The report, which spanned 345 pages, concluded that a jury would be unlikely to convict Mr. Biden, viewing him as a "well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory." This statement, buried within the extensive report, was met with delight from Republicans and sparked outrage among the President and his allies, despite the fact that Hur had cleared the President of any criminal wrongdoing.
A more comprehensive understanding of the report can be gleaned from the transcript of Hur's interview with Mr. Biden in October, which was recently reviewed by CBS News. The transcript reveals a five-hour conversation between Hur and the President, characterized by professionalism, politeness, and occasional humor.
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According to the transcript, President Biden claimed to be largely ignorant of how classified government records from his long-standing career in public service ended up in his private residences and office. In response to Hur's questions, the President provided his "best recollection," acknowledging that some of the events in question had taken place years ago. In a light-hearted moment, Mr. Biden joked about his age, stating, "I'm a young man, so it's not a problem."
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However, the President's memory did prove to be a point of contention. Hur's report noted that Mr. Biden, then 80, struggled to recall the date of his son Beau's death from brain cancer. This observation incensed the President, who later told the press, "How in the hell dare he raise that. Frankly, when I was asked the question, I thought to myself it wasn't any of their damn business."
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The transcript of Hur's interview with Mr. Biden shows the President struggling to recall the exact year of his son's death, although he correctly identified the month and date. Similar lapses in memory occurred throughout the interview, with Mr. Biden misstating the year of former President Donald Trump's election and questioning the year his own vice presidency ended. He also confused Iraq and Afghanistan for Iran and twice failed to recall the phrase "fax machine." These missteps are not uncommon for Mr. Biden, who has publicly struggled with names and dates for years.
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Hur is set to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. His role at the Justice Department concluded with the filing of his report in early February, which determined that "the evidence does not establish Mr. Biden's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."
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According to Mr. Biden, he had little involvement in the packing and moving of his offices, a task largely left to his staff. He told Hur, "I didn't pay any attention to how they packed it up," referring to his move from the Naval Observatory in early 2017. He added that he had "no idea" which files were in the West Wing office and allowed his staff to decide where things would go.
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Over two days in October last year, Mr. Biden and a team of lawyers sat for interviews with special counsel Hur and his investigators in the White House Map Room. Hur led the questioning, probing the President on how his vice presidential residence and offices were packed in 2017 and how the material was transported and eventually stored at his homes in Virginia and Delaware.
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Documents marked classified were found in Biden's Wilmington, Delaware, garage and home office. Biden said some were dropped in his driveway after he moved out of his Virginia rental home and the Penn Biden Center office space in Washington, D.C.
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Hur asked whether boxes shown in a photo of his garage corresponded to the boxes left in the driveway. "I have no goddamn idea," Biden said.
Mr. Biden joked with Hur about his habit of tossing decades' worth of papers, photos and memorabilia in filing cabinets and never looking at them again. Notebooks containing classified material were stashed haphazardly in his Wilmington home. "I wish I could say I was more organized," Mr. Biden admits, but says he was unaware they contained anything restricted.
"If I had written notes in my book, they're my notes and my property," Mr. Biden told Hur. They are mine…and every President before me has done the same exact thing."
The interview, conducted on Oct. 8 and 9, came immediately following the Hamas attack on Israel, which Hur acknowledged. "I know there are a lot of other things in the world going on that demand your attention," Hur said.
Mr. Biden began the second day of the interview with a clarification of his comments from day one: "I didn't keep anything that wasn't — [that] I thought was classified."
Hur asks Mr. Biden specifically about a statement he made to Mark Zwonitzer, the ghostwriter assisting with his memoir. Investigators recovered a recording of Mr. Biden telling Zwonitzer in 2017, he "just found all the classified stuff downstairs."
Mr. Biden said he had no memory of that comment which was made in reference to a 2009 memo he had written to then-President Barack Obama regarding Afghanistan. An original copy of that memo, which contained classified information, was found in Mr. Biden's garage.
"I had no purpose for [keeping classified documents], and I think it would be inappropriate for me to keep clearly classified documents….I had no authority to have them," after leaving the vice presidency, Biden said, unaware that he had retained the handwritten memo.
The President, over the course of his interview, also goes on lengthy digressions about trips he's taken abroad, a case he handled in private practice when he was just out of law school, electric cars and eulogies he's delivered over the years. They are some of the same stories he tells on the stump.
During a tale about why he never seriously invested in the stock market as a senator, Biden replied, "The thing I valued most my whole life — my reputation and integrity."
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