President Biden’s legal team on Thursday denounced parts of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report, accusing it of “investigative overreach” that resulted in “‘ruining’ the subject of the investigation.”
Biden’s personal lawyer, Bob Bauer, said in a statement shortly after the report was released that the published findings violated “established departmental norms” and “essentially removed the focus of the investigation.” “It’s being disposed of,” he said.
“The Justice Department’s Inspector General has said that high-profile investigations like the presidential probe ‘may be subject to scrutiny not typical of the average criminal case, but that is not grounds for violation.’ “He established the department’s norms and essentially ‘ruined’ the subject of the investigation with irrelevant, unsubstantiated and irrelevant critical comments,” Bauer’s statement said. It’s dark.
“[T]The special counsel could not refrain from overreaching, which may be understandable given the intense pressures of the current political environment. “Whatever impact these pressures have had on the final report, it ignores the department’s regulations and norms,” Bauer said.
The White House also criticized parts of the report as “inaccurate and inappropriate.”
“We disagree with the many inaccurate and inappropriate comments in the Special Counsel’s report. Nevertheless, we agree with the most important decision made by the Special Counsel: that the charges are not justified. is firmly based on facts and evidence,” White House Special Counsel Richard Sauber said in a statement.
Neither statement detailed which aspects of the report they found inappropriate, but parts of the report described Biden as a “sympathetic and well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.” The part that says that Biden has “serious limitations” in his memory has raised eyebrows.
The report says Biden forgot when he was vice president and the year his son Beau Biden died. He also said that “it seemed like his memory was foggy” when Biden spoke about Afghanistan.
Sauber also said that despite the criticism, the White House was “pleased” that the investigation was concluded and criminal charges were not warranted. “Mistakes when packing documents at the end of a government or when members of Congress leave office are unfortunately common,” he said.
Mr. Biden met with Mr. Xu in October, which lasted two days. The White House declined to claim privilege over any part of the report.
Biden said in a statement that he was interviewed on Oct. 8 and Oct. 9, shortly after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, and “while dealing with an international crisis.”
“This was an exhaustive investigation that went back more than 40 years, going back to the 1970s when I was a young senator. I cooperated fully and did not erect any obstacles or seek any delays,” Biden said. he said in a statement.
Mr. Biden then spoke at a pre-scheduled meeting of House Democrats in Leesburg, Virginia, where he also emphasized that the interview took place shortly after Oct. 7.
He also highlighted the differences between his case and that of former President Donald Trump, who was indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House.
“I was especially pleased to see the special counsel draw out the clear differences between this case and Donald Trump,” Biden said, adding of Ho: “This is a Republican lawyer.”
Mr. Hur is a former federal prosecutor in Maryland who was appointed by President Trump during his first term in 2018.
Mr. Biden read aloud from a section of the report that outlined “some important differences between Mr. Trump’s case and Mr. Biden’s.”
“Most notably, despite being given multiple opportunities to return classified documents and avoid prosecution, Mr. Trump allegedly did the opposite,” the report said. ing.
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