Special Counsel Robert Hur Hits Biden For 'Significantly Limited' Memory

Special counsel Robert Hur announced that the Department of Justice would not be pressing charges against President Joe Biden for retaining classified documents after his vice presidency ― but the conservative jurist got in a few digs on Biden’s mental acuity and age in the process.

In a report completed on Monday, but released to the public on Thursday, Hur, a former U.S. attorney appointed by Donald Trump, cited Biden’s “significantly limited” memory in his explanation of why he was not indicting the 81-year-old president.

“Mr. Biden’s memory was significantly limited, both during his recorded interviews with the ghostwriter in 2017, and in his interview with our office in 2023,” Hur wrote. “And his cooperation with our investigation, including by reporting to the government that the Afghanistan documents were in his Delaware garage, will likely convince some jurors that he made an innocent mistake, rather than acting willfully-that is, with intent to break the law-as the statute requires.”

Hur also said that Biden’s advanced age ― at a trial that would not take place for years ― would make him more sympathetic to a potential jury, dimming the chances of a conviction.

“We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory. Based on our direct interactions with and observations of him, he is someone for whom many jurors will want to identify reasonable doubt,” Hur wrote. “It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him ― by then a former president well into his 80s ― of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness.”

Hur’s comments about Biden’s