Republicans are claiming President Biden is unfit for office and that his Department of Justice is operating on a double standard over a new report on his handling of classified documents.
Republicans slammed the report by Special Counsel Robert Hur, released on Thursday, which “uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen.”
GOP lawmakers seized on Hur’s descriptions of Biden’s fragility and advanced age, including an instance when he had trouble recalling the year of his son’s death, as well as Hur’s decision not to charge Biden.
“Special Counsel Hur said Biden is a ‘well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.’ His present mental and physical condition should preclude him from being the President of the United States,” Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., wrote on X.
SPECIAL COUNSEL CALLS BIDEN ‘SYMPATHETIC, WELL-MEANING, ELDERLY MAN WITH A POOR MEMORY,’ BRINGS NO CHARGES
Biden ally Rep. Jerry Nadler and GOP Sen. Josh Hawley are just two of the lawmakers reacting to Special Counsel Robert Hurs report on President Biden (Getty)
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, accused the federal government of operating on a double-standard of justice over Biden’s lack of recommended charges.
“Today’s report from Robert Hur tells us two things: There’s a double standard of justice in this country. And Joe Biden isn’t fit for office,” Jordan said.
Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, similarly wrote on X, “The Special Counsel found Biden had ‘uncovered evidence that Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after he was VP when he was a private citizen.’ But will not charge him! The deep state protects their own.”
Meanwhile, Biden ally Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, pointed out the distinction that Special Counsel Robert Hur made between the parallel investigations into Biden and former President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents.
“MAGA Republicans will no doubt now call to investigate the investigators—it’s their favorite move—but the Hur report effectively ends the discussion. President Biden cooperated fully with the Special Counsel and redacted no portion of the Special Counsel’s report. Unlike Trump, President Biden has nothing to hide,” Nadler said. “If Trump had cooperated with the Department of Justice—instead of lying to investigators, again and again—he might have avoided at least some of the 91 criminal charges currently pending against him.”
NO CHARGES FOR BIDEN AFTER SPECIAL COUNSEL PROBE INTO IMPROPER HANDLING OF CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS
U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert Hur was elevated to special counsel to investigate Biden (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Republican Senators quickly blasted the DOJ for the purported double standard between Biden’s special counsel ruling compared to special counsel Jack Smith’s probe into President Donald Trump. Trump pleaded not guilty to all 37 felony charges out of Smith’s probe.
“The special counsel report confirms that Biden ‘willfully retained and disclosed classified materials’ for years before he entered the White House,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., posted to X on Thursday. “Meanwhile, Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home was raided by the FBI and he’s facing a weaponized DOJ. A clear two-tiered system of justice.”
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital in an interview Thursday that the report “is gonna really fuel concerns that there’s two tiers of justice.”
“Joe Biden literally had classified documents in an unlocked garage that Hunter Biden, who’s probably compromised, was living in,” he said. “So I think that, you know, without getting the specific facts of the case that certainly I think the public would tell that you’ve got two tiers of justice here, which is very concerning.”
COMER DEMANDS ANSWERS ON WHETHER BIDEN CLASSIFIED RECORDS MENTION COUNTRIES RELATED TO FAMILY BUSINESS DEALS
President Biden is skipping the Super Bowl Sunday interview for the second straight year. (Screenshot/Biden speech)
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., wrote on X: “President Biden mishandled classified documents for years, storing them in the garage of his Delaware home, and yet, no charges are expected. Tennesseans and Americans are fed up with the two tiers of justice that has become the status quo of this administration.”
In response to a section of the Hur report which described Biden’s memory “to have significant limitations,” including his time in office as Vice President in the Obama administration, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said “Biden doesn’t remember his time as VP? But somehow he’s qualified to be President for another 4 years?”
The National Senatorial Republican Committee, the upper chamber’s prominent campaign fundraising group, said: “Joe Biden is unfit to be president.”
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Hur had decided not to charge Biden despite finding he “willfully retained and disclosed classified materials.” In his report, Hur, who was not in charge of Trump’s classified documents case, wrote of the former president: “Most notably, after being given multiple chances to return classified documents and avoid prosecution, Mr. Trump allegedly did the opposite.”