By Wonderwall.com Editors
6:00pm PST, Feb 12, 2024
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A new special counsel report in Joe Biden's classified documents case is being interpreted as both a major win and a devastating loss for the current president.
On Feb. 8, 2024, a 345-page report from special counsel Robert K. Hur revealed that Biden won't be charged in a classified documents case involving papers found in his possession at his personal residence and office.
But one of the reasons why is potentially incredibly damaging: Hur believes the president could be seen as an "elderly man with a poor memory" whom a jury would find sympathetic and would likely struggle to find that he willfully committed a crime.
The report further characterized Biden as having "diminished capacities" including memory loss.
"Our investigation uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency [in President Barack Obama's administration] when he was a private citizen," Hur's report stated. However, the evidence doesn't establish "guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."
Biden hit back at the attack on his memory and faculties while other politicians, rivals and notable names have also weighed in.
Keep reading for the best reactions to the report and its implications…
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President Joe Biden hit back at special counsel Robert K. Hur's report, saying during an address from the White House on Feb. 8, "My memory is fine. Take a look at what I've done since I've become president."
The 81-year-old president further fumed, "For any extraneous commentary, they don't know what they're talking about. It has no place in this report. The bottom line is, the matter is now closed."
Reacting to a claim in the report alleging that during interviews with FBI investigators he couldn't remember what year son Beau died from cancer, Biden responded, "How the hell dare he raise that. Every Memorial Day we hold a service remembering him attended by friends and family and the people who loved him. I don't need anyone, I don't need anyone to remind me when he passed away."
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"What I saw in that report last night I believe is – as a former prosecutor – the comments that were made by that prosecutor gratuitous, inaccurate and inappropriate," said Vice President Kamala Harris, who then spoke of the Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. "The president was in front of and on top of it all, asking questions and requiring that America's military and intelligence community and diplomatic community would figure out and know – how many people are dead, how many Americans, how many hostages, is the situation stable? He was in front of it all, coordinating and directing leaders who are in charge of America's national security, not to mention our allies around the globe."
She added, "The way that the president's demeanor in that report was characterized could not be more wrong on the facts and clearly politically motivated, gratuitous. And so I will say that when it comes to the role and responsibility of a prosecutor in a situation like that, we should expect that there would be a higher level of integrity of what we saw."
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"The DOJ ruled that Joe Biden is not mentally competent to face trial. This mentally incompetent man has access to the nuclear codes and could literally exterminate humanity from the face of the planet." —Sen. Ted Cruz
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"Donald Trump confused me for Nancy Pelosi. Joe Biden confused the president of Mexico with the president of Egypt. The first party to retire their 80-year-old candidate will be the party that wins." —Nikki Haley
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"MAGA Republicans will no doubt now call to investigate the investigators — its their favorite move — but the Hur report effectively ends the discussion. President Biden cooperated fully with the Special Counsel and redacted no portion of the Special Counsel's report. Unlike Trump, President Biden has nothing to hide. And the contrast here is striking. If Trump had cooperated with the the Department of Justice — instead of lying to investigators, again and again — he might have avoided at least some of the 91 criminal charges currently pending against him." —Rep. Jerry Nadler
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"Joe Biden and the Democrat party think the American people are stupid. The events of today make it clear the Republican Party needs to unite behind Donald Trump and take this country back." —South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem
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"The commander in chief needs to be fit for duty and this one is NOT. He was even lost in the press conference that was supposed to make us feel better about the DISASTER uncovered by the special counsel." —Sen. Tim Scott
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"I don't know what this Special Counsel was trying to achieve. We should give everyone grace, and I can't imagine someone would try to use our son's death to score political points." –first lady Jill Biden, in a campaign post on X that included a letter with her further thoughts about what she branded "inaccurate and personal political attacks about Joe"
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"I am a little puzzled why the Special Counsel chose to make statements that he had no business making… The President was cleared of wrongdoing, and he, unlike Donald Trump, was completely cooperative with respect to the seriousness of his retention of classified information." —Rep. Jim Himes via MSNBC
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"[We must get our] best archivists and librarians together to figure out a way that we can tag material more quickly and prevent it from negligent mishandling, the kind we had from Mike Pence and Joe Biden. But that is an ocean away from Donald Trump, who deliberately pilfered hundreds of top secret, classified government documents and then refused to return them and then hid them all over his house. This Republican Special Counsel said Joe Biden had been completely forthcoming and cooperative, and they're not brining any criminal charges against him. He did take some gratuitous slaps at Joe Biden because of his age. A lot of these age-discriminatory and age-insulting remarks are getting tiresome. All we need from a special prosecutor is to decide whether there were any legal grounds to move forward, he said there's not." —Rep. Jamie Raskin via CNN
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"The special counsel decided not to bring charges against Biden because they believe he has age related dementia" —Sen. Marco Rubio
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"The Special Counsel's report and Biden's embarrassing press conference last night make clear: He should either resign as unfit or face criminal prosecution. Can't have it both ways" —Sen. Josh Hawley
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"That's completely extraneous and unnecessary delivered by a Republican trying to make a political statement that has no place in this special counsel's report… There simply wasn't evidence that he knowingly and intentionally held classified information with any intent to distribute it. Juxtapose that to Donald Trump, who went to such great lengths to obstruct the archives and then the FBI. He was charged with obstruction of justice, which demonstrates a clear knowledge and intent." —Rep. Dan Goldman via CNN
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"The Special Counsel's report exposing that Joe Biden's mental decline is so severe that he cannot stand trial means he is unfit for office. We must demand either the 25th amendment be invoked or impeachment." —Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
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"As the Supreme Court considers whether Donald Trump is an insurrectionist. And the Special Counsel considers President Biden too forgetful to prosecute. Just consider how great it's going to feel with a new generation of leadership next January. Change is coming!" —Rep. Dean Phillips
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"The Special Counsel revealed:
-Biden willfully disclosed classified info
-His actions risked national security
-They won't hold him accountable since his memory has 'significant limitations'
Bottom Line: He's unfit for the presidency — and there's a two-tiered justice system." —Rep. Steve Scalise
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"An elderly man with a poor memory should not be our nation's leader and commander in chief. If Democrats think he's well enough to serve as president, then he's well enough to be held accountable for things he did after he was vice president." —Rep. Tim Burchett
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"Let's be clear: the special counsel completely exonerated President Biden, in clear contrast with Donald Trump, who has rightly been charged with obstruction and other crimes. I know President Biden. He is sharp and focused on the big issues. Donald Trump is not. Period." –Rep. Robert Garcia
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"A jury wouldn't convict [Joe Biden] because he cooperated and never tried to mislead them… He never did the stuff that the guy with orange face down at the golf club did." —Former Sen. Claire McCaskill
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"He does not have the normal strength to go out there and campaign, you know, to do rally after rally and conversation after conversation, and that's going to be difficult on the campaign trail." —Rep. Adam Smith
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"The special counsel describing Biden as, 'a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,' does not clear him of wrong doing — and certainly does not inspire confidence in the leader of the free world." —Rep. Bob Good
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"Both Biden and Trump have gaffes. Both are up there in years. But only one of them says that he would give Carte Blanche to Putin. Think about that." —Joy Behar on X
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"There are some people who are old at fifty! But President Biden has more experience, empathy, and intelligence in his pinky than Trump has in his whole body. Trump was a trust fund realtor who went bankrupt six times and then became a game show host. Biden has decades of knowledge from his public service." –Barbra Streisand, on X
