The Justice Department special counsel’s Thursday report where it declined to charge President Joe Biden for mishandling classified information included some unflattering descriptions of Biden memory, and now Republicans are likely to use that report to argue he's unfit for the presidency, Politico reported.
The report, prepared by Special Counsel Robert Hur, found evidence that Biden “willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency,” but didn’t “establish Mr. Biden’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Republicans seized on the report's contention that Biden is "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."
“Based on our direct interactions with and observations of him, he is someone for whom many jurors will want to identify reasonable doubt," the report stated. "It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him — by then a former president well into his eighties — of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness.”
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Hur pointed to Biden’s 2017 conversations with ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer, which the Special Counsel described as “painfully slow, with Mr. Biden struggling to remember events and straining at times to read and relay his own notebook entries.”
“In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden’s memory was worse,” Hur wrote.
Unsurprisingly, Republicans highlighted the report's comments on Biden's memory.
“If you’re too senile to stand trial, then you’re too senile to be president. Joe Biden is unfit to lead this nation,” Alex Pfeiffer, communications director for the pro-Trump super PAC Make America Great Again Inc., said in a statement.
"Damn dude this is madness. I thought [White House reporter Matt Viser] was joking, but no -- the Department of Justice actually concluded that Biden was too old and feebleminded to commit a crime," X user @jarvis_best wrote in a post.
"So Joe Biden is old & cognitively impaired (8 yrs ago) according to special prosecutor Hur, that’s why he won’t be charged for leaving classified documents all over the place," wrote Donald Trump Jr. "However, he’s still 100% ok to lead the free world & hold the nuclear football! Totally makes sense!"
But according to Bloomberg columnist Matthew Yglesias, the Special Counsel's commentary in the report was "f***ing bullsh**."
"You appoint a Republican special counsel to investigate. He investigates. His investigation does not reveal a crime. So instead of saying 'all good!' he goes off and does partisan political hits?" Yglesias wrote. The damaging hit on Biden comes in the context of speculating that Biden would offer 'I’m too old and my memory is bad' as a defense at trial. But of course he wouldn’t! He’s the president of the United States! Bring the case if you have the evidence."
Legal commentator Bradley P. Moss said that the more he thinks about the report, "the more annoyed I am with how poorly written this thing is."
"He got the legal conclusion right, let me be clear. But his analysis is totally wrong. Proving Biden's intent would in no way hinge on Biden's memory (Biden wouldn't testify anyway)," Moss wrote.
Political commentator Joe Walsh's analysis had a slightly more centrist take.
"All three are true: 1. The Special Counsel went out of his way to emphasize & attack Biden’s memory and age. 2. Everyone on social media will overreact to and get super partisan with this report. 2. Biden’s age IS an issue, a BIG issue, and ONLY Biden can address it & diffuse it. Only Biden. And he MUST do that if he wants to win." he wrote Thursday.
