Joe Biden Won’t Face Charges For “Willfully” Retaining Classified Documents, Special Counsel Says

Joe Biden will not face charges for his retention of classified material, but the report from Special Counsel Robert Hur could still prove damaging politicallly.

House Republicans already were claiming “double standard” just minutes after the report was released, as former President Donald Trump has been criminally charged with his failure to turn over classified documents after leaving the White House.

“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 stated.

But journalists quickly seized on another line in the report, explaining the reasoning for brining no charges: “We have considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did in our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.”

Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president, said in a statement, “As the Special Counsel report acknowledges, mistakes when packing documents at the end of an Administration or when Members of Congress leave office are unfortunately a common occurrence. It’s happened with every Administration, Republican and Democrat, for the past 50 years. Now that this investigation has concluded, President Biden plans to take new, substantive action to help prevent such mistakes in the future and will announce it soon.

Sauber added, “We disagree with a number of inaccurate and inappropriate comments in the Special Counsel’s report. Nonetheless, the most important decision the Special Counsel made—that no charges are warranted—is firmly based on the facts and evidence.”

More to come.