WATCH: Hur Says Biden White House Tried to Interfere in Special Counsel’s Report

 

Former Special Counsel Robert Hur testified at the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that the White House tried to interfere with his report to the Attorney General on President Joe Biden’s abuse of classified documents.

Specifically, he confirmed that the White House wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Associate Deputy Attorney General Bradey Weinsheimer, who were supervising Hur’s work, asking for changes to Hur’s comment on Biden’s poor memory.

The testimony confirmed earlier reports of attempted interference by the Biden White House in the investigation.

Democrats and the White House have been upset by Hur’s conclusion that “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.” Though Hur cited that as a reason not to recommend prosecuting Biden for what otherwise would be a clear case of willful mishandling of classified documents, Biden and his supporters are furious with Hur for his unflattering observations.

Committee Chair Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) asked Hur to comment on several letters sent by the White House to his superiors. Though Hur said that the White House counsel’s office and President Biden’s lawyers were entitled to write to whomever they wished, the purpose of the Special Counsel is to operate independently of political interference.

Democrats claimed that Biden had cooperated fully with Hur’s investigation, attempting to draw a contrast with then-President Donald Trump, who declined to be interviewed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller in the Russia “collusion” investigation.

But Mueller had no evidence of collusion, and his staff of partisan prosecutors wanted to use an interview to entrap Trump — as the FBI had done in early 2021 with a surprise visit to National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.

The revelation that the Biden Administration tried to change Hur’s report, though apparently without success, could prompt further questions about political interference in Department of Justice investigations and prosecutions.