US President Joe Biden asserted executive privilege and blocked the audio tapes of his interview with special counsel Robert Hur, over his mishandling of classified files, from releasing.

US President Joe Biden asserted executive privilege and blocked the audio tapes of his interview with special counsel Robert Hur, over his mishandling of classified files, from releasing. In February, special counsel Robert Hur had questioned the age and memory of the US president. The Republican federal prosecutor had refused to recommend charges against President Biden in the case of handling of classified documents. The decision was notified to Republicans James Comer and Jim Jordan in a letter by White House counsel Ed Siskel on Thursday (May 16). Also Read: Biden government imposes tariffs on Chinese EVs and computer chips The decision was taken after the US president was recommended to assert executive privilege by Attorney General Merrick Garland. “It is the longstanding position of the executive branch held by administrations of both parties that an official who asserts the President’s claim of executive privilege cannot be prosecuted for criminal contempt of Congress," wrote Justice Department official Carlos Felipe Uriarte in a letter to the two Republicans. In this report, Hur wrote that one reason for not bringing a case against Biden is that the president can portray himself as an "elderly man with a poor memory" and be sympathetic to a jury. Garland likely to be held in contempt of Congress Republicans have demanded the release of the recordings of Hur's interviews with the president, an action which was pushed back by US Attorney General Merrick Garland. Garland will most probably be held in contempt of Congress over the step. In another letter to Biden, Garland wrote that the audio recordings of the interview "fall within the scope of executive privilege." Giving the recordings to Congress "would raise an unacceptable risk of undermining the Department’s ability to conduct similar high-profile criminal investigations — in particular, investigations where the voluntary co-operation of White House officials is exceedingly important,” he said. Watch: US: Joe Biden, Donald Trump agree to two debates on June 27 and September 10 Garland further said to the Democratic president that the “committee’s needs are plainly insufficient to outweigh the deleterious effects that the production of the recordings would have on the integrity and effectiveness of similar law enforcement investigations in the future.” Meanwhile, Assistant Attorney General Carlos Felipe Uriarte appealed to the lawmakers not to go ahead with the contempt effort to avoid “unnecessary and unwarranted conflict.” “It is the longstanding position of the executive branch held by administrations of both parties that an official who asserts the president’s claim of executive privilege cannot be held in contempt of Congress,” wrote Uriarte. (With inputs from agencies)

Biden uses executive privilege to block release of interview recordings with special counsel

In Congress, Robert Hur the Justice Department Special Council assigned to report on Joe Biden's possession of classified documents testified in front of the House Judiciary Committee. In his statement, Hur defended his report and told Congress that he was doing his job when he criticized Biden's memory however during the hearing, Hur tried to avoid GOP attempts to slam Biden's age.

US: Robert Hur faces questions about his investigation of President Biden

US: Robert Hur defends remarks on Biden's memory

Special counsel Robert Hur is testifying in front of the House Judiciary Committee about his investigation into President Joe Biden's mishandling of classified documents. The special counsel told lawmakers that his assessment of Biden's memory and cognitive skills was 'necessary and accurate and fair'.

Robert Hur defends Biden report

Robert Hur testifies on Biden report

Robert Hur, the US prosecutor who sparked a political storm last month with a report alleging President Joe Biden had a "poor memory", defended his opinion in congressional testimony on Tuesday (Mar 12).&nbsp;

Hur claimed it was required for his investigation. He called the descriptions of Biden's memory "necessary, accurate and fair".&nbsp;

Hur, the former US Special Counsel, spoke to the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, which has been one of the panels conducting an impeachment inquiry into Biden.&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/biden-unveils-73-trillion-budget-plan-for-2025-focuses-on-tax-increases-for-corporations-and-wealthy-699157">Biden unveils $7.3 trillion budget plan for 2025, focuses on tax increases for corporations and wealthy</a>&nbsp;

He said, "There has been a lot of attention paid to language in the report about the president's memory, so let me say a few words about that."&nbsp;

He added, "My task was to determine whether the president retained or disclosed national defence information willfully – meaning, knowingly and with the intent to do something the law forbids. I could not make that determination without assessing the president's state of mind."&nbsp;

He added that for that reason, he had to "consider the president's memory and overall mental state, and how a jury likely would perceive his memory and mental state in a criminal trial".&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-facing-increasingly-fragile-world-order-amid-growing-threat-from-russia-china-report-699267">US facing ‘increasingly fragile world order’ amid growing threat from Russia, China: Report</a>&nbsp;

According to Hur, the assessment in his report about the relevance of the president's memory was "necessary and accurate and fair".&nbsp;

He said, "Most importantly, what I wrote is what I believe the evidence shows, and what I expect jurors would perceive and believe."&nbsp;

He said that he did not sanitise his explanation and neither did he disparage the president unfairly. He said he explained to the attorney general his decision.&nbsp;

Watch:&nbsp;Biden-Trump poised to bag enough delegates to win nomination

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Hur declined to file criminal charges against Biden following a months-long probe into secret papers discovered at his personal residence and former office.&nbsp;

He spoke in Congress a week after Biden delivered a furious State of the Union address, signalling a strong start to the Democratic president's reelection campaign against Republican predecessor Donald Trump.

Hur's report stated that he would not pursue charges against Biden for retaining confidential materials after leaving office as vice president in 2017, but it attracted criticism from the White House for its portrayal of Biden.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

Robert Hur, the US prosecutor who sparked a political storm last month with a report alleging President Joe Biden had a "poor memory", defended his opinion in congressional testimony on Tuesday (Mar 12).

Robert Hur, the US prosecutor who sparked a political storm last month with a report alleging President Joe Biden had a "poor memory", defended his opinion in congressional testimony on Tuesday (Mar 12). Hur claimed it was required for his investigation. He called the descriptions of Biden's memory "necessary, accurate and fair". Hur, the former US Special Counsel, spoke to the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, which has been one of the panels conducting an impeachment inquiry into Biden. Also read: Biden unveils $7.3 trillion budget plan for 2025, focuses on tax increases for corporations and wealthy He said, "There has been a lot of attention paid to language in the report about the president's memory, so let me say a few words about that." He added, "My task was to determine whether the president retained or disclosed national defence information willfully – meaning, knowingly and with the intent to do something the law forbids. I could not make that determination without assessing the president's state of mind." He added that for that reason, he had to "consider the president's memory and overall mental state, and how a jury likely would perceive his memory and mental state in a criminal trial". Also read: US facing ‘increasingly fragile world order’ amid growing threat from Russia, China: Report According to Hur, the assessment in his report about the relevance of the president's memory was "necessary and accurate and fair". He said, "Most importantly, what I wrote is what I believe the evidence shows, and what I expect jurors would perceive and believe." He said that he did not sanitise his explanation and neither did he disparage the president unfairly. He said he explained to the attorney general his decision. Watch: Biden-Trump poised to bag enough delegates to win nomination × Hur declined to file criminal charges against Biden following a months-long probe into secret papers discovered at his personal residence and former office. He spoke in Congress a week after Biden delivered a furious State of the Union address, signalling a strong start to the Democratic president's reelection campaign against Republican predecessor Donald Trump. Hur's report stated that he would not pursue charges against Biden for retaining confidential materials after leaving office as vice president in 2017, but it attracted criticism from the White House for its portrayal of Biden. (With inputs from agencies)

US prosecutor Robert Hur claims report’s assessment of Biden’s memory ‘necessary, accurate and fair’

The White House counsel's office announced on Monday that President Joe Biden had an interview as part of Special Counsel Robert Hur's inquiry into his handling of confidential materials.

Special counsel interviews Joe Biden about handling of classified documents

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