By Ryan J. Reilly, Ken Dilanian and Megan Lebowitz -
NBC News
Special counsel Robert Hur has declined to prosecute President Joe Biden for his handling of classified documents, although he said the president's practices “present serious risks to national security,” adding that he portrayed himself as a “man "older with a bad memory", who would appear empathetic to a jury if he were put on trial for this reason.
“Our investigation uncovered evidence that the president withheld and voluntarily disclosed classified material after his vice presidency, when he was an ordinary citizen,” the report says of its more than year-long investigation, but the evidence “does not establish Biden's guilt further.” beyond a reasonable doubt."
President Joe Biden Kenny Holston / New York Times / Redux
About a month after leaving his post as vice president, in a recorded conversation with his ghostwriter in February 2017, Biden commented that he “just found all this classified material downstairs,” according to the report.
The president is believed to have been referring to classified documents about the 2009 troop surge in Afghanistan, which he himself opposed.
Biden's memory, according to the report, “was significantly limited” during his 2023 interviews with the special counsel.
Attorney General Merrick Garland placed Hur at the head of the investigation last year.
Hur was required to write a report on his conclusions at the end of his investigation.
The investigation began after classified documents, which appeared to be from the time of the Barack Obama Administration (in which Biden was vice president), were found at the Penn Biden Center and at Biden's home in Delaware.
Some of the documents found in his home appeared to be related
to his time as a senator
, Bauer stated in January 2023. The now president used the Penn Biden Center as his personal office after being Obama's vice president.
The White House reported that as soon as the records were identified with classified marks, they were handed over to authorities.
In addition, he also made it clear that Biden has cooperated with the investigation.
The imminent report will be released as former President Donald Trump awaits trial in Florida after being indicted on criminal charges related to his handling of classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago mansion.
More than 100 classified documents were found at the Florida club, including documents marked "Top Secret," according to the indictment filed in June.
Federal authorities later said in a superseding indictment that Trump focused on not allowing government officials to obtain the boxes containing the documents and viewed it as a scheme to obstruct the investigation.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.