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House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) agreed with Fox News host Sean Hannity during a Friday interview that Attorney General Merrick Garland’s refusal to hand over a recorded interview to his committee between former special counsel Robert Hur and Joe Biden is akin to tipping the 2024 election scale in favor of the president.
In February, Hur released a report detailing his investigation into Biden’s possession of classified documents which he obtained during his time as a U.S. senator and vice president. Hur determined that to be a criminal act, but he declined to file charges because he reasoned that a jury likely would not convict Biden on account of his significant mental capacity decline.
Just the news noted at the time:
Hur’s 388-page report released Thursday may have spared Biden the spectacle of a criminal prosecution similar to that his Justice Department imposed on Donald Trump, but it delivered a devastating blow to the 46th president’s re-election hopes by going out of its way to explain criminal charges weren’t levied in part because jurors might see Biden as a dottering, forgetful old man incapable of criminal intent.
“Mr. Biden will likely present himself to the jury, as he did during his interview with our office, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” Hur wrote in explaining his rationale for refusing prosecution. “…It would be difficult to convince a jury they should convict him – by then a former president who will be at least well into his eighties – of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness.”
“Our investigation uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen,” the report concluded.
Hur added for good measure he believed Biden suffered from “diminished faculties in advancing age.”
In his interview with Hannity, Jordan lamented Garland’s refusal to turn over the recorded interview after Biden claimed executive privilege, which led to a House committee recommending on Friday to hold the AG in contempt of Congress.
“Now, didn’t the issue of — for example, you’re the chairman of a committee. Last time I checked, we have three coequal branches of government and your Branch of government, you’re a member of Congress, the legislative Branch, that you would have oversight over the executive Branch and that would be part of Congress’ role, correct?” Hannity asked to begin the segment.
“Sure is. One of our constitutional duties is to do oversight of the executive Branch and the agencies that fall under our jurisdiction, Homeland Security and, of course, the Department of Justice,” Jordan responded.
WATCH:
“All right, can you do then, Jim Jordan, congressman, can you explain to me, based on what you just said, how it is that Garland actually mentioned the political impact of the tape early on, when the request came in to turn the tape over and transcript over that they didn’t want to turn over, that it might have an impact on the election? Because withholding it, sounds to me like he is trying to tip the election or the scales of the election in favor of his boss, Joe Biden,” Hannity then said.
“Yeah, and you just played, they said Biden and the attorney general said they wanted to be independent and impartial. Okay. That’s what we are supposed to evaluate. That’s part of our oversight. What we do know is you’ve charged President Trump with a crime on the classified documents issue and you didn’t charge Joe Biden,” Jordan began.
“Are you really being impartial, particularly when on page one of Robert Hur, the special counsel’s report, he says Joe Biden knowingly kept, and Joe Biden knowingly disclosed classified information? On page 231 of his report, he said Joe Biden had strong motivations for ignoring classified procedures, he knew he was writing a book — a book for which he got paid an $8 million advance. So we have motive, an $8 million motive, we have the elements of the crime then, but Robert Hur says, ‘We’re not going to bring a charge, we won’t recommend charges because he is a forgetful, elderly gentleman.’ Okay, so give us all the evidence,” Jordan continued.’
“By the way, Joe Biden has already waived executive privilege when he released everything, including the transcript. We just want the best evidence so we can evaluate if, in fact, the Department of Justice is truly being independent and impartial, which is our job under the Constitution. That’s why we held him in contempt, and it passed out of the committee earlier today,” he added.
