Washington, Feb 8 (EFE).- United States President Joe Biden on Thursday night hit back at the justice department’s special counsel Robert Hur after he concluded the leader had exhibited poor memory during interrogations over his handling of documents during his time as vice president.
In the almost 400-page report issued at the conclusion of the investigation, Hur said Biden’s memory “appeared to have significant limitations” during the interviews carried out last year.
“My memory has not gotten worse,” Biden, 81, responded in an impromptu press conference from the White House. “My memory is fine.”
“I’m well-meaning and I’m an elderly man and I know what the hell I’m doing,” Biden added when questioned by a journalist.
However, minutes later, he called Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi the leader of Mexico.
The terms used by the special prosecutor in his report were a blow to the president, calling him a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” in the midst of his re-election campaign.
Biden wasn’t sure of the dates he served as vice president, and he couldn’t remember when his son Beau died, the special counsel said.
“I don’t need anyone, anyone, to remind me when he passed away,” Biden said Thursday night. “How the hell dare he raise that.”
Biden has been the subject of investigation for the past year over classified documents from when he was Barack Obama’s vice president (2009-2017) were found at his Delaware home and in a private office.
The documents were found by Biden’s lawyers in November and December 2022, and immediately delivered to the National Archives, the organization that must safeguard them, after which the Department of Justice opened an investigation.
“Our investigation uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen,” the document stated, but concluded that “no criminal charges are warranted in this matter.”
Hur had argued that prosecuting Biden was “unwarranted based on our consideration of the aggravating and mitigating factors.”
“The evidence does not establish Mr. Biden’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” he added.
In his appearance Thursday, Biden reiterated that he “did not break the law. Period,” and pointed the finger at his staff.
“I take responsibility for not having seen exactly what my staff was doing,” he said. “Things that appeared in my garage, things that came out of my home, things that were moved, were moved not by me, but my staff.”
Meanwhile, former president Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner for the November election, who is also under investigation for withholding official documents at his Florida mansion, was indicted on 40 counts.
Trump allegedly illegally withheld 300 documents, which had to be recovered in an FBI raid.
Hur argued that there are aggravating circumstances in Trump’s case, such as the fact that he was given several opportunities to return the documents and avoid prosecution, but refused to do so.
In addition, the New York tycoon also ordered the destruction of evidence to obstruct justice, according to prosecutors. EFE
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