Recordings of Biden Justice Division interview emerge, highlighting his reminiscence lapses
Snippets from a 2023 interview that led Justice Division particular counsel Robert Hur to explain former President Joe Biden as an “aged man with a poor reminiscence” had been obtained and revealed by Axios Friday, exhibiting Biden’s halting tone of voice and problem remembering dates.
CBS Information has confirmed the audio matches the transcript of the interview launched by the Biden White Home in 2024.
In a single four-minute clip, Biden was requested by Hur’s workforce — which was investigating Biden’s dealing with of labeled data — about the place he saved his paperwork shortly after leaving workplace as vp. Biden’s response is marked by lengthy pauses, and his voice seems hoarse at instances. His speech is very halting as he describes the interval round his son Beau’s dying.
Within the audio obtained by information outlet Axios, Biden may also be heard struggling to recollect the yr when Beau died or the yr when President Trump was first elected. Members of his employees may be heard correcting him or reminding him of the date.
A written transcript of the five-hour interview was launched final yr, however parts of the audio launched Friday present context on Biden’s demeanor and reminiscence issues at sure factors within the session.
In response to the audio, Biden spokesperson Kelly Scully advised CBS Information in a press release, “The transcripts had been launched by the Biden administration greater than a yr in the past. The audio does nothing however affirm what’s already public.”
Biden’s verbal supply was a key a part of Hur’s report. The particular counsel wrote in February 2024 that Biden seemed like a “sympathetic, well-meaning, aged man with a poor reminiscence.” Hur mentioned it is a view jurors might share, making it laborious to convict Biden of knowingly holding delicate paperwork at his house and workplace. Hur’s report famous “vital limitations” to Biden’s reminiscence, together with his problem remembering when his son died.
Hur beneficial towards charging Biden with a criminal offense, although he did conclude that Biden “willfully” retained authorities paperwork.
On the time, Biden and his allies reacted furiously to Hur’s report — particularly the “aged man with a poor reminiscence” line and the remark about Beau Biden’s dying.
“There’s even a reference that I do not bear in mind when my son died. How within the hell dare he increase that? Frankly, once I was requested the query, I believed to myself it wasn’t any of their rattling enterprise,” Biden mentioned final yr. “I do not want anybody to inform me when he handed away.”
Biden’s private lawyer Bob Bauer known as the report a “shabby piece of labor” crammed with “completely inappropriate and pejorative feedback.” The Biden White Home counsel’s workplace requested Hur’s workforce to revise the report, calling its references to Biden’s reminiscence “inflammatory.”
The report was launched as issues swirled about then-80-year-old Biden’s age and health to run for an additional time period, although on the time, Democratic officers publicly backed Biden and slammed Hur. Republicans, in the meantime, cited the report as proof of Biden’s fading cognitive talents and pushed for audio of the interview to be launched.
However months later, Biden’s rocky June debate towards Mr. Trump — by which he repeatedly struggled to finish his sentences — reignited worries about his age, resulting in Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race amid stress from his get together.
Biden’s selections throughout that interval have drawn new scrutiny in current weeks, as books that supply glimpses inside his marketing campaign hit the cabinets. Among the books describe Biden’s struggles with age, his aides’ maneuvers to maintain him within the race and the abrupt shift from Biden to eventual nominee Kamala Harris weeks after the Trump-Biden debate.
Biden has strongly denied any lapses in his cognitive means, telling “The View” final week, “there’s nothing to maintain that.”
