During Tuesday's House Judiciary Committee review of former Special Counsel Robert Hur's report of Democratic President Joe Biden's handling of government documents, Democrats turned the tables on their Republican counterparts.
With the report stating Biden committed no crimes, the GOP majority—led by Judiciary Committee Chair Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio—could only focus on a superfluous comment Republican supporter Hur injected that described Biden as being elderly and having a poor memory.
Jordan included a full airing of a seven-minute Biden press conference in his opening remarks.
The ranking Democratic committee member—Representative Jerry Nadler of New York— countered with a montage of some of former Republican President Donald Trump's embarrassing moments behind a microphone.
After the video, Representative Nadler stated of Trump:
"That is a man who is incapable of avoiding criminal liability, a man who is wholly unfit for office, and a man who—at the very least—ought to think twice before accusing others of cognitive decline."
In a setup for his own Trump supercut, California Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell questioned Hur on why interview transcripts showed a very different assessment of the POTUS' memory than what he included in his report.
Hur reportedly interviewed President Biden for five hours.
Representative Swalwell asked:
"You said to President Biden, 'You appear to have a photographic understanding and recall of the House'. Did you say that to President Biden?"
Hur responded:
"Those words do appear on Page 47 of the transcript."
Swalwell clarified:
"'Photographic' is what you said, is that right?"
Hur again cited the transcript from his interview with President Biden.
"That word does appear on Page 47 of the transcript."
Swalwell countered:
"Never appeared in your report, though. Is that correct? The word 'photographic'?"
Hur conceded he chose to omit his praise for Biden's cognitive sharpness from his final report.
"It does not appear in my report."
Representative Swalwell then said:
"I now want to show you and play a video of what is absolutely not photographic."
He then played more Trump gaffes not included in Representative Nadler's video.
In addition to Nadler and Swalwell, Pennsylvania Democrat Mary Gay Scanlon played a video compilation of Trump depositions.
The presumptive GOP 2024 presidential candidate couldn't recall many key facts.
Scanlon pointed out Trump claimed he didn't remember information 35 times during the Trump University lawsuit and 27 times in response to questions from special counsel Robert Mueller.
Trump, of course, had an explanation for all of the Democrats' video evidence.
Despite all the people who recall seeing the moments in real time and official court transcripts, Trump blamed deep fakes or AI.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote:
"The Hur Report was revealed today! A disaster for Biden, a two tiered standard of justice."
"Artificial Intelligence was used by them against me in their videos of me."
"Can’t do that Joe!"
@@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
Trump offered no proof—per usual—of his deep fake claim.
@KidsrfirstNet/X
As part of the hearing, Representative Swalwell also asked Hur to make a pledge.
As a witness testifying before Congress, Hur was under oath.
Swalwell provided a list of things that had changed for Trump since 2018 when Trump appointed Hur to the Department of Justice:
- impeachment number one
- impeachment number two
- indictment on classified documents case
- indictment for Stormy Daniels payoff
- Georgia indictment for election interference
- Washington DC indictment for election interference and insurrection incitement
- New York business fraud liability judgment
- sexual assault defamation liability judgment
Afterward, Swalwell stated to Hur:
"You want to be perceived, understandably, as credible, and so I want to first see if you will pledge to not accept an appointment from Donald Trump if he is elected again as President."
After some minor back and forth, Hur responded:
"I'm not here to testify today about what will happen in the future."
Many felt Hur's report's final wording deliberately promoted a GOP talking point about the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate.
Some believe it was designed to curry favor from Trump.
The actual report stated:
"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."
The report never said Biden has a poor memory, but rather that he might present himself "as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."
Like a grandfatherly vibe.
And Hur did include criticism of Trump when he compared his handling of documents versus Biden's.
Republicans still pounced on the phrase "elderly man with a poor memory" as though it was offered as an official diagnosis by a neurologist or psychiatrist rather than an opinion of a former U.S. Attorney appointed by the Trump administration.
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Hur as special counsel in January 2023 following Republican outcry of double standards and a DoJ witch hunt against Donald Trump after several former Presidents or Vice Presidents found improperly retained government documents in their possession.
The audits and inventories took place after Trump's retention of documents came to light. All parties immediately and voluntarily turned over all documents to the proper authorities.
Despite former Vice President Pence also finding documents in his possession, Republicans only demanded an investigation into President Biden.
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