March 12, 2024
Washington, D.C.— Today, Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) questioned former Special Investigator Robert Hur during a Judiciary Committee hearing. This hearing comes after Hur released an inappropriately disparaging and political report on President Biden’s handling of classified documents, allegations that he has been cleared of.
Watch the full video of Schiff’s remarks HERE.
Key Excerpts:
On Robert Hur’s decision to disparage President Biden in his report:
SCHIFF: You say it wasn’t political and yet you must have understood, you must have understood the impact of your words. You must have understood the impact of your decision to go beyond the specifics of a particular document to go to the very general, to your own personal prejudicial, subjective opinion of the president. One you knew would be amplified by his political opponent. When you knew that would influence a political campaign. You had to understand that and you did it anyway. You did it anyway.
On writing a report that would be used by MAGA Republicans to attack President Biden:
HUR: Congressman, Politics played no part whatsoever in my investigative steps.
SCHIFF: But you understood nevertheless. Mr. Hur, you cannot tell me you’re so naive as to think your words would not have created a political firestorm. You understood that, didn’t you? When you wrote those words. When you decided to include those words. When you decided to go beyond specific references to documents. You understood how they would be manipulated by my colleagues here on the GOP side of the aisle and by President Trump. You understood that, did you not?
On Robert Hur’s comments about President Biden’s memory:
SCHIFF: But what is in the rules, Mr. Hur, What is in the rules is you don’t gratuitously do things to prejudice the subject of an investigation when you’re declining to prosecute. You don’t gratuitously add language that you know will be useful in a political campaign. You were not born yesterday. You understood exactly what you were doing. It was a choice. You certainly didn’t have to include that language. You could have said vis a vis the documents that were found at the university the president did not recall… There is nothing more common. You know this, I know this. There is nothing more common with a witness of any age when asked about events that are years old to say, ‘I do not recall.’ Indeed they are instructed by their attorney to do that, if they have any question about it.
You understood that. You made a choice. That was a political choice. It was the wrong choice.
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First appeared on schiff.house.gov