The Department of Justice (DOJ) failed to turn over the transcript of President Joe Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur after the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees requested it, the Daily Caller has learned.
The House Oversight Committee requested the transcript via letter on Feb. 12, giving the DOJ until Monday, Feb. 19 at 5 p.m. to respond. The DOJ did not turn over the transcript or other documents in the report that were requested, sources with both committees told the Daily Caller.
🚨BREAKING🚨
We are giving the Justice Department until February 19 at 5p to produce the transcript of President Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur and other documents included in the report that relate to our impeachment inquiry.
Americans deserve transparency… pic.twitter.com/JtVZ2LY3nz
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) February 12, 2024
“We haven’t received what we requested and everything is on the table as to what is next,” a Judiciary committee spokesperson told the Daily Caller.
“The DOJ has not provided the materials requested and the committees will soon follow up about the chairmen’s request,” an Oversight committee spokesperson told the Daily Caller.
The DOJ did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment.
Hur released his special counsel report on Feb. 8 detailing Biden’s handling of classified documents. While Hur decided not to pursue charges against the president, the special counsel made note of Biden’s declining mental state.
In a five-hour interview with the president on Oct. 8-9, Hur noted that Biden seemed to forget when his vice presidency began and ended as well as when his late son, Beau Biden, died.
The report added that if Biden were to appear before a jury, he would present himself as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” (RELATED: Hur Reportedly Seeking To Testify In Front Of GOP Over Biden Special Counsel Report)
The White House has criticized Hur’s report and characterization of Biden’s memory, going as far as to label the report as “flatly wrong,” “inappropriate and “gratuitous.”
Biden himself addressed the report in a press conference after its release, during which he blamed his staff and took no responsibility for mishandling classified documents, and claimed concerns about his mental faculties are a press fabrication.
Biden asked if he was careless: “I take responsibility for not having seen exactly what my staff was doing.” pic.twitter.com/BOe6rLGYpg
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) February 9, 2024
“Things that appeared in my garage, things that came out of my home, things that were moved, were moved not by me, but my staff, but my staff,” Biden said.
“That is your judgement! That is your judgement! That is not the judgement of the press!” he shouted in response to a question about his memory, moments before he mixed up the presidents of Egypt and Mexico.
Yikes pic.twitter.com/Kvj4W5tPwN
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) February 9, 2024
Biden reacted with indignation to a piece of the report that claimed he did not remember when his son Beau died. However, reports have since emerged that it was Biden, not Hur, who brought up the topic of Beau’s death.
Prior to the release of the report, the White House reportedly pressured the special counsel to remove passages on Biden’s memory lapses, but the concerns about Biden’s age have instead dominated the discourse surrounding the report.
In addition to calling the report “gratuitous,” the White House and its allies have attacked Hur for alleged bias because he is a Republican appointee. However, Hur was appointed as special counsel for the Biden case by the president’s own Attorney General, Merrick Garland. Garland and the White House are now reportedly at odds over the outcome of Hur’s investigation. (Biden World’s ‘MAGA Guy’ Attack On Robert Hur Just Doesn’t Add Up, Records Show)
Biden critics have called for the administration to release the full transcript of the interview, making the case that if the report truly does exaggerate issues with Biden’s memory, the full transcript will absolve the president.