The Biden Transcripts

Confusion, Evasion, and Outright Lies.

The transcripts of President Biden’s interviews with Special Counsel Robert Hur have been released in anticipation of Hur’s testimony today before the House Judiciary Committee. The interviews cover two days: October 8, 2023 and the October 9, 2023.

And already, the media has seized upon a line of attack against Hur: that Biden wasn’t confused about the year of his son’s death, that Biden was lucid and clear and that Hur misrepresented Biden’s statements and his state of mind.

But that isn’t the truth.

The transcripts, in fact, show Biden struggling with basic facts. The year his son Beau died. The year he left office. The year Trump was elected. Here’s a short excerpt illustrating all these issues:

President Biden: And, so what was happening, though – what month did Beau die? Oh, God, May 30^th –

Ms. Cotton: 2015.

Unidentified Male Speaker: 2015.

President Biden: Was it 2015 he had died?

Unidentified Male Speaker: It was May of 2015.

President Biden: It was 2015.

Mr. Bauer: Or I’m not sure the month, sir, but I think that was the year.

Mr. Krickbaum: That’s right, Mr. President. It –

President Biden: And what’s happened in the meantime is that as – and Trump gets elected in November of 2017?

Unidentified Male Speaker: 2016.

Unidentified Male Speaker: ’16.

President Biden: ’16, 2016, All right. So – why do I have 2017 here?

Mr. Siskel: That’s when you left office, January of 2017.

Biden’s confusion doesn’t get clearer than that. In a span of two pages of transcripts, Biden finds himself forgetting key dates and needing the assistance of his lawyers to make it through the interview.

But that’s not the only example. Here’s more excerpts:

Mr. Hur: Okay. Do you have any idea where this material would’ve been before it got moved into the garage?

President Biden: Well, if it was 2013 – when did I stop being Vice President?

Ms. Cotton: 2017.

+++

President Biden discussing boxes of materials: “in 2009, am I still Vice President?” (His lawyers had to whisper the answer to him.)

Or, the part where Biden forgot what a fax machine was (h/t Sean Davis):

Hur’s Report, which we analyzed when it was released, also provided details on Biden’s possession of classified documents at his homes and office. Hur’s main finding was that Biden willfully retained classified documents at his Delaware home. While Biden escaped criminal charges for a number of reasons (his age and dementia, for starters), Hur’s report was clear that Biden knew these documents were classified.

In particular, Biden had classified documents within his notebooks at his home. Biden was on tape telling his ghostwriter the notebooks “could be classified.” But what did Biden say about these notebooks in his interview with Hur? He lied:

Mr. Krickbaum: If I understood your last answer, Mr. President, part of what you’re saying is, for example, if there were marked classified documents stuffed in those notebooks, you were not aware of it?

President Biden: Correct.

That answer is also relevant to another question from Special Counsel Hur. Hur uncovered evidence that classified documents had been moved while inside the Biden home – something that would have taken place after Biden was Vice President. When asked whether he found anything with classified markings after he was Vice President, Biden provided this answer:

“I don’t recall finding anything after I was Vice President that had classified markings on it.”

Biden was also asked about his statements to his ghostwriter concerning the classified documents. He said he didn’t recall telling his ghostwriter he “found all the marked classified stuff downstairs.”

Instead, Biden tried to excuse that statement by explaining, unpersuasively, that “classified” meant “off the record”

“It was confidential. I didn’t – not confidential in the classification sense, but don’t, don’t write about that. That’s off the record. That’s not something I want to be talking about in the book about Beau.”

As we finish, Hur is already testifying. And the Democrats, consistent with what they did to John Durham, are twisting his findings and attacking his character. We don’t expect any revelations from Hur’s testimony (we hope we’re wrong about that). All the juice is in the report and the transcripts (some of which still need to be released).