Republican Reads Robert Hur the Riot Act Over ‘Toxic’ Decision Not to Charge Biden: ‘Unprecedented Assault on Our Democracy’
Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) read former Special Counsel Robert Hur the Riot Act over his decision not to bring criminal charges against President Joe Biden over his improper retention of classified materials during a House Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday.
At the end of his investigation into Biden, Hur concluded that while Biden should not have taken or held onto the materials that he did, the evidence did not warrant an indictment. To justify this decision, Hur cited Biden’s cooperation with the investigation — comparing it favorably to Donald Trump’s refusal to hand over classified materials — as well as Biden’s advanced age and “poor memory.”
McClintock expressed more than a little frustration with Hur over his decision during their exchange.
“Mr. Hur, I first want to get this straight: Is it now okay if I take home top secret documents, store them in my garage and read portions of them to friends or associates?” he asked to start the conversation.
Hur replied that he wouldn’t “recommend it,” and objected to answering hypotheticals, prompting McClintock to argue that Hur had established that it was “exculpatory” to do so if the subject of such an investigation “simply told you ‘Hey, I’m getting old, I don’t remember stuff the way I used to.'”
“Congressman, I’m not here to get into hypotheticals. I’m here to talk about the facts and the work that I did,” said Hur.
“It was not a hypothetical, this is the issue at hand!” shot back McClintock. “You correctly noted in your report that former presidents and other senior officials have been given wide latitude in their possession of classified information. And I believe your decision to not to prosecute Biden for the same offense is consistent with that precedent. But the the problem is that precedent changed with the administration’s decision to prosecute Donald Trump.”
He continued:
And the irony is that as president, Trump had full discretion over handling classified material and full discretion in deciding which records to retain. As a senator or vice president, Joe Biden didn’t have that. So now we get to this glaring double standard. I think it would be toxic to the rule of law on its face if it was just two ordinary citizens. But the fact that the only person being prosecuted for this offense happens to be the president’s political opponent makes this an unprecedented assault on our democracy. This is the worst we could expect from a banana republic and I wonder how you square this.
Hur noted that he had compared the two cases in his report and wouldn’t comment further.
Later, McClintock pressed Hur on his establishment of the “doctrine” that old age and a poor memory can insulate officials from prosecution, calling it “frightening.”
“Congressman, my intent is certainly not to establish any sort of doctrine. I had a particular task, I have a particular set of evidence to consider and make a judgment with respect to one particular set of evidence, and that is what I did,” said Hur in his own defense.
“Well Mr. Hur, here’s here’s the fine point of the matter. The foundation of our justice system is equal justice under law. That’s what give the law its respect and its legitimacy. And without it, the law is simply force devoid of any moral authority,” concluded McClintock. “Justice is depicted as blindfolded for this very reason! It doesn’t matter who comes before her, all are treated equally. You destroy this foundation and the rule of law becomes a sick mockery. It becomes a weapon to wield against political rivals and a tool of despotism. And I am desperately afraid that this decision of the Department of Justice is now crossed a very bright line.”
Watch above via Fox News.
