President Joe Biden held a rare and unexpected news conference Thursday night, accusing his staff of mishandling classified documents and sharply answering reporters' questions.
The president spoke Thursday night following the special counsel's report on the handling of classified documents. Biden's speech came after Special Counsel Robert Hur ended his investigation by declining to press charges, even though he said Biden had indeed mishandled classified documents.
Biden memoed the findings to his staff. “I take responsibility for not seeing exactly what my staff was doing,” he said.
“Everything that showed up in the garage, came out of the house, was moved was moved by my staff, not by me,” he continued.
Asked if he had been careless, Biden said: “I take responsibility for not seeing exactly what my staff was doing.” pic.twitter.com/BOe6rLGYpg
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) February 9, 2024
The report noted that during the interview with Biden, he forgot when his term as vice president began and ended, and when his son Beau died. He claimed the president had forgotten about his son's death and was reacting to language in the report that characterized him as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
“When he passes away, no one needs to remind us,” Biden said.
When Mr. Biden began taking questions at the news conference, reporters began bombarding him with questions about his memory and mental acuity, which had become a major point of contention after Mr. Xu's report was released. Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked Biden, “How bad is your memory?”
“My memory is very bad, so I let them speak,” Biden said. “My memory is fine. Look at what I've been doing since I became president.”
Biden's heat peaked when another reporter began asking questions about Americans' concerns about his mental health, a premise supported by extensive polling.
“That's your decision! That's your decision! That's not the media's decision!” Biden yelled back at her. He then mistakenly referred to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi as the Mexican president.
Wow pic.twitter.com/Kvj4W5tPwN
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) February 9, 2024
Documents regarding U.S. foreign policy in Afghanistan and handwritten notes on sensitive national security matters were recovered by FBI agents at Biden's residence in Wilmington, Delaware. Ho cited the Justice Department's policy on prosecuting presidents to justify his own decision not to indict Biden.
The classified documents range from Biden's career as a senator to his time as vice president with former President Barack Obama. Biden's handwritten notes during the Obama administration frequently included daily briefings and National Security Council documents.
