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Live coverage: House GOP hearing on just how old Biden is

by Mark Sumner for Daily Kos Liveblogs

Daily Kos Staff

Tuesday, Mar. 12, 2024 Tuesday, Mar. 12, 2024 at 7:07:38am PDT

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 20: U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the Republican Speaker designee, holds a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on October 20, 2023 in Washington, DC. The House of Representatives is expected to hold another vote for Speaker of the House after Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) failed to secure the votes needed to become Speaker in the previous attempts. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The House Judiciary Committee, led by Republican Jim Jordan, is holding its latest hearing Tuesday to investigate President Joe Biden for … something. Anything.

This hearing features former special counsel Robert Hurt, selected by Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate classified documents found at Biden’s home. In his report, Hur concluded that Biden had cooperated with officials and wasn’t subject to changes.

However, Hur also infamously included lines such as one saying that Biden presents as "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory." Many of Hur’s statements fed into the Biden-so-old narrative that the Republican Party—and the national media—seem determined to make the “but her emails of 2024.”

Hur reportedly left the Department of Justice recently and will be testifying as a private citizen. How this will affect his testimony is unclear.

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UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 7:04:32 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

That’s it. Thanks for coming and see you at the next ridiculous hearing.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 7:04:04 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

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UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 7:03:23 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

As they have at many recent public hearings staged by Republicans in an attempt to smear President Biden, Democrats can prepared with the facts and with enough clips of Donald Trump that they frustrated any Republican plans. An image of Jim Jordan with his head in his hands might as well be the official seal of this Congress.

In short, Democrats made clear this was nothing but a partisan waste of time

For their part, Republicans seemed unable to decide whether they should take the Biden-so-old or Biden-should-be-prosecuted roads, so they tried to have it both ways. But you can bet Rep. Nathaniel Moran will be snickering next to Steve Bannon or some other MAGA podcast host as they talk about his ugly discussion of “guardianship” for Biden.

That, believe it or not, is going to be the one thing Republicans liked about today.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 6:57:25 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee asks to add something to the record the Politico article on Hur refusing to listen to Biden as he named the month and date of Beau’s death.

And with that, things are done.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 6:54:37 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Rep. Ken Buck appears to be the last questioner, no doubt due to his refusal to wear a red hat.

Buck is just having Hur walk back through things that were already detailed in the report to no apparent end. And now … he’s done.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 6:49:33 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Rep. Russell Fry uses what little time Jordan left him to just talk about the “two-tiered level of justice.” Next.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 6:48:31 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Jordan is asking questions himself again, which suggests that he thinks he has found a thread to pull. He seems to be suggesting that Biden’s attorneys knew the FBI was investigating Trump and were trying to clean up for Biden …

Except now Jordan stops after apparently believing he scored points by explaining that Biden’s attorneys looked at U. Penn. and the Biden Center. That seems to be all that Jordan was after — claiming Biden was worse because “Trump had all his documents at home.”

Seriously, his lack of real ability to assemble anything that looks like a plot is disappointing.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 6:41:43 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Rep. Becca Balint is up. I believe she may be the last Democratic rep to direct questions at Hur.

Balint’s focus is on getting Hur to confirm that he had all the resources he needed and received no pressure from Merrick Garland in his investigation. It’s check list questioning, but it’s good to get Hur on record agreeing to each of these items.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 6:38:59 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Low-energy questioning from Rep. Ben Cline that, like a lot of the moments today, is little more than just reading parts of the public report. He runs out of steam somewhere along the line without even seeming to convince himself.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 6:35:00 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Ivey asks about Moran’s scummy use of “guardianship.”

Funny moment as Jordan interjects then claims he can’t yield, because “it’s not my time.”

Ivey: You’re speaking, but it’s not your time?

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 6:32:53 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Rep. Glenn Ivey just walking Hur through the actions that Biden took in cooperation, and how this was the “opposite” of actions taken by Trump.

This is the part of the story all the Republicans in the room will ignore. Again.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 6:30:09 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

And we are back.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 6:23:56 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

The House is now debating a bill concerning how the federal government rents office space. It sounds innocuous, but it surely contains some black hole of unfettered evil. Because with this House, it wouldn’t be getting a vote without a big dollop of ick.

After this, the House will debate a bill that provides a meaningless finger-wag of disdain for Biden's immigration policies, without doing a thing to change any of those policies. Which, honestly, seems like the perfect way to take time out from an equally meaningless hearing.

Hang in there.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 6:13:41 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

The House is now voting on bringing a couple of bills to the floor, neither of which is earth-shaking. However, there’s a pretty hefty set of items on the list of items that could be considered under suspension. So … we wait.

Moran was genuinely slimy. I foresee a future in Republican leadership.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 5:52:05 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Now the hearing is in a recess while the House carries out some votes. The recess will last until ten minutes after the last vote, which will be … we don’t know. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 5:50:48 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Rep. Nathaniel Moran is showing why he is this far down the charts because he starts off by repeating things that a half dozen Republicans have already covered. However, he shows his desire to rise up the MAGA ranks with a ridiculous contention that Biden is “incapacitated” and talking about “guardianships” as he suggests Biden can’t manage his personal finances.

In other words, he’s being a rat bastard.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 5:46:47 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

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UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 5:45:22 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Rep. Cori Bush doesn’t bother to question Hur. Instead, she spends her minutes pointing out that this “investigation,” like the mock impeachment investigation, is a waste of time that consumes Congress’ time and is being done for no reason other than to help Trump.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 5:43:14 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Rep. Kelly Amstrong follows in the same groove already worn down by previous Republican reps — trying to equate Biden’s accidental retention of documents and his open cooperation with the government, with Trump’s deliberate retention and open hostility to attempts to retrieve documents.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 5:39:12 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Jordan is trying to get Hur to say that DOJ should give Congress the tapes of all the interviews conducted in his investigation. Hur says he’s not with the DOJ anymore, so no, he can’t really say. He does say audio recordings were part of the information he used to make the report, which Jordan uses to say that means Congress should have everything. So get ready for more Jordan subpoenas and more pointless hearings about the DOJ’s weaponization of information.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 5:32:20 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Rep. Deborah Ross, North Carolina Democrat, quips that Hur has been testifying for nearly three and a half hours, almost as long as Biden spent talking to him.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 5:30:20 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Lee seems to be trying to find anything at all that Biden could be charged for. It ain’t there. Hur is engaging the hypotheticals, but not giving her much.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 5:28:38 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

We’re down to the “who?” Republican members. Now it’s Florida’s Laurel Lee asking a question designed to allow her to repeat “elderly, well-meaning man.” Now she’s going down a weird road, befuddling Hur, on obstruction of justice. Now sure what line she’s following here.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 5:23:09 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Rep. Veronica Escobar, Texas Democrat, is pointing out that Trump’s documents at Mar-a-Lago were “accessible by tens of thousands of people.” Asks if Joe Biden provided access to tens of thousands of people to the documents he had. Of course that’s a no.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 5:21:00 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Good lord. Hageman is doing “but her emails!” Why wasn’t Hillary prosecuted. These people.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 5:19:12 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

They just can’t let it go. Lots of questions from Wyoming GOP member Harriet Hageman on Trump’s “condition.” She’s going for the “evil mastermind” Biden who knew he was stealing documents—he “understood” he could not keep it—Hur isn’t giving Hageman (who replaced Liz Cheney, way to go Wyoming) much help.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 5:14:00 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Rep. Dean is putting Trump’s indictments into the record, as well as the transcript in which Biden did remember the day his son died. Remember, Hur did not take the opportunity to correct the record.

And now Democratic Rep. Lucy McBath of Georgia, is once again hitting Trump’s mishandling of documents. Goes on to get Hur to answer yes or no to exculpatory conclusions for Biden.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 5:06:39 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

GOP Rep. Kevin Kiley, Calif., not really scoring any points here from Hur. He won’t deviate from what’s in the report. And Kiley is doing his best to put words in Hur’s mouth.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 5:03:48 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Rep. Dean—she has the transcript and asks Hur to correct the record on Biden forgetting the date of his son Beau’s death. Hur won’t.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 5:01:28 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Another Democrat, Madelaine Dean, Penn., once again getting Hur to reiterate that his decision to not prosecute was based on the lack of evidence. And again makes the contrast to Trump, asking Hur to read the words from his report about Trump’s obstruction. Hur tries to get Dean to read all of it instead, she tells him “it’s your report,” you can read it. That was helpful--straight from the horse’s mouth.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 4:58:18 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Jordan forgot to turn his mic on for his latest question. The single best thing Jordan has ever done, yelling into a dead mic. He’s trying to draw Hur out on impressions of Biden. Here Hur is being a little more forthcoming on the memory lapses.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 4:55:37 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Alabama Republican Rep. Barry Moore is going through presidential history of classified document handling. He’s going to use his time to attack special counsel Jack Smith who’s investigating Trump. Hur won’t, of course, comment. But Moore is going to use his time to smear Smith anyway.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 4:52:41 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

We’re back to procedure with Democratic Rep. Joe Neguse of Colo. He’s getting Hur to reiterate that there was no interference, resistance from AG Garland and that Garland did not modify his report. Hur agrees—none of that happened.

Neguse contrasts with how AG Bil Barr handled the Mueller report against Trump. Hur agrees, the AGs did not conducted that report the same way. “I was able to conduct a fair, thorough investigation,” Hur says, not influenced by Garland.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 4:44:27 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

How bad is Biden’s memory? asks GOP Rep. Cliff Bentz from Oregon. At least he’s not a yeller.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 4:41:32 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Rep. Mary Scanlon, Democrat from Pennsylvania, again walking Hur through his conclusions and his focus in the report about Biden’s cooperation vs. Trump’s alleged obstruction.

Scanlon pointing out that plenty of witnesses don’t remember exactly details from years ago, and showing another video of Trump saying in depositions that he didn’t remember when he married Marla Maples, when he owned certain properties, etc.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 4:38:25 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

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UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 4:37:12 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Meanwhile:

“What month did Beau die? Oh God, May 30,” he said, naming the correct day, according to a transcript of the exchange reviewed by The Washington Post.

Not a good look for Hur… https://t.co/MOR1uAAOmU
— Tim Miller (@Timodc) March 12, 2024

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 4:34:24 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

No subtlety from GOP Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, Wisc.: Is Biden senile? Hur is not going to go there.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 4:31:49 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Rep. Lou Correa, Calif., now up for Democrats, and again draws out Hur on the Trump/Biden contrasts in handling of classified documents. Hammering this again and again, which Jordan had to know was going to happen. He apparently thought he would have a sympathetic witness in Hur. If so, he thought wrong.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 4:25:28 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

GOP Rep. Tom Tiffany, Wisc. going back to Jordan’s questions about how the White House tried to get the parts about Biden being old edited out of the document (which didn’t happen) as another opportunity to talk about how old Biden is.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 4:23:02 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Democrat Ted Lieu, Calif., is now up and focusing again on the contrast with Trump’s behavior---lying to investigators, trying to hide documents, etc.

Really, what did Republicans think in calling this hearing? Did they really think no one would notice that part of the report, the part that damns Trump?

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 4:20:03 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Back to Jordan. “Did the White House get the report before the report went public? … Did the White House try to get the report changed?” Did the White House go over his head to AG Garland to get changes made in the report? Hur simply says they can write to whoever they want.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 4:16:47 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

GOP Rep. Victorial Spartz of Indiana just using her time to focus on the “sympathetic old man” language. Of course.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 4:14:50 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Jayapal making him repeat the words from his report that there was not sufficient evidence to convict.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 4:12:31 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Democrat Pramila Jayapal of Washington now up. Hur fighting with Jayapal about the use of the word “exoneration,” which she used. Notably, Jayapal is the first woman to question him, and is the only lawmaker he has talked over, interrupted, and man-splained to.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 4:09:48 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Now Bishop is being cranky that the DOJ released the transcripts. They did it too late, he says.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 4:07:56 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Next up, GOP Rep. Dan Bishop, NC. He seems to be trying that Biden doesn’t understand the differences between “confidential,” “secret,” “top secret” in classified information.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 4:05:38 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Swalwell pulls out a bit from the transcript, where Hur tells Biden he seems to have a “photographic” recall of the house—not sure of the context—and points out that was not included in the report, then includes another video compilation of Trump mangling the English language.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 4:01:34 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Now up, Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California. Swalwell first commends him for his immigrant story, with a dig at Republicans on immigration. Then he details the criminal indictments and allegations against Trump. Asks Hur if he would pledge to not accept another appointment from Trump if he wins again. Hur won’t.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 3:59:26 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Okay, Biggs is going with the “evil mastermind” narrative for Biden. They really are not on the same page here.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 3:56:41 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Now we’ve got Freedom Caucus maniac Andy Biggs of Arizona. He’s trying to get Hur to say that while there wasn’t “willful” conduct by Biden, but sloppiness. Not sure what Biggs is trying to draw out with this.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 3:53:37 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Hur insists that in order to provide a complete report he had to include the partisan hit job material. Schiff is not letting it go. Schiff: “you made a choice, a political choice.”

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 3:52:13 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Now we’ve got Rep. Adam Schiff of California, blasting Hur for including the bits about Biden’s memory. “You could have written the report just focusing on the documents, but you included the words about Biden’s memory … creating a political firestorm.” Schiff has a big poster of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago bathroom full of boxes behind him.

He’s hitting Hur hard on the gratuitous inclusion of the memory stuff, which Schiff says is “prejudicial and subjective,” and deliberately included in the report for Republicans to use.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 3:48:47 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Van Drew is calling Biden “cognitively impaired” but crafty in establishing his legacy. They’re not doing a very good job making their case.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 3:47:05 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Another Republican, Jeff Van Drew from NJ, is cherry-picking from the report to damn Biden and say his a criminal, and hitting the “well-meaning, forgetful old man,” repeatedly. Again with the double standards of justice. Hur won’t play along.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 3:43:49 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson, Georgia, laying out Hur’s conservative, Federalist Society credibility, as a Trump US Attorney. Pointing out that Garland appointed him as special counsel on this matter, and that Garland did not direct him in his investigation. He’s doing a good job of establishing the credibility of Garland and of Hur, establishing again---with Hur---there is no “two tiers of justice” as Republicans insist.

Now Johnson hitting Hur for including the gratuitous bits about Biden’s senility for partisanship. Hur angrily rejects that, the first response beyond the “it’s in the report” answers.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 3:38:23 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Here’s Raskin, the highlight of this charade so far:

Raskin: This is a memory test. It's not a memory test for President Biden. It's a memory test for all of America. Do we remember fascism? Do we remember naziism? Communism and totalitarianism? Have we forgotten sacrifices of our parents and grandparents pic.twitter.com/qVKQaKWR1F
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 12, 2024

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 3:36:39 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

GOP Rep. Darrell Issa of Calif. now up. He says he’s not going to play prosecutor or make stuff up, pretending to be reasonable but also slipping in that “Biden is old” narrative. Issa trying to get Hur to say whether he thinks Biden has a history back to the Senate of mishandling info. Hur won’t.

“In this case, did you conclude that Biden was ‘outright innocent.’” Hur again points Issa to the report.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 3:32:52 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Cohen chastises Gaetz for his “senile” slurs.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 3:32:09 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Democrat Steve Cohen, Tennessee, now up, commending Hur and the DOJ for doing its job. He’s getting Hur on the record to say that Attorney General Merrick Garland was fair and impartial in allowing Hur to conduct the investigation. Hur agrees.

Cohen tries to get Hur to say that he didn’t decide not charge Biden because of his memory but because the evidence wasn’t there. Hur won’t go beyond what’s in the report.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 3:27:15 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Hur so far isn’t giving the GOP much. He’s not going beyond the report.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 3:25:56 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Oh joy, now it’s Rep. Matt Gaetz, competing with Jordan in the yelling. He’s trying to get Hur to say Biden lied to him. Gaetz keeps repeating the phrase “senile cooperator theory,” and “the elevators not going to the top floor” and whether Biden is being “crafty.”

So Gaetz is now saying that “old Biden” is just an act to cover up his evil-doing. Now he’s trying to say that the Chinese own the Penn Biden Center?

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 3:20:24 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Democrat of Texas, reiterates that the interviews occurred in the hours after the crisis in Israel and Biden cooperated and gave hours to the interview. She’s detailing the process and procedure of the investigation, establishing the thoroughness of the investigation and Hur’s conclusions.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 3:17:07 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Comer is trying to make a case that Biden White House employees were visiting the Penn Biden Center before classified documents were held. Hur doesn’t really help here. Comer apparently tried to make the case that Biden directed some kind of cover-up or something. Hur wouldn’t go along with him.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 3:14:54 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

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UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 3:13:06 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Now Comer is going on about “Biden family activities.” He’s just not going to let it go. Hur won’t speak to anything beyond what is in his report.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 3:10:32 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Raskin’s statement is excellent and too fast to transcribe.

"They were looking for high crimes and misdemeanors. Now they appoint themselves amateur memory specialists."

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 3:09:28 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Raskin hitting again the contrast between Trump and Biden, and making Hur reiterate his findings distinguishing the two.

Raskin is hitting GOP hard for making this a “memory test” for Biden, while the GOP is forgetting the lessons of fascism, of the world’s experience with dictators.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 3:06:22 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

“Pride and money,” Jordan says. Yeah, about that $1 million in book proceeds that went to charity….

Now Jordan’s going after the ghost-writer who tried to destroy evidence by deleting interview recordings. And about Mr. Trump? Jordan isn’t going to go there.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 3:03:51 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Now Jordan is getting shouty. “Why did he do it?” Talks about Biden’s 50 years in public services (see, he’s old!). “Joe Biden knew the rules … why did he break them?” Of course Hur couldn’t answer that.

But Jordan reads that Biden had “strong motivation” to hold onto the documents because he was writing a book. “How much did Biden earn for writing that book? …. $8 million.” So now Biden isn’t old, he’s greedy.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 3:00:14 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Now up, Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren, California. She points out that even President Reagan kept his presidential diaries that could have had classified info. The “Reagan precedent” applies to the notebooks Biden kept. Did Biden assert any of his documents where “personal property”? Hur says basically no. Lofgren again compares Trump—he claimed the documents were his. Then Lofgren again reads from the report, the comparison between Trump and Biden and their levels of cooperation. Again, making the point that “these cases are not the same.” Which will probably be the only story out of this fiasco of a hearing, not that it will stop the GOP.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 2:55:46 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Republicans are going to have a hard time making the argument that the Trump prosecution is unfair and politically motivated by the Biden administration with the actual report. Which lays out all the stuff that Trump did.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 2:54:22 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Reporters are going through the transcript of Biden’s interview with Hur. Look at what a monster we have for a president:

President Biden testified to Hur that he doesn't even own individual stocks and gave $1 million in book proceeds to charity pic.twitter.com/xGOM9L47xB
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 12, 2024

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 2:52:46 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Now we’ve got Rep. Tom McClintock being outraged that Biden had classified documents in his garage. He’s equating Trump’s mishandling with Biden’s and saying that it’s a double standard. “The only person being prosecuted for this offense is a political rival of the president.”

Hur says he laid out the contrast in his report and he’s not going to go beyond what was included here.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 2:50:22 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Nadler continues with the Trump comparison. Did Biden lie or direct his staff to lie? No. Did he attempt to hide documents or get his staff to do it? No.

“Donald Trump is charged” with his mishandling of documents, and “President Biden is not being charged” because Hur could not prove he committed a crime.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 2:48:05 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Now Nadler is up with his questions. Points out that Hur did not find evidence that rose to the level of prosecution. “You can’t be a ‘little bit’ charged for a crime. You’re charged or you’re not.” Hur admits that yes, there was not enough to charge him.

Now Nadler turns to the comparison with Trump---Biden “quickly and voluntarily” returned the documents when made aware of them, and the DOJ had to get a warrant to search Mar-a-Lago.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 2:43:53 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Armstrong is pushing really hard to try to get Hur to say Biden is a criminal.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 2:42:56 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

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UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 2:41:44 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Rep. Kelly Armstrong from North Dakota detailing all the places they found documents and calls Biden the “defendant” and also keeps talking about the “crime.” Biden is not a defendant, by the way. Because this guy that they’re interviewing, the DOJ special counsel, said "We did not, however, identify evidence that rose to the level of proof beyond a reasonable doubt."

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 2:38:15 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Now Hur is getting into the “old” bit, the president’s state of mind, memory, mental state, and how a jury would consider all that if he brought charges. Hur hitting Biden for saying “he didn’t remember” the discussion with his ghost-wirter, having the classifed documents. Said he had to put in those concerns about Biden’s mental acuity to explain why he was not bringing charges.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 2:35:58 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Explains the evidence that Biden willfully held classified documents, including tapes of discussions with his ghost-writer about how he discovered the documents in his home.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 2:33:42 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Now Robert Hur is up for his opening statement. Starts with his resume, speaking about how is family immigrated from Korea and his love for the country. Says he has done his job with complete impartiality.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 2:31:16 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

“Given that this report is so damning” against Trump, Raskin says, it’s hard to see what Jordan and team think they’ll get out of this to hurt Biden.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 2:30:02 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Now Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin is up. He’s making a good point that the five hour interview Biden gave Hur came the day after the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, that he was multi-tasking. And again, reads directly from the Hur report contrasting Trump’s conduct with Biden’s.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 2:27:37 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

The DOJ has released the transcript of the interview. That’s pretty much all from Comer that matters.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 2:25:46 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Now up is Rep. James Comer, chair of the other impeaching committee—Oversight. Who knows what conspiracy theories he’s going to cook up with a microphone in front of him.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 2:23:47 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Man, that was a brutal Trump video.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 2:23:17 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Ooooh, Nadler brings his own video. A montage of Trump saying he doesn’t remember people from his administration, how long he was married to Marla Maples, thinking he beat Obama and the total nonsense he spouts at his rallies.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 2:20:35 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Nadler continues: “Biden had the mental acuity to navigate this situation. Donald Trump did not.”

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 2:19:14 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Ranking member Rep. Jerry Nadler, New York, follows with his opening statement, pointing immediately to the part of the report that was particularly damning for Donald Trump--the comparison between how Biden and Trumped handled classified information. He’s reading the extensive section from the report talking about how Trump kept records in his bathroom. Expect Democrats to hammer on that.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 2:16:55 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

This is why Jordan is showing the clip—Biden saying “Mexico” when he meant “Egypt,” never mind that the rest of the statement was cogent substantive.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 2:14:09 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Not sure that showing this clip does Jordan a lot of good, since Biden answered questions pretty well there, was sharp. What it does show is the feeding frenzy of the press corps on that one sentence in Hur’s report, the “elderly man with a poor memory.”

UPDATE: Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 · 2:11:21 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Chairman Jim Jordan jumps right in with the “old” bit from Robert Hur’s report. Is now showing a clip of President Biden’s press conference following the release of the report, handling questions from the press asking about his age and possible senility.