(EU Parliament)

By Associated Press, Eli J. Ridder

UPDATED

President Biden mishandled classified information but will not face criminal charges, U.S. special counsel says

Feb 8, 2024 | 1:11 PM

President Joe Biden “willfully” retained and disclosed highly classified materials when he was a private citizen, including documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan and other sensitive national security matters.

READ MORE: Special counsel’s report

That’s according to a Justice Department report that nonetheless says no criminal charges are warranted for him or anyone else.

The report from special counsel Robert Hur, released Thursday, represents a harshly critical assessment of Biden’s handling of sensitive government materials, but also details the reasons why he should not be charged with the crime.

Biden took classified documents related to the U.S. war in Afghanistan, among other national security files, when he left the vice presidency in 2017, according to Hur’s report.

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Investigators found Biden’s memory was “significantly limited”, making it hard for a prosecution case against the president to find him guilty of willingly holding on to the sensitive government files.

“And his cooperation with our investigation, including by reporting to the government that the Afghanistan documents were in his Delaware garage, will likely convince some jurors that he made an innocent mistake, rather than acting willfully,” reads the report.

Later in the report, investigators write Biden’s memory was so poor he could not recall the important dates of his vice presidency.

“He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended, and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began,” investigators write.