Just hours after a special counsel examining his handling of sensitive information put a spotlight on his age and memory, President Biden is set to speak. The special counsel, Robert K. Hur, described Mr. Biden in a report released Thursday afternoon as a “sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory” who had willfully retained and disclosed sensitive information. Mr. Hur opted not to pursue charges against Mr. Biden in part because he said it would be difficult to convince a jury after the president left office that “a former president well into his 80s” was guilty of a felony that “requires a mental state of willfulness.” Richard Sauber, a lawyer for President Biden, said in a statement that the president’s team disagreed with “a number of inaccurate and inappropriate comments in the special counsel’s report.” But, he added, “the most important decision the special counsel made — that no charges are warranted — is firmly based on the facts and evidence.” Critics of the president immediately seized on the report to question Mr. Biden’s fitness for office. The super PAC supporting former President Donald J. Trump, MAGA Inc., quoted excerpts directly from the special counsel’s report in an email blast, saying that it “makes it clear that Joe Biden is not well.”
Source: Elections - nytimes.com
