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In less than 10 minutes of former Special Counsel Robert Hur’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, the Democratic minority on the panel provided their reaction to his report on the year-long investigation into the circulation of classified documents in President Joe Biden’s residence in Delaware and his former office in Washington, DC.
Last month, Mr. Hur, a former appointee of the Trump administration in the Justice Department, caused anger among supporters of Mr. Biden, including Mr. Biden himself. He stated that his choice to not pursue any criminal charges against the president was based on his belief that he would not be able to secure a conviction due to the possibility that jurors would see Mr. Biden as an innocent, older man with a decline in memory.
The former US attorney from Maryland referenced the report to inaccurately portray a part of the 300-page transcript of President Biden’s two-day interview with him and his team. He alleged that the president could not recall the date of his son, Beau Biden’s, passing. He also noted that Mr. Biden had a “photographic” memory on certain topics and concluded that there was insufficient evidence to determine any criminal intent regarding the documents.
How did Democrats respond? They pointed to Donald Trump!
At the start of the hearing, New York Representative Jerry Nadler, who is the top Democrat in the panel, established the mood by reacting to Chairman Jim Jordan’s playing of Mr. Biden’s response to the report. Nadler showed a compilation of blunders, slurred speech, and muddled responses made by Mr. Trump. One of these included a moment where the former president could not recall the duration of his marriage to his second wife, Marla Maples.
“The New Yorker, an experienced member of the panel, stated in his introduction that Mr. Trump is unable to avoid legal responsibility, completely unsuitable for his position, and should at least consider his own potential decline before making accusations towards others.”
Mr. Nadler referenced Mr. Hur’s work regarding the ex-prosecutor and stated that the decision not to charge Mr. Biden was “straightforward” due to the president’s willingness to fully cooperate with the investigation. He also drew a parallel between the evidence against Mr. Biden and the ongoing case against Mr. Trump in a Florida federal court, where the former president is accused of retaining national defense information and obstructing an investigation.
Mr. Nadler followed up with Mr. Hur regarding his decision that no criminal charges were necessary for Mr. Biden. He then shifted the conversation back to Mr. Trump, inquiring why the Justice Department obtained a search warrant for Mr. Trump’s Palm Beach residence in August of 2022.
Although the details that prompted the investigation have been publicly available for some time, Mr. Hur claimed that he was not aware of the discussions. Mr. Nadler then informed him that the Department of Justice had requested the warrant due to concerns that President Trump may have lied about possessing classified documents and could potentially hide or destroy them.
Schiff states that Hur’s decision to leave specific language about Biden in the report was a strategic choice.
Repeatedly, members of the Democratic party on the committee utilized their allotted five minutes for questioning to address Mr. Hur regarding the prior administration and criticize his mentions of Mr. Biden’s memory, while members of the Republican party consistently brought up his disparaging remarks about the current president.
In agreement with Mr. Nadler’s presentation, other Democratic representatives utilized similarly-edited compilations of Mr. Trump’s misused words to divert attention away from Mr. Hur’s unfavorable portrayal of Mr. Biden’s memory.
After questioning Mr. Hur during the interview, representative Eric Swalwell from California chose to return the transcript after Mr. Hur confirmed that he had described Mr. Biden’s memory as “photographic” for certain topics.
“Next, I would like to demonstrate something that is not related to photography,” he stated, before presenting the ex-president’s supercut.
Representative Matt Gaetz questions Robert Hur about President Biden’s use of a ghostwriter.
Another member of the panel representing the Democratic party, Mary Gay Scanlon from Pennsylvania, was even more precise in her choices of video footage showcasing the former president. All of her selected clips featured Mr. Trump displaying instances of forgetfulness.
She suggested examining a separate individual who experienced gaps in their memory during a deposition.
When inquired about his marriage to his current wife, former First Lady Melania Trump, Mr. Trump briefly glanced downward and responded that he was unsure.
Source: independent.co.uk
