Is there anything more satisfying than when lies begin to crumble?
On Tuesday, former Special Counsel Robert Hur testified before the House Judiciary Committee, where he elaborated on his report about the investigation of Joe Biden's handling of classified documents he had access to while serving as vice president in the Obama administration.
During the hearing, several Republicans questioned the former Department of Justice employee as to why no criminal charges were filed against the sitting president, according to The Federalist.
Many noted the differences between the investigation done by Hur and the one conducted by Special Counsel Jack Smith into former President Donald Trump over the mishandling of classified documents.
Smith ultimately decided to levy charges against the former president, while Hur decided not to file any charges against Biden.
Representatives at the hearing questioned why Hur decided not to charge the aging president, despite the charges being filed against Trump.
Hur claimed, “No matter the role, no matter the administration, I have applied the same standards and the same impartiality.”
He noted his investigation "identified evidence that the President willfully retained classified materials after the end of his vice presidency when he was a private citizen.”
As for why he chose not to bring any formal charges against Biden for doing so, his report claimed, “It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him — by then a former president well into his eighties — of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness.”
California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa questioned the special counsel, getting Hur to admit clearly that the idea that Biden was "outright innocent" was "not reflected in my report."
Hur further clarified later, when he interrupted Washington Democrat Rep. Pramila Jayapal, to emphasize that "I did not exonerate [Biden]."
He also further discussed the extent to which Biden went to cover his tracks, while being questioned by Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz.
Gaetz quoted Biden's Feb. 8 statement, in which he told the news media, "I did not share classified information. I did not share it. I guarantee I did not."
He then addressed the special counsel. "That's not true, is it, Mr. Hur?"
Hur responded with a mouthful of bureaucratese: "That is inconsistent with the findings, based on the evidence in my report."
Gaetz translated Hur's remark: "Yeah, so it's a lie, is just what regular people would say, right?"
The investigator couldn't even keep a straight face. Looking down and chuckling, he replied, "Yeah."
Special Counsel Robert Hur admits Biden was, in fact, LYING when he insisted he did not share classified information with his ghostwriter pic.twitter.com/K5qctTB4K4
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 12, 2024
It's almost as if Hur had been waiting for that moment, hoping someone would finally come right out and ask plainly whether Biden had lied.
There were no chuckles, however, when Gaetz probed Hur about his decision not to charge ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer, who allegedly deleted audio recordings of Biden discussing classified documents with him while the two were working on his memoir, "Promise Me, Dad."
.@FoxNews: Matt Gaetz presses Hur over not charging Biden ghostwriter: 'What does somebody have to do?'
"What does somebody have to do to get charged with obstruction of justice by you?" Gaetz demanded of Hur, suggesting that the special counsel let Mark Zwonitzer – the… pic.twitter.com/lEZfIDjjwB
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) March 12, 2024
"What does somebody have to do to get charged with obstruction of justice by you?" Gaetz asked Hur, according to a Fox News report. "If, like, deleting evidence of crimes doesn’t count, what would meet the standard?"
Hur explained that, although the writer deleted the recordings, he had kept the transcripts.
"Oh, so, if you destroy some evidence but not other evidence that somehow absolves you of the evidence you destroy," Gaetz responded.
The congressman summed up the hypocrisy of the investigation.
"Like, here’s what I see," Gaetz said. "Zwonitzer should have been charged, wasn’t. Biden and Trump should have been treated equally. They weren’t.
"And that is the double standard that I think a lot of Americans are concerned about."
Gaetz is absolutely correct here.
Even if Hur attempts to claim there's no favoritism in the Justice Department, opting to not charge Biden shows a leniency toward the sitting president that wasn't afforded to Trump.
Smith's investigation of Trump established a precedent that, when former elected officials mishandle classified documents, they receive criminal charges for it.
Hur did not follow that precedent, creating a look of a biased justice system.
