Special counsel Hur testifies about his Biden documents investigation

Special counsel Robert Hur testified before a House committee on Biden’s handling of classified documents.

ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:

For more than four hours today, former special counsel Robert Hur testified before congressional lawmakers. Hur defended his investigation into President Biden’s handling of classified information and his decision not to pursue criminal charges. He also pushed back against criticism of his characterization of Biden’s age and memory. NPR justice correspondent Ryan Lucas and NPR’s senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith are with us now to discuss.

Ryan, let’s start with you. This was the first time Hur has spoken publicly since his final report on the investigation that was released last month. What did he say?

RYAN LUCAS, BYLINE: Right. Well, Hur’s report set off a bit of a political firestorm – not because he declined to bring charges against Biden, but instead because of his characterization of the president as a – and I quote here – “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

SCHMITZ: Right.

LUCAS: In his opening statement, Hur tackled that head-on. He said he knew that any decision he made would come under intense scrutiny since he was investigating a sitting president. And so he said he had to explain in detail his thought process – his analysis as to why, in this instance, he decided charges were unwarranted. He said he had to do so so that his decision would be credible. And so he said that’s what he did. He defended his choice of words about President Biden’s memory. He said it was necessary and accurate and fair. Here’s a bit of what he said.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ROBERT HUR: Most importantly, what I wrote is what I believe the evidence shows and what I expect jurors would perceive and believe. I did not sanitize my explanation, nor did I disparage the president unfairly.

SCHMITZ: Now I want to turn to you, Tam. Hur interviewed Biden for more than five…