. 8 interview with Hur, the special counsel asked Biden if he ever transferred any documents from his vice presidential residence to his primary Delaware residence. Biden answered that he did “occasionally,” and as he provided context to his answer, the president deemed it necessary to mention that first lady Jill Biden looks great in a bikini.
“You left everything in place,” Biden told Hur in reference to the special counsel’s search of his Delaware lake house. “I just hope you didn’t find any risqué pictures of my wife in a bathing suit. Which you probably did. She’s beautiful.”
