Biden kept classified documents ‘for $8m book deal’
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
President Biden kept classified documents for an $8m book deal, Congress heard on Tuesday.
Republican congressman Jim Jordan accused Mr Biden of keeping material from his time as vice-president in order to write a book, for which he reportedly signed an $8 million deal.
“He’s been in office for like 50 years...You know he knew the rules,” Mr Jordan said.
Proposing why the president retained classified materials, he added: “He knew the rules but he broke them for eight million dollars in a book advance...pride and money is why he knowingly violated the rules.”
Mr Hur responded: “We did identify evidence supporting those assessments.”
Mr Hur authored an official report that described Mr Biden as an “elderly man with a poor memory” but did not recommend he be charged over classified documents. He left his post in the Department of Justice on Monday.
05:15 PM GMT
That’s all for today
Thank you for following our coverage of Robert Hur’s testimony to Congress in which he defended his explosive report into Joe Biden’s handling of classified files.
Key moment’s from Mr Hur’s testimony:
‘I did not’ find Biden was senile, says Hur
‘I did not exonerate’ Biden, says Hur
Hur admits Biden’s ‘photographic recall’ in comments left out of report
Adam Schiff, the Democratic representative for California, has issued a scathing rebuke of Robert Hur’s claim that it was not his decision whether aspects of his report, which described president Biden’s memory as “poor”, would be made public.
In his opening statement, former special counsel Robert Hur said: “I did not sanitise my explanation nor did I disparage the president unfairly.”
04:57 PM GMT
Hur accused of being part of ‘praetorian guard’
Tom Tiffany, the Republican representative of Wisconsin, accused Robert Hur of being part of a “praetorian guard” that protects “the swamp” and “elites.”
Neither House Democrats or Republicans appear to be happy with Mr Hur’s report.
04:41 PM GMT
‘I did not’ find Biden was senile, says Hur
Robert Hur has ruled out finding that president Biden is “senile”.
In response to a direct question from Republican congressman Scott Fitzgerald asking if Hur’s report found president Biden was senile, the former prosecutor responded: “I did not”.
04:29 PM GMT
‘I did not exonerate’ Biden, says Hur
Robert Hur repeatedly refused to say he had exonerated president Biden in a soundbite that is likely to hurt the Democrats.
When Democrat Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal claimed Mr Hur’s report had exonerated Mr Biden, the former prosecutor repeatedly said: “I did not exonerate him.”
04:10 PM GMT
Hur admits Biden’s ‘photographic recall’ in comments left out of report
Robert Hur described president Biden as having a “photographic recall of the House” in comments left out of the former prosecutor’s final report.
Elsewhere in the report, Mr Hur described the president’s memory as “poor”, a description that has been leapt upon by Republicans.
Asked about the positive description of the president’s memory, Mr Hur said: “It appeared in the transcript - it does not appear in my report.”
04:00 PM GMT
‘You were not born yesterday’, Schiff tells Hur
Adam Schiff, the Democratic representative for California, has issued a scathing rebuke of Robert Hur’s claim that it was not his decision whether aspects of his report, which described president Biden’s memory as “poor”, would be made public.
“You were not born yesterday, you knew exactly what you were doing - it was a choice,” said Mr Schiff in a heated exchange. ““You made a choice. It was a political choice. It was the wrong choice.”
In response to repeated allegations that Mr Hur knew the details of the report would be made public, and would support the Republican Party’s alleged agenda to depict Biden as forgetful, Mr Hur said: “I understood from the attorney general’s public comments that he would make as much of my report public as he could...”
In a swift rejoinder, Mr Schiff said: “You don’t gratuitously add language that you know will be useful in a political campaign.”
03:47 PM GMT
Hur and Johnson start war of words
Robert Hur and Democrat congressman Hank Johnson spoke over one another for a full five seconds after the congressman levelled a damning accusation against the former prosecutor.
Referencing the report’s allusions to Mr Biden’s age, Mr Johnson said: “You knew that would play into the Republicans narrative...you knew that that’s what was going to happen.”
Mr Hur responded that he “rejected” Mr Johnson’s allegations, but the remainder of his response was rendered incoherent as the two spoke over one another at length.
Eventually regaining the floor, Mr Hur said: “Partisan politics had no place whatsoever in my work.”
03:37 PM GMT
Biden’s remarks ‘inconsistent’ with report findings, says Hur
Matt Gaetz, the Republican representative for Florida, questioned whether president Biden lied publicly about his handling of documents.
Short of accusing the president of deliberately spreading falsehoods, Mr Hur said his remarks were “inconsistent” with the report’s findings.
03:19 PM GMT
Raskin blasts House for ‘playing memory detectives’
Jamie Raskin, the Democratic congressman for Maryland, has taken aim at the House for “playing memory detectives” rather than focusing on the broader constitutional issues of re-electing Donald Trump.
Today’s hearing is widely viewed as a proxy battle for a highly-anticipated presidential re-match between president Biden and Mr Trump, both of whom have been accused of keeping hold of classified documents after leaving office.
Mr Hur, in his report, detailed how his findings about Mr Biden were far different from those of special counsel Jack Smith about Republican front-runner Mr Trump, who has been charged with willfully retaining classified documents.
03:12 PM GMT
Biden retained classified documents for ‘pride and money’, agrees Robert Hur
Former prosecutor Robert Hur agreed with Chair of the House Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan’s assessment that president Biden retained classified documents for “pride and money”.
Mr Jordan slammed Mr Biden for keeping classified files in his garage, stating that it was so he could write a book, for which he reportedly signed an $8 million deal.
Asking rhetorically whether the president was aware of the rules surrounding retaining classified materials, he said: “He’s been in office for like 50 years...You know he knew the rules.
“He knew the rules but he broke them for eight million dollars in a book advance...pride and money is why he knowingly violated the rules.”
Mr Hur responded: “We did identify evidence supporting those assessments.”
02:58 PM GMT
Hur to honour constraints of Justice Department despite quitting
A lot has been made of Robert Hur’s decision to quit the Justice Department earlier this week before testifying.
However, the former special counsel has signaled he will abide by the basic constraints that would have been imposed on him had he remained in position, saying he will limit his answers to the contents of his report.
02:42 PM GMT
Report provided unsanitised judgement on Biden’s memory, says Hur
In his opening statement, former special counsel Robert Hur said: “I did not sanitise my explanation nor did I disparage the president unfairly.”
Addressing his description of the president’s memory as “poor” in his original report, Mr Hur said: “The evidence and the president himself put his memory squarely at issue.”
He added: “I’m confident the analysis provides a thorough evaluation and explanation of the evidence.”
02:31 PM GMT
Robert Hur is sworn in
Former special counsel Robert Hur has been sworn in and is about to give his opening statement.
02:28 PM GMT
The hearing watches a montage of Trump gaffes
Democratic congressman Jerrold Nadler has played the hearing a video montage of Donald Trump gaffes, drawing smiles from some in the room.
Some highlights included Mr Trump, who is the last remaining major candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination, stating: “I talk to Putin a lot.”
Another clip showed Mr Trump’s recent claim that he “defeated Biden in four weeks”.
After the video concluded, Mr Nadler said: “That is a man who ought to think twice before accusing others of cognitive decline.”
02:19 PM GMT
Biden’s gaffe confusing Mexico with Egypt is repeated to the hearing
The press conference from last month raised further questions about Mr Biden’s mental agility, when he confused Mexico with Egypt.
Referring to the Rafah crossing, between Egypt and Gaza, he said: “As you know, initially the President of Mexico, Sisi, did not want to open up the gate to allow humanitarian material to get in.”
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is the president of Egypt, while Mexico does not share a land border with Gaza.
Replaying footage from last month’s press conference was designed to show inconsistencies between president Biden’s accounts and Robert Hur’s report, Jim Jordan, the chairman of the House judiciary committee, said.
02:14 PM GMT
Recording of Biden’s press conference played to the hearing
The hearing room at Capitol Hill has been played a recording of president Biden’s explosive press conference following the release of Robert Hur’s original report, in which the president slammed journalists questioning his age.
When one reporter questioned the president’s mental acuity last month, the president said: “My memory’s so bad I let you speak.”
When another asked about the concerns of American voters regarding Mr Biden’s age, he interrupted: “That is your judgement.”
01:53 PM GMT
Biden’s furious reaction to the original report
Mr Biden reacted furiously to the release of the report last month, giving a White House press conference in which he shouted at reporters and insisted he was still capable of running for a second term in November.
Responding to the claims, Mr Biden said his memory was “fine” and defended his record since taking office in 2021.
On the subject of whether he could remember the date his son, Beau, died, Mr Biden replied: “How in the hell dare he raise that? Frankly, when I was asked the question, I thought to myself, it wasn’t any of their damned business.
“I don’t need anyone, I don’t need anyone to remind me of when he passed away.”
However, the press conference raised further questions about Mr Biden’s mental agility, after he confused Mexico with Egypt in response to a reporter’s query about the current situation in the Middle East.
01:47 PM GMT
The findings of the original report
President Joe Biden repeatedly told a special counsel that he never meant to retain classified information after he left the vice presidency, but he was at times fuzzy about dates and said he was unfamiliar with the paper trail for some of the sensitive documents he handled.
A report compiled by Robert Hur, then special counsel for the Department of Justice, found that the blips in Biden’s recollections included how sensitive files concerning the Afghanistan war ended up in his garage and the dates of his term as vice-president.
Mr Hur, in his report, concluded that the president should not face criminal charges over his mishandling of documents but also impugned the president’s age and competence.
It said bringing a prosecution against him for failure to correctly store classified information would be difficult because a jury would view him as a “well-meaning” but “elderly” man whose memory had “significant limitations”.
01:28 PM GMT
Calling Biden’s memory ‘poor’ was ‘accurate and fair’, says former prosecutor
The US prosecutor who sparked a political firestorm last month with a report saying president Joe Biden had a “poor memory” has defended his assessment in prepared remarks ahead of his testimony to a Republican-led congressional committee.
“My assessment in the report about the relevance of the president’s memory was necessary and accurate and fair,” said Robert Hur, a former US special counsel, in his prepared opening statement. “I did not sanitise my explanation. Nor did I disparage the president unfairly. I explained to the attorney general my decision and the reasons for it. That’s what I was required to do.”
Mr Hur will answer questions from the House of Representatives judiciary committee, which has been one of the panels conducting an impeachment inquiry into Mr Biden.
Proceedings are expected to get under way at 10 am ET (2 pm GMT).
