Biden blocks release of ‘poor memory’ tapes

President’s use of executive privilege over Robert Hur’s classified documents inquiry is likely to spur Republican claims of a cover-up

An image of Joe Biden speaking at a press conference in response to Robert Hur’s report is seen on a monitor as the special counsel testifies before the House judiciary committee in March. Picture: AFP

Joe Biden has blocked the release of recordings from his interview with a special counsel who characterised the US President as an “elderly man with a poor memory” during an investigation into his handling of classified documents.

House Republicans have demanded the audio of Mr Biden’s conversations with Robert Hur, whose report earlier this year dealt a blow to the President’s re-election campaign as the 81-year-old faces persistent questions about his age.

Denying the release on the grounds of executive privilege on Thursday, the White House said Republicans wanted to use the recordings only for “political gain” and to assist Donald Trump before his election rematch with Mr Biden in November.

“The absence of a legitimate need for the audio recordings lays bare your likely goal – to chop them up, distort them and use them for partisan political purposes,” Ed Siskel, the White House counsel, wrote in a letter to Republicans.

A transcript of Mr Biden’s interview with Mr Hur has already been released, but the President’s move to block release of the audio places him in a difficult position.

Releasing the recordings would be likely to provide Republicans with fresh ammunition for their attacks against his age, but refusing to turn them over is certain to prompt allegations from Mr Trump and his allies of a cover-up.

Mr Hur was appointed to ­investigate in 2923 after classified documents from Mr Biden’s time as vice-president to Barack Obama were found at a string of locations, including the garage of his home in Delaware.

The special counsel found that no criminal charges against the President were warranted, but his report added to concerns over Mr Biden’s cognitive abilities.

Mr Biden sat for a five-hour interview with Mr Hur in October.

The special counsel’s report claimed that the President had struggled to recall key dates, ­including the year that his son, Beau, died of brain cancer (2015) and when he served as vice-president (2009-17).

Mr Hur described Mr Biden as a “sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory”.

The report provoked a furious reaction from Mr Biden, who called a prime-time news conference. Democrats accused Mr Hur, who was appointed to the Justice Department under Mr Trump’s presidency, of attempting to smear Mr Biden and undermine his campaign.

Mr Trump and his allies have accused the justice department of double standards for refusing to indict Mr Biden while the former president faces federal charges over the stash of classified documents seized at his Florida home.

Mr Hur has highlighted the differences between the two cases.

While Mr Biden’s team ­returned the documents when they were discovered and co-operated fully with the investigation, Mr Trump is accused of knowingly taking top-secret material from the White House, blocking government efforts to get it back and destroying evidence.

Mr Biden’s move to assert executive privilege over the audio effectively blocks any ­Republican effort to bring criminal charges against his Attorney-General, Merrick Garland, who has refused to turn over the ­recordings. Republicans have threatened to hold Mr Garland in contempt of congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena.

The Times