The bombshell-filled final report on President Biden's mishandling of classified documents revealed, among other things, that the commander-in-chief failed to remember key events in his life during an interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur — and now the American people are set to learn even more about that interview.
On March 12, Hur will appear before the House Judiciary Committee led by Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) for public testimony about his investigation into the president's improper storage of classified material, the interview with Biden, and more. It is expected that, like other hearings dealing with investigations of the president, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) will also be participating when Hur appears next month.
Democrats who, led by the president and his White House team, have derided portions of Hur's report as "gratuitous" and inaccurate while insisting its conclusion that no charges should be brought is correct, are almost certain to launch one of their trademark smear campaigns. But they shouldn't undermine Hur too much, given he granted the preferred outcome for Biden by deeming him unworthy of indictment for keeping classified documents in a number of locations including his Delaware garage and a post-VP office on Capitol Hill.
Across the aisle, Republicans are likely to seek more information about Biden's inability to remember when he served as vice president to Barack Obama or when his son died — along with the special counsel's conclusion that Biden is "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory" that a jury would be unlikely to convict.
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Despite some Democrats suggesting that Hur's appearance on Capitol Hill is a continuation of some sort of unwarranted attack on Biden, special counsels routinely testify before relevant committees after releasing their final reports. John Durham, who investigated the origins of the Russia collusion hoax, and Robert Mueller, who led the probe of alleged cooperation between Russia and Trump's 2016 campaign, are two such counsels who went to the hill to answer questions after their investigations concluded.
Previously, Jordan, Comer, and Jason Smith, who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, requested U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland turn over the transcript from Biden's October interview with Hur. So far, that request has proved fruitless.
In White House briefings since Hur's final report was released last week, Biden's press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and other West Wing aides have refused to call for or say they want all or parts of the transcript from the president's interview with Hur released. But that hasn't stopped them from saying the report's characterization of Biden's mental state is incorrect while insisting Biden did nothing wrong that rises to the level of necessitating prosecution.
Part of the reason the White House may be reticent to have more from Biden's interview with Hur and his team made public could be the revelation that it was Biden, not Hur, who brought up the death of Beau Biden — after Biden lashed out at Hur and claimed the special counsel raised the matter during a last-minute address by Biden thrown together the night Hur's report was released.
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