When Special Counsel Robert Hur released his report on his investigation of Biden's mishandling of classified documents, people were shocked by Hur's statement that during the interviews Biden could not remember when he was Vice President. The White House accused Hur of lying, but the transcripts confirm Hur's report. I quote from the 10/8 transcript, where we see Biden could not remember when he stopped being Vice President:
MR. HUR: Okay. Do you have any idea where this material would ' ve been before it got moved into the garage?
PRESIDENT BIDEN: Well, if it was 2013 -- when did I stop being Vice President?
MS. COTTON: 2017.
(p. 146, 10/8 transcript, https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/uploadedfiles/doj-hjc-hur-0000033-0000191.pdf)
So Biden initially thought his vice presidency may have ended in 2013, but then he realized he wasn't certain, and so he had to ask when he stopped being Vice President. Unbelievable. Basic civics knowledge should have informed Biden that his vice presidential term ended in January 2017, since he was reelected in the 2012 election.
It gets worse.
In the second interview, the one on 10/9, Biden could not remember if he was "still" Vice President in 2009. I quote from the 10/9 transcript confirms this:
MR. KRICKEAUM : - - is that your -- I ' m asking actually. That ' s a question. Do you know that?
PRESIDENT BIDEN: Well, I ' m sure, I ' m sure there were. I don ' t know -- my problem was I never knew where any of the documents or boxes were specifically coming from or who packed them. Just did I get them delivered to me. And so this is -- I'm, at this stage, in 2009, am I still Vice President?
(p. 45, 10/9 transcript, https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/uploadedfiles/doj-hjc-hur-0000192-0000290.pdf)
So Biden wasn't sure if he was "still" Vice President in 2009. Good grief. He began his term as Vice President on January 20, 2009! Any halfway educated adult would know that the incoming Vice President begins his/her term in the third week of January after the election. But Biden wasn't sure if was "still" Vice President in 2009.
Hur did not lie or exaggerate one bit when he reported on the terrible state of Biden's memory. Let's read what Hur said on this issue in his report:
Mr. Biden's memory also appeared to have significant limitations-both at the time he spoke to Zwonitzer in 2017, as evidenced by their recorded conversations, and today, as evidenced by his recorded interview with our office. Mr. Biden's recorded conversations with Zwonitzer from 2017 are often painfully slow, with Mr. Eiden struggling to remember events and straining at times to read and relay his own notebook entries.
In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden's memory was worse. He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended ("if it was 2013 - when did I stop being Vice President?"), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began ("in 2009, am I still Vice President?"). He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died. And his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him. Among other things, he mistakenly said he "had a real difference" of opinion with General Karl Eikenberry, when, in fact, Eikenberry was an ally whom Mr. Eiden cited approvingly in his Thanksgiving memo to President Obama. (Special Counsel Hur's report, pp. 207-208, https://www.justice.gov/storage/report-from-special-counsel-robert-k-hur-february-2024.pdf)
MR. HUR: Okay. Do you have any idea where this material would ' ve been before it got moved into the garage?
PRESIDENT BIDEN: Well, if it was 2013 -- when did I stop being Vice President?
MS. COTTON: 2017.
(p. 146, 10/8 transcript, https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/uploadedfiles/doj-hjc-hur-0000033-0000191.pdf)
So Biden initially thought his vice presidency may have ended in 2013, but then he realized he wasn't certain, and so he had to ask when he stopped being Vice President. Unbelievable. Basic civics knowledge should have informed Biden that his vice presidential term ended in January 2017, since he was reelected in the 2012 election.
It gets worse.
In the second interview, the one on 10/9, Biden could not remember if he was "still" Vice President in 2009. I quote from the 10/9 transcript confirms this:
MR. KRICKEAUM : - - is that your -- I ' m asking actually. That ' s a question. Do you know that?
PRESIDENT BIDEN: Well, I ' m sure, I ' m sure there were. I don ' t know -- my problem was I never knew where any of the documents or boxes were specifically coming from or who packed them. Just did I get them delivered to me. And so this is -- I'm, at this stage, in 2009, am I still Vice President?
(p. 45, 10/9 transcript, https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/uploadedfiles/doj-hjc-hur-0000192-0000290.pdf)
So Biden wasn't sure if he was "still" Vice President in 2009. Good grief. He began his term as Vice President on January 20, 2009! Any halfway educated adult would know that the incoming Vice President begins his/her term in the third week of January after the election. But Biden wasn't sure if was "still" Vice President in 2009.
Hur did not lie or exaggerate one bit when he reported on the terrible state of Biden's memory. Let's read what Hur said on this issue in his report:
Mr. Biden's memory also appeared to have significant limitations-both at the time he spoke to Zwonitzer in 2017, as evidenced by their recorded conversations, and today, as evidenced by his recorded interview with our office. Mr. Biden's recorded conversations with Zwonitzer from 2017 are often painfully slow, with Mr. Eiden struggling to remember events and straining at times to read and relay his own notebook entries.
In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden's memory was worse. He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended ("if it was 2013 - when did I stop being Vice President?"), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began ("in 2009, am I still Vice President?"). He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died. And his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him. Among other things, he mistakenly said he "had a real difference" of opinion with General Karl Eikenberry, when, in fact, Eikenberry was an ally whom Mr. Eiden cited approvingly in his Thanksgiving memo to President Obama. (Special Counsel Hur's report, pp. 207-208, https://www.justice.gov/storage/report-from-special-counsel-robert-k-hur-february-2024.pdf)
