White House Bristles At ‘Inaccurate and Inappropriate’ Comments In Brutal DOJ Report

AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

The White House on Thursday reacted to Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report with a mix of praise for the DOJ’s decision not to indict President Joe Biden for retaining classified documents and scorn at the report’s blistering details about Biden’s mental state.

“We are pleased that this investigation has concluded and that the Special Counsel found ‘no criminal charges are warranted in this matter,’ even if the President were out of office and a private citizen,” began the statement from Special Counsel to the President Richard Sauber.

“As the Special Counsel report recognizes, the President fully cooperated from day one. His team promptly self-reported the classified documents that were found to ensure that these documents were immediately returned to the government because the President knows that’s where they belong. Not only was there no obstruction, the President’s cooperation throughout this 15-month investigation has been extraordinary,” the statement continued, adding:

The simple truth is President Biden takes classified information seriously and strives to protect it. He has spent decades at the highest levels of government defending and advancing America’s national security and foreign policy interests and protecting her secrets.

As the Special Counsel report acknowledges, mistakes when packing documents at the end of an Administration or when Members of Congress leave office are unfortunately a common occurrence. It’s happened with every Administration, Republican and Democrat, for the past 50 years. Now that this investigation has concluded, President Biden plans to take new, substantive action to help prevent such mistakes in the future and will announce it soon.

The statement ended by acknowledging the report calling Biden “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

“We disagree with a number of inaccurate and inappropriate comments in the Special Counsel’s report. Nonetheless, the most important decision the Special Counsel made—that no charges are warranted—is firmly based on the facts and evidence,” concluded the statement.

The report also detailed how Biden “did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended (‘if it was 2013 – when did I stop being Vice President?’), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began (‘in 2009, am I still Vice President?’).”