Special counsel Robert Hur is reportedly seeking to testify in front of House Republicans over his investigation into President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents, a GOP aide told Axios.
Hur concluded his investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents Feb. 8, declining to pursue charges against the president. In his report, Hur made several notes about the state of Biden’s memory, even noting that the president appeared to forget when his term as vice president began and ended and when his late son Beau Biden had died during an interview. As the White House dispels Hur’s claims about Biden’s memory, the special counsel is reportedly in final talks about testifying in front of House Republicans, a GOP aide told Axios. (RELATED: Biden World’s ‘MAGA Guy’ Attack On Robert Hur Just Doesn’t Add Up, Records Show)
The special counsel conducted a five-hour interview with Biden on Oct. 8-9, which the White House noted was in the midst of the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war.
“In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden’s memory was worse. He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended (‘if it was 2013 – when did I stop being Vice President?’), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began (‘in 2009, am I still Vice President?’),” Hur wrote in the report.
“He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died. And his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him,” Hur continued about the president.
Hur also noted that Biden presented himself to interviewers as an “elderly man with a poor memory.”
The White House has denounced Hur’s characterizations of Biden’s memory, going as far as to call them “flatly wrong,” “inappropriate and “gratuitous.”
U.S. President Joe Biden departs after delivering remarks in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House on February 8, 2024 in Washington, DC. Biden addressed the Special Counsel’s report on his handling of classified material, and the status of the war in Gaza. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
Biden held an unexpected press conference after the Hur report was released and talks about his memory circulated. The president criticized Hur for bringing up his son’s death during the press conference. (RELATED: Biden Throws Staff Under The Bus, Lashes Out At Reporters In Rare Press Conference After Special Counsel Report)
“How in the hell dare he raise that?” Biden told reporters in the unexpected press conference. “Frankly, when I was asked the question, I thought to myself, it wasn’t any of their damn business.”
Despite the president’s criticism, Hur was reportedly not the one to raise Beau’s death, two people familiar with the special counsel interview told NBC News. Instead, it was Biden who reportedly first introduced the topic during the interview, the sources told the outlet.
The topic reportedly came up when Hur and the president were discussing when a ghostwriter helped him write a memoir detailing his experience of losing Beau to brain cancer in 2015, the sources told NBC News. Biden was working with the ghostwriter between 2016 and 2018.
The president seemed confused about when his son had passed when trying to remember the timeline of events, the sources told NBC News. Biden was reportedly unable to nail down the year but was able to correctly identify the day and month Beau passed.
Hur reportedly asked Biden personal questions seemingly related to Beau to get the president to bring up his son, sources familiar with the interview told NBC News. The sources did not dispute that it was Biden who brought the topic up first, NBC News reported.
As the White House continues to rebuke Hur’s report on Biden’s memory, it has not indicated whether it will release the transcripts from the interview.
“There are discussions underway — because it’s a classified document — about what could or whether will be or when released,” Bob Bauer, Biden’s personal attorney, said in a CBS News interview.