President Joe Biden made an angry response to a report that described him as being an “elderly man with poor memory”, despite the report clearing him of potential charges for removing classified documents. Image source: Defense Visual Information Distribution Service.
According to a US prosecutor report, President Joe Biden (81) will not face charges for removing classified government documents in 2017 when his term as vice president ended.
Following a 15-month investigation, Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report said that criminal charges would not be brought against Biden due to the President’s cooperation with the investigation and the difficulty to bring a conviction.
Hur also described Biden as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory”.
The report notes that Biden’s memory was “severely limited” when he was interviewed by members of the prosecution team, appearing to forget the years he began and ended his vice presidency under President Barack Obama.
The investigation’s conclusion confirms that Biden is not at risk of a prison sentence for mishandling sensitive government documents — unlike his main political rival, former president Donald Trump, who is still being investigated for similar reasons.
At a press conference in response to Hur’s report, Biden appeared infuriated despite being declared innocent, becoming visibly angry when discussing how the prosecution had questioned whether Biden could remember when his son Beau had died, and firmly stating that his “memory was fine.”
“I know what the hell I am doing. I am president and I have put this country back on its feet,” said Biden.
However, at one point during his speech, he appeared to confuse the presidents of Egypt and Mexico when he referred to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as being from Mexico.
According to Hur’s report, one of the reasons it would be difficult to convict Biden was that Hur did not believe a jury would hold Biden responsible due to his mental state.
“It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him — by then a former president well into his 80s — of a serious felony that requires a mental state of wilfulness,” Hur states in the report.
The report’s description of Biden could be a major impediment to his chance to win the US presidential election in November, due to the potential damage to his image.
