Original title: US President Biden gets rid of the “Documents Gate” investigation and “memory” becomes the focus
Robert Hull, the special prosecutor responsible for investigating the “documents scandal” of US President Joseph Biden, released a report on the 8th, saying that due to insufficient evidence and other factors, Biden will not face charges for improperly handling confidential documents.
Although he was able to “get away” at the legal level, Biden found himself in another embarrassing situation due to the report. The report specifically mentioned that the 81-year-old president has “poor memory” and cannot remember many things. Some Republicans took this to claim that it showed Biden was “unfit” to serve as president.
Memory is “limited”
In the 388-page report, Hull detailed how Biden mishandled classified documents. He wrote that FBI agents found the materials “in the garage, office and basement study of Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware,” including classified documents related to Afghanistan military and foreign policy, including some Marked with the highest level of Top Secret or Sensitive Information.
△ Robert Hull, the special prosecutor responsible for investigating the “documents” of US President Joseph Biden
But Hull said that after a 15-month investigation, he chose not to file criminal charges against Biden because Biden was “cooperative and difficult to convict.” In addition to listing factors such as insufficient evidence, Hull also mentioned that “poor memory” may be a reason why Biden cannot be convicted.
Hull said in the report that when Biden was questioned, his memory was “severely limited” and he forgot the start and end of his term as vice president in the administration of former President Barack Obama, and even forgot his eldest son, Delaware In what year did former Attorney General Beau Biden die of illness?
“We also considered that (if) facing trial, Biden might appear to the jury as a compassionate, well-intentioned old man with poor memory, as we did when we questioned him.” The report stated that this may be Some jurors were led to believe that Biden did not intentionally retain the documents but may have forgotten they existed.
U.S. media disclosed on January 9 last year that Biden’s personal lawyer discovered a batch of confidential documents while cleaning out an office used by Biden at the Pennsylvania Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, a Washington think tank, on November 2, 2022. The White House and Biden confirmed the report the next day. Biden used this office from the time he stepped down as vice president in 2017 until he began running for president in 2019. Biden also admitted that there are also classified documents in his residence.
The Presidential Records Act of the United States stipulates that all documents of the President and Vice President must be retained and handed over to the National Archives and Records Administration when they leave office. The White House and Biden emphasized at the time that the “small number” of classified documents stored in his former office and home were “locked” and that they immediately notified the National Archives and Records Administration or the Department of Justice after they were discovered, and promptly handed over the documents and Cooperate with the Department of Justice’s investigation.
Opponent sarcasm
House Republican Speaker Mike Johnson and other top Republicans called Hull’s report “deeply disturbing,” AFP reported. “A person who cannot be held accountable for mishandling classified information is certainly unfit” to serve as president, they said in a statement.
Biden is the oldest sitting president in the history of the United States. He is currently running for re-election and may face the former president, Republican Donald Trump, again when voting in the presidential election in November this year. Trump supporters used the report to highlight concerns about Biden’s age.
“If you’re too old to stand trial, you can’t be president,” said Alex Pfeiffer, spokesman for the Trump Make America Great Again committee.
It is worth mentioning that Trump is involved in another “document scandal”. In 2022, he was found to have stored a large number of government documents at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, hundreds of which were classified. As a result, he was charged in Florida with improperly handling confidential documents when he left office and attempting to obstruct the recovery of related documents. Trump denied the accusation last June and is scheduled to go on trial in May this year.
Hull pointed out that there are obvious differences between Biden and Trump’s “document door”. “Biden, by contrast, submitted classified documents to the National Archives and Records Administration and the Department of Justice, agreed to searches of multiple locations, including his home, voluntarily submitted to interviews and otherwise cooperated with the investigation.”
△ On the 8th local time, Biden delivered a speech at the White House.
When Biden delivered a speech at the White House on the 8th, he accused Hull of mentioning the death of his son in the report, angrily saying “how dare he say that” and insisting that his “memory is very good”, regarding the accusation that he deliberately retained confidential materials. Totally wrong.”
Biden’s personal lawyer Bob Ball said: “It was clear from the outset that there was no basis for criminal charges.” Ball and White House counsel Richard Sober also said in a letter to Hull, The report mentioned that Biden’s memory was “totally redundant.”
However, Biden made another slip of the tongue when accepting questions from media reporters after speaking at the White House, calling Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi the “President of Mexico.”
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2024-02-09 09:20:00
