Editor,
The banner headline on Friday’s paper was a question asked by President Joe Biden in response to Attorney General Merrick Garland’s release on Thursday of Special Counsel’s Robert K. Hur’s unredacted report on President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents recovered from his Delaware home and garage and Penn Biden Center office in Washington over a year ago.
“How in the hell dare he raise that?” asked Biden about the report, referring to the president’s inability to recollect when his late son Beau died during his interview with special counsel investigators in early October.
The first sentence of Friday’s AP article notes that the special counsel had found evidence that President Biden had “willfully retained and shared highly classified information when he was a private citizen.” The answer to Biden’s question explains in part why Hur “concluded that criminal charges were not warranted.”
In short, Biden’s “limited precision and recall” as to when his son died, when he was vice president, would have hindered the special counsel’s ability to convict Biden of the charges.
“We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” investigators wrote.
I think we owe Special Counsel Robert Hur a debt of gratitude for his thorough investigation and to Attorney General Merrick Garland for releasing Hur’s report unredacted and without comment.
Irvin Dawid
Burlingame
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(16) comments
The next time I commit a crime I will use this defense as well "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” . It is an atrocious defense and dangerous. But, according to the Left, Biden can do no wrong but an elderly man with poor memory should not be a President either.
It's not a "defense."
It's what the special counsel determined would prevent a conviction had he chosen to indict Biden for mishandling and disclosing classified documents.
Hey, Irwin, thanks for submitting an important LTE.
Hur's report may have altered the DNC's timetable for orchestrating Joe stepping aside and the appointment of a Democratic Party 2024 nominee... that appointment may now come before the convention in Chicago starting on August 19, 2024.
Joe's reaction at the press conference held to address his memory kinda validated the special counsel's conclusions about Joe's mental acuity. Jill's email over the past weekend did not really help much to refute Hur's claim that Joe's memory may be suspect. So, according to Jill, Joe measures his son's loss in grief not the passing of years. Yet, with as many times as Joe has mentioned his son's passing when consoling others on their personal losses, you would think when Beau tragically passed away would be more "top of mind" for Joe... at least within a year or two either way.
It doesn't look like Joe will undergo any sort of mental evaluation to put this issue to rest. Maybe he doesn't have to be evaluated. Search for some video of Joe in 2009 when he first became Vice President, then compare that video with video of Joe as President during the last year or so. It's not the same person. Do you really have to be a clinician to come to that conclusion? Probably not. Most of us have watched the mental decline of loved ones and know that the aging process can be unforgiving.
It's time for the left to stop deluding themselves and for the right to stop making a condition that Joe cannot control the punchline of jokes. Joe still deserves the respect we would show anyone else in his situation, and he deserves proper care for someone in his situation. The country deserves a chief executive that is not cognitively challenged.
Agreed!
Irwin - Is it a presumptuous defense?
Well, I really hadn't thought of it that way. I really was just reacting to how the DJ put the article on the front page with that banner headline showing Biden's angry reaction to being asked his son's death. [BTW, the Chronicle had the same AP article buried on pg. 11]
The fact that his memory "is what it is" is the reason he wasn't indicted!
Biden certainly is not using his 'condition' as a defense, but I see your point.
It's Hur that see's Biden's 'condition' as preventing a conviction.
To put it another way, Biden really should be thanking Hur for not being indicted. Of course, he won't do that. Instead, he and his allies are trying to take Hur down.
But I maintain that the American electorate owe both Hur and Garland a debt of gratitude for writing and releasing this report as it will help inform our vote in both the primary and general elections. Job well done!
And a big 'thank you' to the DJ for publishing my LTE, but mostly for Friday's paper, the front page AP article on this landmark special counsel report on a president, and how it was displayed.
It is a defense because "Joe Biden's mental deterioration and state of mind" is the supposed reason the DOJ chose to NOT to charge and prosecute Joe. Had Joe been level headed and able to think and remember things, supposedly he would have been charged.
This is the left's / Obama's way of getting Joe out of the way and since Joe is incompetent he should be put down, I mean relieved of his duties by using the 25th amendment so that someone even dummer (that's how Kamala spells dumber) can lead the United States.
Well said, Dirk. We have to wonder why there’s a double standard against our great President Trump. And then, there’s the fact that Biden (we assume) was of sound mind and body when he stole classified documents. We also have to wonder why, as you've noted, if Biden is an elderly man with a poor memory, he’s allowed to continue as a stolen election winner.
Re: "And then, there’s the fact that Biden (we assume) was of sound mind and body when he stole classified documents."
Must-read: Elie Honig in NY Mag': "The Real Biden Documents Scandal (It’s Not the Old-Man Stuff)," Feb. 16. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/real-biden-documents-scandal-is-not-old-man-stuff.html
...nor should a former president with ninety-one criminal charges, who tried to overturn a presidential election that he lost, who lies with impunity, mocks our military and is a traitor to our nation.
I agree! But don't expect them to understand that by supporting Trump at all cost, they are actually helping Putin with his dirty work.
Good grief regurgitate Jorg, back to the Russian collusion garbage? I guess this still means you believe in the Trump Russian collusion hoax that was orchestrated by Hillary & Adam Schiff even though an investigation proved is was 100% made up. Does this mean you also believe that Trump hired Russian ladies of the night workers to relieve themselves in a bed that Obama slept in.
FFGig - you seem to forget that these are charges, no convictions. Most if not all will be nullified by the Supreme Court, as they are bogus and designed to make his candidacy very difficult. Also, don't forget that over 70 million voters agree with him. You cannot ignore that even when the Democrat party cabal would want his favorable ratings to disappear. Instead, let's focus on Biden's dismal ratings.
Dirk, no convictions? Your memory issues are worse than your leader Trump. E. Jean Carroll has $83M to evidence in a conviction. Do you really think Trump will escape all 91 indictments pending? You also seem to ignore 81 M votes against Trump in the last general election and that Trump LOST. Forget about poll numbers. How about we focus on the issues? Oh, I forgot, Trump has no issues other than personal grievance on which to run.
And yet, FFGig, your and Jorg’s criticisms of our great President Trump pale in comparison to treasonous Biden, the Biden crime family, and Biden’s America Last policies. End of discussion. Next?
The law must be applied equally or it will corrupt our government,
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