Special Counsel Robert Hur’s testimony before Congress on Tuesday devolved into a heated exchange when one Democrat accused him of trying to help former President Donald Trump win this year’s presidential election by targeting President Biden’s memory in his report released last month.
Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga. – who was widely mocked for claiming in 2010 that a U.S. military buildup on Guam would cause the island to capsize – used his allotted time during the hearing to take jabs at the Federalist Society and suggested Hur would gain personally from a Trump victory in November.
Johnson began his questioning by detailing Hur’s career track and noting he worked for multiple “known” members of the Federalist Society, a conservative and libertarian-leaning constitutional originalist group, before making his accusations pertaining to Trump.
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Rep. Hank Johnson and Special Counsel Robert Hur (Getty Images)
“Despite clearing President Biden from being prosecuted, you used your report to trash and smear President Biden because he said in response to questions over a five-hour interview that he didn’t recall how he got the documents,” Johnson said.
Johnson went on to accuse Hur of knowing his report would “play into the Republicans’ narrative” concerning Biden’s age, and that he knew they would “expand upon that narrative” by asking him to testify before the committee that day.
“Congressman, I reject the suggestions that you have just made. That is not what happened. Partisan politics played no part whatsoever in my work. My work was independent and fair,” Hur hit back, speaking over Johnson as he attempted to interrupt Hur’s response.
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Rep. Hank Johnson speaks at a press conference on July 18, 2022 in Washington, D.C. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Take Back the Court Action Fund)
Johnson then demanded to know if Hur was a member of the Federalist Society, to which Hur said he was not.
“But you are a Republican, though, aren’t you? Johnson asked.
“I am a registered Republican,” Hur answered.
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Former President Trump and President Biden (Getty Images)
“And you’re doing everything you can do to get President Trump re-elected so that you can get appointed as a federal judge, or perhaps to another position in the Department of Justice. Isn’t that correct?” Johnson asked, drawing a laugh from Hur.
“Congressman, I have no such aspirations, I can assure you. And I can tell you that partisan politics had no place whatsoever in my work. It had no place in any of the investigative steps that I took, it had no place in the decision that I made, and it had no place in a single word of my report,” Hur responded.