Key takeaways from special report on Joe Biden's handling of classified documents

A special counsel of the US Department of Justice (DoJ), which is probing President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents after he left vice presidency in 2017, released its findings on Thursday (Feb 8). In a 388-page report, the counsel said it uncovered evidence that Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency, which included documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan, issues of national security and foreign policy implicating sensitive intelligence sources and methods.

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However, Biden will not face criminal charges as the DoJ policy prohibits bringing charges against a sitting president. "I was pleased to see they reached the conclusion I believed all along they would reach – that there would be no charges brought in this case and the matter is now closed," Biden said in a statement on Thursday. He is seeking re-election in the upcoming presidential polls.

Here's a look at the key findings of the report:

> Marked classified documents about Afghanistan:

The special counsel said that it found marked classified documents about Afghanistan in a box in Biden's garage in his Delaware home that also contained other materials of great personal significance to him and that he appears to have personally used and accessed. "The marked classified documents were found along with drafts of the handwritten 2009 Thanksgiving memo Mr Biden sent President Obama in a last-ditch effort to persuade him not to send additional troops to Afghanistan," the report said.

> Notebooks containing classified information:

Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recovered a set of notebooks from Biden's Delaware home. Biden used these notebooks as vice president and wrote down "obviously sensitive information" discussed during intelligence briefings with then-US president Barack Obama, and meetings in the White House Situation Room about matters of national security and military and foreign policy.

"Some evidence also suggests Mr Biden knew he could not keep classified handwritten notes at home after leaving office. Mr Biden, who had decades of experience with classified information, was deeply familiar with the measures taken to safeguard classified information and the need for those measures to prevent harm to national security," the report added.

> 'Poor memory':

The document mentioned Biden's "significantly limited" and "poor memory" multiple times. "We have also considered that, at trial, Mr Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory," the report said. Biden, in an angry rebuttal, said his memory was fine.

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> Biden's ghostwriter and destruction of evidence:

"After learning of the special counsel's appointment in this matter, Mr Biden's ghostwriter deleted audio recordings he had created of his discussions with Mr Biden during the writing of Mr Biden's 2017 memoir. The recordings had significant evidentiary value," the special counsel's report said.