White House Lawyers Blame Timing of Special Counsel’s Interview for Biden’s ‘Poor Memory’

Following Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report, which revealed a serious decline in President Joe Biden’s mental acuity, White House lawyers are blaming the president’s preoccupation with Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel for Biden’s “significantly limited” memory, given that Hur’s interview was conducted on October 8, while the president was engaged in the Middle East events.

While highlighting evidence of America’s oldest ever president’s “willfully” mishandling of classified documents, Special Counsel Hur’s report details Biden’s significant cognitive decline — perhaps more politically damning than his handling of classified materials. The report, released Thursday, concludes that prosecution is unlikely due to the challenges of proving willful intent beyond a reasonable doubt and Biden’s sympathetic public image. 

However, in a post from Ian Sams following the release of the Special Council’s report, the White House spokesman for oversight and investigations calls attention to a section at the end of the report where the president’s lawyers attempt to rebut the Special Council’s assertion, slamming the “inappropriate criticisms of the President’s memory,” which they deem “inaccurate, gratuitous, and wrong.”

Everyone should look at page 384 (I know it’s a lot to scroll down)

The inappropriate criticisms of the President’s memory are inaccurate, gratuitous, and wrong. We told the Special Counsel this. pic.twitter.com/Cr6VifBMnv

— Ian Sams (@IanSams46) February 8, 2024

In addition, White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates cited the section, highlighting the part by the president’s defense counsel responding to the Special Council’s findings, stating, “We do not believe that the report’s treatment of President Biden’s memory is accurate or appropriate. The report uses highly prejudicial language to describe a commonplace occurrence among witnesses: a lack of recall of years-old events.”

Letter from Sauber and Bauer to Hur: "We do not believe that the report's treatment of President Biden's memory is accurate or appropriate. The report uses highly prejudicial language to describe a commonplace occurrence among witnesses: a lack ofrecall of years-old events." pic.twitter.com/H5VtckC5ux

— Andrew Bates (@AndrewJBates46) February 8, 2024

The White House lawyers’ letter to the Special Counsel in response, claims that the report’s treatment of President Biden’s memory are both inaccurate and inappropriate and that the “highly prejudicial language” contained in it “have no place in a Department of Justice report.”

On the contrary, the president’s attorneys state the interview demonstrates that Biden “did well” in answering the questions posed about past events. 

“This is especially true under the circumstances, which you do not mention in your report, that his interview began the day after the October 7 attacks on Israel. In the lead up to the interview, the President was conducting calls with heads of state, Cabinet members, members of Congress, and meeting repeatedly with his national security team,” the rebuttal letter states, noting that the Special Counsel even “thanked” the president for his time amid the busy global events.

The letter continued:

Subsequently, far from being “hazy,” Report at 208, the President proceeded to provide often detailed recollections across a wide range of questions, from staff management of paper flow in the West Wing to the events surrounding the creation of the 2009 memorandum on the Afghanistan surge. He engaged at length on theories you offered about the way materials were packed and moved during the transition out of the vice presidency and between residences. He pointed to flaws in the assumptions behind specific lines of questioning.

Hur’s report is full of examples and assessments that the president’s mental faculties and memory have deteriorated, noting that “Mr. Biden’s memory also appeared to have significant limitations.”

The report also shockingly states that he was unable to remember when his son Beau passed away — “even within several years,” in addition to the exact time he served as vice president.

In response, Republican officials called to invoke the 25th Amendment, stating that “if ever there were a time to do so, now would be it,” while insisting that if the president “is not competent to stand trial, then he is certainly not competent to lead the free world.”

The matter comes as concerns about the 81-year-old’s age and mental fitness in an election year continue to increase, with questions about his cognitive acuity already making headlines for his having confused a world leader with a dead predecessor twice in the last week.

A May Yahoo News/YouGov poll revealed that a whopping 82 percent of Americans harbor concerns about Biden’s physical and mental health.