Biden debate performance renews spotlight on Hur tapes – Washington Examiner

President Joe Biden’s struggling debate performance Thursday night sent shock waves of anxiety across the Democratic Party, but it also served as a vindicating moment for former special counsel Robert Hur.

As Biden, 81, stumbled over his words, speaking incoherently at times or staring blankly as his opponent spoke, viewers pointed out that his mental fitness was foreshadowed in Hur’s report on the president’s handling of classified documents.

At the time of the report’s release in February, Hur was sharply criticized by the White House and Democrats for including details in it about Biden’s declining memory.

Some, such as Tom Fitton, president of the conservative watchdog Judicial Watch, found the debate placed newfound importance on the Department of Justice releasing audio recordings of the interview Hur conducted with Biden last year as part of his investigation.

“Obviously the manner and the tone can only be ascertained by the audio, and as we saw last night, that helps one draw certain conclusions,” Fitton said, adding that the debate “highlights why there’s a public interest in the release of the tapes.”

Hur declined to prosecute Biden for mishandling classified material, in part because he said the president displayed memory problems during their interview. Biden came off as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” who could give a jury pause as to whether he acted intentionally, Hur wrote.

White House counsel at the time said those details were “inflammatory” and asked for them to be revised.

Biden himself rebuked Hur, particularly for the special counsel’s observation that the president did not remember when his son Beau died.

“How in the hell dare he raise that,” Biden said. “Frankly, when I was asked the question, I thought to myself it wasn’t any of their damn business.”

Republican-led House committees took particular interest in obtaining Hur’s interview recordings, and as they ramped up pressure on the DOJ for them, Biden last month made an eleventh-hour assertion of executive privilege over the tapes. Republicans have since vowed to file a lawsuit to obtain them.

Fitton’s group has joined other entities, including a CNN-led media coalition, in taking their own legal measures to obtain recordings of the interview.

“They don’t like what the consequence politically of the tapes’ release will be,” Fitton said. “The transcript obviously doesn’t tell the full story.”

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), who is pushing to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in “inherent contempt” over his refusal to provide the recordings to Congress, indicated her efforts to use the obscure congressional procedure are more relevant after the debate.

“Garland is actually engaging now in what I believe is a cover-up, and we need access to the tapes,” Luna told reporters Friday. “A lawsuit can take months to years.”

Former Trump White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany was among many who commented on X about Hur during the debate.

“Biden is worse than anyone knew. Robert Hur must have been truly shocked,” McEnany said. “Now the country is.”

Several other commentators said Hur was owed an apology for making an accurate assessment about Biden at the expense of the special counsel’s reputation among Democrats.

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), who is in contention to be former President Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, was another Republican to highlight that the debate was evidence that the audio recordings were necessary context for the public.

“What happened last night in Atlanta is exactly why the Hur audio must be released,” Donalds said.

A White House spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

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Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said at a press conference that House counsel would bring its lawsuit for the tapes next week. Meanwhile the existing lawsuits from Judicial Watch, the media coalition, and others to obtain them are still playing out in court.

Asked if he was confident his group would be successful, Fitton said, it was not “a matter of if. It’s going to be when.”

Cami Mondeaux contributed to this report.